Sociologist Frank Kalter Appointed to the German Science and Humanities Council
Professor Dr. Frank Kalter will join the expert council for an initial period of three years. Frank Kalter is holder of the chair of General Sociology at the University of Mannheim.
Press Release from 29 January 2024
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With a letter of the Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Professor Dr. Frank Kalter will be appointed to the German Science and Humanities Council, the oldest science policy advisory body in Europe, starting on 1 February 2024. The body advises the federal government and the state governments of the German Länder in all matters relating to the content and the structural development of science, research, and higher education.
Frank Kalter’s research focuses on migration and integration. He heads several research projects at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) and is director of the German Center for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM) in Berlin.
For the Mannheim sociologist, the appointment to the German Science and Humanities Council is a special opportunity to help shape the future of research. “I am honored to contribute to the most important science policy advisory body in Germany. I am looking forward to working together and working on the tasks that are due. As a new member of the Council, defending science against populist attacks and promoting early-stage researchers with less privileged backgrounds is particularly important to me”, says Kalter.
Profile
Frank Kalter was born in 1964 in Koblenz. He studied Mathematics and Social Sciences at the University of Cologne and earned his doctorate degree from the University of Mannheim in 1996. In 2022, he earned his habilitation in Sociology at the University of Mannheim with an analysis of the situation of migrants in the German soccer league system (Kalter 2003: “Chancen, Fouls und Abseitsfallen”). In 2004, he was appointed to a chair in Sociology at Leipzig University, before he was appointed to the University of Mannheim. Together with colleagues from Mannheim, Oxford, Stockholm, Tilburg, and Utrecht, Kalter heads the CILS4EU study at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research. The project analyzes the integration of immigrant children in four European countries in the long-term. In 2017, Kalter became one of two directors of the German Center for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM).
About the German Council of Science and Humanities
The German Council of Science and Humanities was founded in 1957 and is the oldest science policy advisory body in Europe. The members appointed by the Federal President are members of the Scientific Commission of the Council of Science and Humanities during their term of office.
The Scientific Commission has 32 members. The members of the Commissions are researchers and experts in various fields. Their tasks include contributing scientific and research-related aspects to the consultations and recommendations of the German Science and Humanities Council. Thus, they play a central role when it comes to developing expert opinions and recommendations on subjects such as higher education, research funding, and developing the academic system in Germany.
For more information, please go to www.wissenschaftsrat.de
Contact:
Professor Dr. Frank Kalter
Chair of General Sociology
University of Mannheim
E-mail: kalteruni-mannheim.de
Yvonne Kaul
Research Communication
University of Mannheim
Tel: +49 621 181-1266
E-mail: kauluni-mannheim.de