Political Science
Basic and Preparatory Courses (BAS)
Mathematics for Social Scientists
Mathematics for Social Scientists (Lecture w/
Course type:
Lecture w/
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Instructor(s):
Carlos Barbosa Gueiros
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | C 216 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Current Research Perspectives
Current Research Perspectives (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
2
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Gschwend
Date(s):
| Friday (single date) | 05.09.2025 | 08:30 – 11:45 | 211 Seminarraum; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Thursday (single date) | 11.09.2025 | 10:15 – 13:45 | 211 Seminarraum; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Thursday (single date) | 25.09.2025 | 10:15 – 13:45 | 211 Seminarraum; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 10.10.2025 | 08:30 – 11:45 | 211 Seminarraum; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
The core course “Current Research Perspectives” introduces first year doctoral students to the theoretically informed research approaches and substantive research fields that build the strongholds of social science research in Mannheim. The lecture series provides first year doctoral students with an overview of current debates and ongoing research in the fields of psychology, political science and sociology. Members of CDSS faculty will present in one hour lectures an overview of their research fields, report on prime examples of their current research, and provide an outlook on potential research topics for future research. CDSS doctoral students will have the opportunity to discuss the lecture and the required readings with the lecturer during the remaining discussion time.
A list of readings will be provided with required readings for all CDSS students that provide one state-of-the-art introductory text per lecture.
A list of readings will be provided with required readings for all CDSS students that provide one state-of-the-art introductory text per lecture.
Political Science Courses (POL)
Elective courses from International Politics (M.A. Political Science)
Advanced Topics in International Politics: Quantitative Analysis of Political Speech: The Case of the European Parliament (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Term paper
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas König
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | C 216 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
Attention: This seminar starts on September 18, 2025 (3 rd week of lecture time)
This seminar introduces students to cutting-edge methods for analyzing political speech quantitatively, with a special focus on the European Parliament (EP). The course covers techniques in computational text analysis (e.g., topic modeling, sentiment analysis, scaling models), data preprocessing, and causal inference using speech data. Students will engage with theoretical debates about representation, agenda-setting, and rhetorical strategy, and will complete a research project using a large corpus of EP speeches. Participants should have skills in quantitative methods (regression, causal inference), familiarity with R or Python, and prior coursework or reading in text-as-data or NLP is recommended but not required. Grimmer, Justin & Brandon M. Stewart. Text as Data: A New Framework for Machine Learning and the Social Sciences, Slapin, Jonathan B. & Sven-Oliver Proksch. The Politics of Parliamentary Debate, selected journal articles (APSR, AJPS, EUP, JOP, CPS).
This seminar introduces students to cutting-edge methods for analyzing political speech quantitatively, with a special focus on the European Parliament (EP). The course covers techniques in computational text analysis (e.g., topic modeling, sentiment analysis, scaling models), data preprocessing, and causal inference using speech data. Students will engage with theoretical debates about representation, agenda-setting, and rhetorical strategy, and will complete a research project using a large corpus of EP speeches. Participants should have skills in quantitative methods (regression, causal inference), familiarity with R or Python, and prior coursework or reading in text-as-data or NLP is recommended but not required. Grimmer, Justin & Brandon M. Stewart. Text as Data: A New Framework for Machine Learning and the Social Sciences, Slapin, Jonathan B. & Sven-Oliver Proksch. The Politics of Parliamentary Debate, selected journal articles (APSR, AJPS, EUP, JOP, CPS).
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Advanced Topics in International Politics: The Politics of Human Rights (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Learning target:
The goals of this course are
- to provide you with systematic knowledge and understanding about key debates on human rights violations and state repression
- to enable you to critically assess and evaluate academic research, its theoretical and empirical contributions
- to familiarize yourself with key datasets in human rights research
- to engage in and contribute to analytical discussions about published research
- to foster constructive discussions and effective reading
- to improve your writing and presentation skills
Examination achievement:
Schriftliche Hausarbeit / Research paper
Instructor(s):
Prof. Ph. D. Sabine Carey
Date(s):
| Tuesday (weekly) | 02.09.2025 – 02.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | B 318 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
Why do governments engage in repression of citizens? This seminar introduces students to foundational and recent research on human rights violations and repression around the world. We start by defining human rights and how they can be observed and measured. We discuss conditions that facilitate repression with particular focus on the role of democratic institutions and international human rights norms. The seminar sheds light on how governments organize repression, and we investigate different perpetrators of repression and how actors aim to justify or obfuscate state violence. We will also consider the role of the international community on influencing domestic processes of human rights protection and violation. Over the course of the seminar, you will develop your own research question on one of the topics discussed in the seminar and carrying out your own research.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
International Political Economy (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Valentin Lang
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
International Political Economy:
This lecture offers an introduction to current research topics in the field of International Political Economy (IPE). After introducing what it means to study IPE in the age of globalization, the course addresses four major themes of current IPE research.
1) In the first part on international trade, we will learn about the opportunities and challenges that come with the intensifying exchange of goods across the globe.
2) In the second part on international finance, we will focus on how global financial flows interact with political and economic stability, instability, and crises.
3) In the third part on international development, we will learn about global economic inequality and understand its links to development cooperation and migration.
4) In the fourth part on international institutions, we will focus on the role that international institutions and organizations play in the globalized economy.
This lecture offers an introduction to current research topics in the field of International Political Economy (IPE). After introducing what it means to study IPE in the age of globalization, the course addresses four major themes of current IPE research.
1) In the first part on international trade, we will learn about the opportunities and challenges that come with the intensifying exchange of goods across the globe.
2) In the second part on international finance, we will focus on how global financial flows interact with political and economic stability, instability, and crises.
3) In the third part on international development, we will learn about global economic inequality and understand its links to development cooperation and migration.
4) In the fourth part on international institutions, we will focus on the role that international institutions and organizations play in the globalized economy.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Elective courses from Comparative Politics (M.A. Political Science)
Advanced Topics in Comparative Politics: Formal Models in CP (and some in IR) (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Recommended requirement:
Literature:
Various chapters of Scott Gehlbach's Formal Models of Domestic Politics (CUP) and journal articles from different fields
Examination achievement:
Term paper
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Bräuninger
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | B 317 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
This course is a continuation of the intro into Game Theory and surveys key applications of game theory with a particular emphasis on the link of theories, methods and empirics. Emphasis will be placed on prominent applications of those concepts in political science, in both comparative and international politics. Topics covered include electoral competition, delegation, political agency, governmental veto players, authoritarian politics, manipulation, war and crisis bargaining. While the focus is on understanding applied work, previous training in game theory is required. Students will build upon their previous game theory training to become informed consumers of scholarship utilizing the methodology and begin to learn how to apply game-theoretic logic to their own work. The course is partly taught from lecture notes, at other times students present a research paper and stimulate discussion in class.
The course may also count as an Advanced Topics Seminar in International Relations. In this case, please indicate this accordingly to the Student Services via email when you register for the exam during exam registration period.
The course may also count as an Advanced Topics Seminar in International Relations. In this case, please indicate this accordingly to the Student Services via email when you register for the exam during exam registration period.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Advanced Topics in Comparative Politics: Free Speech and Censorship (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Term paper
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Richard Traunmüller
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | B 318 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
This seminar starts from the premise that the current epistemic political crisis is not rooted in a denial of scientific facts, but in the ubiquitous tendency to evaluate scientific findings selectively and according to one's own political ideas. Researchers, too, are ordinary people and therefore politically motivated information processors. They seek information that supports their political ideas and avoid information that contradicts their ideas. They also seem to consider study results more plausible when they are consistent with their political ideas and to doubt study results that contradict their political beliefs. If this tendency, known as myside bias, meets the possibility of flexible presentation of results and a politically unbalanced disciplinary environment, politically biased findings are a very real danger and epistemic distrust an obvious, if not indicated, consequence. In this seminar we will discuss what political biases in science exist, where they come from, what consequences they have and what we can do about them.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Advanced Topics in Comparative Politics: Political Behavior in Context (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Term Paper (ca. 8.000 words)
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Harald Schoen
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 13:45 – 15:15 | B 318 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
Political behavior takes place in context. This statement is a truism and implies several challenges at the same time. Context is a multidimensional concept comprising – inter alia – social, political, and institutional features. At the theoretical level, the diversity of dimensions requires careful consideration of how to integrate contextual features into individual-level models of political behavior. Moreover, combining data from different levels of aggregation to examine the role of contexts in individual-level behavior raises several methodological issues. In this seminar, we will address the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological issues in the analysis of contextual effects on individual-level political behavior. Students will review the latest empirical studies in the field and prepare research papers in which they analyze specific questions using available data sets.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Methods (MET)
Crafting Social Science Research
Crafting Social Science Research (Lecture w/
Course type:
Lecture w/
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Examination achievement:
Research proposal term paper (circa 10 pages)
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Gschwend
Date(s):
| Tuesday (weekly) | 02.09.2025 – 02.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | 211 Seminarraum; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
All researchers face similar challenges with core issues of research design. A research design is a plan that specifies how you are going to carry out a research project and, particularly, how to use evidence to answer your research question. The goal of this course is to jump-start students with their dissertation proposal. This course should help students to see the trade-offs involved in choosing a particular research design in their research projects. Consequently students are expected to develop own ideas about potential research questions and actively participate in those seminar-style meetings that are organized within this lecture course.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Quantitative Methods (formerly: Multivariate Analyses)
S Quantitative Methods (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Domantas Undzenas
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 08:30 – 10:00 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
Description:
| This tutorial accompanies the course “Quantitative Methods” in the M.A. program in Political Science. The lab sessions will focus on the practical issues associated with quantitative methods, including obtaining and preparing data sets, how to use statistical software, which tests to use for different kinds of problems, how to graph data effectively for presentation and analysis, and how to interpret results. The seminar will also serve as a software tutorial. No prior knowledge of statistical programming is expected. |
S Quantitative Methods (Tutorial) (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Muhammad Muhammad
Date(s):
| Friday (weekly) | 05.09.2025 – 05.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | B 318 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
| This tutorial accompanies the course “Quantitative Methods” in the M.A. program in Political Science. The lab sessions will focus on the practical issues associated with quantitative methods, including obtaining and preparing data sets, how to use statistical software, which tests to use for different kinds of problems, how to graph data effectively for presentation and analysis, and how to interpret results. The seminar will also serve as a software tutorial. No prior knowledge of statistical programming is expected. |
VL Quantitative Methods (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Examination achievement:
data essay approx. 2000 words
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Gschwend
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 08:30 – 10:00 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
The course introduces students to quantitative methods in political science. During the first half of the course, we will focus on linear regression models. The topics covered include discussions of the mathematical bases for such models, their estimation and interpretation, model assumptions and techniques for addressing violations of those assumptions, and topics related to model specification and functional forms. During the second half of the course, students will be introduced to likelihood as a theory of inference, including models for binary and count data.
The main goals of this course are to develop sound critical judgment about quantitative studies of political problems, to understand the logic of statistical inference, to recognize and understand the basics of the linear regression model, to develop the skills necessary to work with datasets to perform basic quantitative analyses, and to provide a basis of knowledge for more advanced statistical methods.
In the accompanying course “Tutorial Multivariate Analyses” students will develop the necessary expertise in using statistical software to conduct quantitative research in political science.
The main goals of this course are to develop sound critical judgment about quantitative studies of political problems, to understand the logic of statistical inference, to recognize and understand the basics of the linear regression model, to develop the skills necessary to work with datasets to perform basic quantitative analyses, and to provide a basis of knowledge for more advanced statistical methods.
In the accompanying course “Tutorial Multivariate Analyses” students will develop the necessary expertise in using statistical software to conduct quantitative research in political science.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Game Theory
S Game Theory (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
David Avagian
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 13:45 – 15:15 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
This tutorial accompanies the graduate-level introductory lecture on game theory. Its main objective is to practice solution concepts for static and dynamic games of complete and incomplete information. The contents are centered around the material covered in the lecture. Thus, the following key areas will be discussed: normal-form games, dominance, Nash equilibria, mixed strategies, continuous strategies, sequential games with perfect and incomplete information, subgames and subgame perfection, Bayesian equilibria, signaling and cheap talk games, expected utility and decision theory, bargaining theory, and social choice. At the substantial level, we will use these concepts to study, as examples, candidate competition, political lobbying, and war and deterrence.
VL Game Theory (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Recommended requirement:
Examination achievement:
Exam
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Bräuninger
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | C 012 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
The objective of this course is to provide students with the basics of formal modeling in political science. The course has some breadth in coverage in the sense that it provides a graduate-level introduction and overview to different areas in game theory. It is also narrow in the sense that the emphasis is not on application and model testing but getting trained in reading and writing down formal models. At the conceptual level the course will cover the following topics: normal form games, Nash equilibria, extensive form games, subgame perfect equilibria, repeated games, bargaining, games with incomplete and imperfect information, Bayesian perfect equilibria, signaling games, preferences and individual choices, basics of decision theory and social choice. At the substantial level, we will use these concepts to study, as examples, candidate competition, political lobbying, and war and deterrence.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Research Skills (RES)
CDSS Workshop Political Science
CDSS Workshop: Political Science (Workshop, english)
Course type:
Workshop
ECTS:
3.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Ph. D. Nan Zhang
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 12:00 – 13:30 | 211 Seminarraum; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
Participation is mandatory for first to third year CDSS students of Political Science. Participation is recommended for later CDSS PhD candidates, but to no credit.
Other young researchers in the social sciences affiliated with the University of Mannheim (incl. MZES) are also invited to attend the talks.
The goal of this course is to provide support and crucial feedback for CDSS doctoral students on their ongoing dissertation project. In this workshop they are expected to play two roles – provide feedback to their peers as well as present their own work in order to receive feedback.
In order to receive useful feedback, participants are asked to circulate their paper and two related published pieces of research one week before the talk.
ridge Course from the course offer of the CDSS, CDSB and CDSE
Bridge Course – from the GESS course offer
Women in Leadership (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
5
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
This is a Pass/
- Give a paper presentation in building block 1.
- Participate in an IAT in building block 2.
- Give a conference presentation in building block 3.
- Participate in a negotiation in building block 4.
- Full and active participation in all four building blocks is necessary to pass the course.
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Alexandra Niessen-Ruenzi, Sehrish Usman
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | O 131 Wilhelm Müller Hörsaal; Schloss Ostflügel |
| Wednesday (block date) | 22.10.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | O 131 Wilhelm Müller Hörsaal; Schloss Ostflügel |
| Wednesday (block date) | 29.10.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | O 131 Wilhelm Müller Hörsaal; Schloss Ostflügel |
| Wednesday (block date) | 05.11.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | O 131 Wilhelm Müller Hörsaal; Schloss Ostflügel |
| Wednesday (block date) | 12.11.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | O 131 Wilhelm Müller Hörsaal; Schloss Ostflügel |
Description:
This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine the gender gap in leadership positions.
We will analyze the psychological and economic reasons for the low fraction of women in leadership. While leadership positions are defined broadly and range from politics to public and private institutions, a special emphasis will be on the academic environment.
The course will highlight women’s educational and labor market choices, their fertility decisions, and their preferences. We will also examine structural hurdles for women to reach the top, for example stereotypes, discrimination, and social norms. Finally, the effectiveness of gender equality measures – such as quota systems – will be discussed. In addition to the theoretical and empirical fundamentals, the course also comprises two hands-on practical sessions taught by experienced instructors in which students’ rhetoric and negotiation skills are trained.
The course consists of four core building blocks:
1. Women in Leadership: The Economic Perspective.
This part of the course focusses on (economic) reasons for gender gaps in leadership positions. We start by looking at the status quo of women in leadership. Course participants are introduced to statistics on the fraction of women in various leadership positions (with an emphasis on women in academia). We will discuss time trends and differences across countries. Research evidence on the effectiveness of gender equality measures such as gender quotas and family friendly policies will be discussed and their impact on economic outcome variables such as women’s labor market choices and the gender pay gap will be examined. We will also examine gender differences in risk preferences and in the willingness to compete. The last part of this section deals with role model effects and students will be asked to prepare a short presentation on a female role model.
2. Women in Leadership: The Psychological Perspective.
The psychological perspective addresses gender stereotypes as one of the key barriers to female advancement into attractive organizational positions such as leadership positions. Gender stereotypes reflect widely shared expectations about the characteristics of men and women (descriptive component of gender stereotypes), but they can also prescribe how women and men should or should not behave (prescriptive stereotypes). Both kinds of stereotypical expectations about men and women can impact the way men and women define themselves and are perceived by others. Three sessions dealing with leadership and gender stereotypes will discuss stereotype contents, the changes over time and their impact on gender differences in leadership aspirations and success. In this context, we will address topics such as the “Think Manager – Think Male” – phenomenon, research on the Glass metaphors (glass ceiling, glass escalator, glass cliff), Queen Bee effects, backlash effects, as well as failure-as-an-asset effects. Students will be asked to discuss practical implications of the research presented and develop own ideas regarding interventions to increase the number of female leaders.
3. “Raise Your Voice” – Rhetoric Training
The third block consists of a hands-on training on delivering presentations in an academic context. Students will be instructed to present their research findings in a conference-like scenario. They will learn how to present their work in a convincing and professional manner and how to adequately respond to (critical) questions. Each student will have to give a short presentation and will receive individual feedback by the instructor on how to improve their presentation skills.
For successful training, students are asked to prepare the following items before the beginning of this block:
- Prepare a short presentation (5–7 minutes) on the following question: “What excites me about my research topic?”
- Bring a video-capable device (mobile phone or tablet) for the video exercises.
4. “Raise Your Pay” – Negotiation Training
The final part of this course teaches students negotiation skills. Students learn how to carry their point in a negotiation, how to deal with conflicts, and how to react to verbal attacks. Students will have to participate in a negotiation game and receive individual feedback by the instructor to improve their negotiation skills.
Training concept:
- Develop strategic negotiation skills for career advancement
- Apply theoretical insights through practical exercises
- Improve decision-making and conflict resolution capabilities
- Build a toolkit of negotiation tactics for salary, promotion, and career opportunities
As a prerequisite for participating in this training, students are expected to submit one personal negotiation topic in advance that they would like to address and develop during the course.
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSB (Other)
CDSB-Kurs-Intensive Longitudinal Methods in Contexts of Work and Learning (Seminar for doctoral students, german)
Course type:
Seminar for doctoral students
ECTS:
5.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
german
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Andreas Rausch
Date(s):
| Friday (weekly) | 05.09.2025 – 05.12.2025 | 08:30 – 10:00 | O 226–28 Seminarraum; Schloss Ostflügel |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSB (Accounting)
MET: Applied Data Science: Machine Learning for Economics and Business Data (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
5.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Instructor(s):
Dr. Eduard Brüll
Date(s):
| Tuesday (weekly) | 02.09.2025 – 02.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | O 226–28 Seminarraum; Schloss Ostflügel |
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSB (Information Systems)
Advanced Data Science Lab I (Exercise, english)
Course type:
Exercise
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
4
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Markus Strohmaier, Indira Sen
Date(s):
| Tuesday (weekly) | 02.09.2025 – 02.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | 314–315 Besprechungsraum; L 15, 1–6 (Hochhaus) |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSB (Management)
MAN 802 Fundamentals of Non-Profit Management Science (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
4
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Bernd Helmig
Date(s):
| Thursday (single date) | 18.09.2025 | 14:30 – 16:30 | EO 237 Besprechung; Schloss Ehrenhof Ost |
| Thursday (single date) | 09.10.2025 | 15:30 – 16:30 | EO 237 Besprechung; Schloss Ehrenhof Ost |
| Thursday (single date) | 20.11.2025 | 10:00 – 17:30 | EO 237 Besprechung; Schloss Ehrenhof Ost |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSB (Operations Management)
OPM 801 Optimization and Heuristics (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Raik Stolletz
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 15:30 – 18:45 | SO 322 Seminarraum; Schloss Schneckenhof Ost |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
OPM 918 Business Analytics: Models, Methods, Managerial Insights (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Raik Stolletz
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 29.01.2026 | 10:15 – 13:30 | SO 318 Seminarraum; Schloss Schneckenhof Ost |
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSS (Psychology)
AG1/
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
4.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Learning target:
This course provides an in-depth overview of current topics in work and organizational psychology. Based on the restricted employee sustainability theory (REST, Barnes et al., 2003) we will discuss processes related to stress, well-being maintenance, social support, and learning & development within organizations. The focus is on reading recent original literature and critical discussions. To gain course credits, students will provide written answers to questions related to the topics and articles discussed in the course.
Literature:
Journal papers; reading assignments will be given at the beginning of the semester.
Examination achievement:
schriftliche Hausarbeit
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Sabine Sonnentag
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 17:15 – 18:45 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
| Wednesday (single date) | 01.10.2025 | 19:00 – 20:30 | C 217 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
Diese Vorlesung bietet eine Einführung in das Fach Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie und stellt dabei wesentliche Themen vor, unter anderem Arbeitsmotivation, Stress, Arbeitsgruppen, Führung, Arbeitsanalyse, Leistungsbeurteilung, Personalauswahl, Training. Es wird ein erster Überblick über wichtige forschungs- und praxisbezogene Fragestellungen vermittelt, wobei insbesondere die empirische Basis des Faches betont wird. Diese Veranstaltung empfiehlt sich für alle Studierenden als Einstieg in das Fach „Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie”.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
BC2 (also AC1): Research and Application Techniques 2: Creating experiments with lab.js (Intensive seminar, english)
Course type:
Intensive seminar
ECTS:
4.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Registration procedure:
If exchange students require a grade, the course will be graded.
PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS will be contacted by the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de) via mail to indicate their course preferences.
NON-PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS may solely attend if (a) places are left (b) students posses basic knowledge in Psychology and statistics (c) the docent approves participation. For applications please contact the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de).
PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS will be contacted by the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de) via mail to indicate their course preferences.
NON-PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS may solely attend if (a) places are left (b) students posses basic knowledge in Psychology and statistics (c) the docent approves participation. For applications please contact the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de).
Literature:
Software:
OpenSesame can be downloaded for free under http://osdoc.cogsci.nl/index.html, where you can also find an extensive documentation.
Literature:
Mathôt, S., Schreij, D., & Theeuwes, J. (2012). OpenSesame: An open-source, graphical experiment builder for the social sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 44(2), 314–324. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0168-7 (Open Access)
OpenSesame can be downloaded for free under http://osdoc.cogsci.nl/index.html, where you can also find an extensive documentation.
Literature:
Mathôt, S., Schreij, D., & Theeuwes, J. (2012). OpenSesame: An open-source, graphical experiment builder for the social sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 44(2), 314–324. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0168-7 (Open Access)
Examination achievement:
Creating an experiment (specific requirements discussed in course)
Instructor(s):
Dr. Sophie Scharf
Date(s):
| Friday (single date) | 10.10.2025 | 10:15 – 17:00 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Saturday (single date) | 11.10.2025 | 10:15 – 15:15 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 24.10.2025 | 10:15 – 17:00 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Saturday (single date) | 25.10.2025 | 10:15 – 15:15 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
lab.js is a simple, graphical tool to help you build studies for the web and the laboratory – in addition, it is free and open-source. Many standard tasks can be implemented in lab.js using its graphical user interface. Further, more complex tasks can be realized through the underlying programming language JavaScript.
The goal of the workshop is to provide an introduction to both approaches. In doing so, the workshop involves both structured input from the instructor as well as a number of practical exercises so that participants can directly explore the features of lab.js.
No prior knowledge of the software or JavaScript is required. As an assignment, participants will create their own experiment based on the requirements discussed in the workshop.
The goal of the workshop is to provide an introduction to both approaches. In doing so, the workshop involves both structured input from the instructor as well as a number of practical exercises so that participants can directly explore the features of lab.js.
No prior knowledge of the software or JavaScript is required. As an assignment, participants will create their own experiment based on the requirements discussed in the workshop.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
BC2 (also AC1): Research and Application Techniques 2: Mathematical and Statistical Foundations of Psychology (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
4.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Literature:
- Dunn, P. K., & Smyth, G. K. (2018). Generalized linear models with examples in R. New York: Springer.
- Hoffman, L. (2015). Longitudinal analysis: Modeling within-person fluctuation and change. New York: Routledge.
- James, G., Witten, D., Hastie, T., & Tibshirani, R. (2013). An intro¬duction to statistical learning with applications in R. New York: Springer.
- Kline, R. B. (2023). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford.
- Snijders, T. A. B., & Bosker, R. J. (2012). Multilevel analysis: An introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modeling. London: Sage.
Examination achievement:
Master students (BC2): Marked written exam (90 minutes)
Doctoral researchers (CDSS): Individual course criteria (e.g., short presentation, exercises, etc.)
Doctoral researchers from other institutions: Criteria depending on local regulations and requirements
Doctoral researchers (CDSS): Individual course criteria (e.g., short presentation, exercises, etc.)
Doctoral researchers from other institutions: Criteria depending on local regulations and requirements
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thorsten Meiser
Date(s):
| Friday (single date) | 12.09.2025 | 09:00 – 12:30 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 17.10.2025 | 09:00 – 12:30 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 21.11.2025 | 09:00 – 12:30 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
Mathematical and Statistical Foundations of Psychology
This course gives an introduction to the basic elements of linear algebra and mathematical calculus that are relevant for statistical modeling and hypothesis testing in psychological research and in related areas of the social sciences. We will go through essential concepts and operations of matrix and vector algebra, differential equations and integral calculus, and we will discuss implications for parameter estimation and measures of statistical uncertainty in multivariate models. Beyond these formal foundations, an advanced overview of applied statistical models will be provided, including linear and generalized linear models, machine learning-based regularization procedures, structural equation models, and multilevel analysis with a particular focus on modeling longitudinal data. The statistical models and procedures will be illustrated with simulated and empirical data. In addition, model specification, parameter estimation and hypothesis testing will be demonstrated and practiced in R. The combination of mathematical foundations and applied statistical analysis enhances the understanding of key concepts of statistical modeling, and it enables students and young researchers to tailor statistical models and tests according to their specific research questions.
This course gives an introduction to the basic elements of linear algebra and mathematical calculus that are relevant for statistical modeling and hypothesis testing in psychological research and in related areas of the social sciences. We will go through essential concepts and operations of matrix and vector algebra, differential equations and integral calculus, and we will discuss implications for parameter estimation and measures of statistical uncertainty in multivariate models. Beyond these formal foundations, an advanced overview of applied statistical models will be provided, including linear and generalized linear models, machine learning-based regularization procedures, structural equation models, and multilevel analysis with a particular focus on modeling longitudinal data. The statistical models and procedures will be illustrated with simulated and empirical data. In addition, model specification, parameter estimation and hypothesis testing will be demonstrated and practiced in R. The combination of mathematical foundations and applied statistical analysis enhances the understanding of key concepts of statistical modeling, and it enables students and young researchers to tailor statistical models and tests according to their specific research questions.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Ringvorlesung: Unwrapping the mind: knowledge, cognition, and AI (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
5.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Exam
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Nicole Altvater-Mackensen, Prof. Dr. Arndt Bröder, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Freitag, Prof. Dr. Beatrice Kuhlmann, Prof. Dr. Simone Paolo Ponzetto, Prof. Dr. Carola Trips
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 17:15 – 18:45 | EO 150 AbsolventUM Hörsaal; Schloss Ehrenhof Ost |
Description:
With the rise of AI models like GPT-4, machines seem capable of mimicking human cognitive processes-thinking, perceiving, learning, and even making decisions. But do they truly think, or are they merely processing patterns in complex ways? In this lecture series, experts in cognitive science will explore what makes human cognition exceptional (if at all), how AI challenges our understanding of intelligence, and what we can gain from integrating AI into cognitive research. We will also address how insights from human cognition can help develop more efficient, interpretable AI models and examine the ethical considerations that come with their use. The perspective of psychology will approach cognition using both experiments and formal modeling.
Lectures will tackle human judgment and decision making, memory processes and memory strategies developing across the life-span, categorization and estimation as well as metacognition – the knowledge about one's own cognitive processes. . From the linguistic perspective, we will focus on language acquisition and processing, as well as on the question how language relates to other domains of cognition. We will present both experimental results and historical corpus data to showcase how language is represented and processed in the mind and how learners acquire language along the dimension of time. From a computational and AI-driven standpoint, the series will cover the modeling of cognitive processes, investigating how human judgment and decision-making are represented in computational frameworks. We will also explore the inner workings of AI language models, discussing how they process and generate language and how they can be extended through multimodal learning and interaction with users.
The philosophy lectures will explore what it means to say that something or someone “thinks” or “feels”. We examine whether attributing mental states to artificial machines differs fundamentally from doing so to humans or non-human animals. We hope that this will also shed light on the broader implications of AI for our general understanding of mind and agency.
Bringing together research from psychology, linguistics, computational science, and philosophy, this series offers a rich and interdisciplinary exploration of intelligence, learning, and perception-both human and artificial.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSS (Sociology)
Cross Sectional Data Analysis (Lecture) (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Recommended requirement:
Literature:
Literature: Books are available in the library. The slides can be downloaded from ILIAS.
Examination achievement:
Written exam (90 minutes)
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Gautschi
Date(s):
| Tuesday (weekly) | 02.09.2025 – 02.12.2025 | 13:45 – 15:15 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
The main focus of this course lies on the introduction to statistical models and estimators beyond linear regression useful to social and economic scientists. Although very useful, the general linear model (linear regression) is not appropriate if the range of the dependent variable Y is restricted (e.g., binary, ordinal, count) and/
Tutorials: Classes will be accompanied by two tutorials to repeat and practice the topics from the lectures. We will use the statistical packages R and Stata.
Credits and Exam: Credits (6+3 ECTS points) are awarded on a passed written exam. Participation in the final exam is subject to having passed all requirements (Studienleistungen) in the tutorial.
Requirements tutorial (Studienleistungen): Presentations of weekly exercises; you must hand in the slides of the presentation, the Stata or R syntax file and output of the respective exercise, and a short output interpretation.
Contact: Fon (0621) 181–2049 or mail gautschi@sowi.uni-mannheim.de
Tutorials: Classes will be accompanied by two tutorials to repeat and practice the topics from the lectures. We will use the statistical packages R and Stata.
Credits and Exam: Credits (6+3 ECTS points) are awarded on a passed written exam. Participation in the final exam is subject to having passed all requirements (Studienleistungen) in the tutorial.
Requirements tutorial (Studienleistungen): Presentations of weekly exercises; you must hand in the slides of the presentation, the Stata or R syntax file and output of the respective exercise, and a short output interpretation.
Contact: Fon (0621) 181–2049 or mail gautschi@sowi.uni-mannheim.de
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Cross Sectional Data Analysis (Tutorial) (Scientific exercise, english)
Course type:
Scientific exercise
ECTS:
3
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Learning target:
The goal of the lab session is a) to practice the topics you learned in applied form, b) an opportunity for questions, and c) give you and discuss with you hands-on approaches for your further empirical work (e.g., the graphical representation of results).
Instructor(s):
Danielle Martin Ph.D.
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | B 318 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
Lab sessions will repeat and practice topics from the lecture based on weekly exercises. These exercises follow the lecture so that you will have a week or more to solve each exercise.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Cross Sectional Data Analysis (Tutorial) (Scientific exercise, english)
Course type:
Scientific exercise
ECTS:
3
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Learning target:
The goal of the lab session is a) to practice the topics you learned in applied form, b) an opportunity for questions, and c) give you and discuss with you hands-on approaches for your further empirical work (e.g., the graphical representation of results).
Instructor(s):
Dr. Sandra Morgenstern
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 13:45 – 15:15 | B 243 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
Lab sessions will repeat and practice topics from the lecture based on weekly exercises. These exercises follow the lecture so that you will have a week or more to solve each exercise.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Research Design (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
4
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
written exam (90 min.)
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Joseph Sakshaug
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 13:45 – 15:15 | C 012 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
How do we know which research design fits best our research question? What requirements must be in place for good descriptive, causal and predictive inference? How do we estimate causal effects? How do we design and analyze experiments? Can we make causal claims from observational data? Researchers in the social sciences must be able to answer all of these questions.
This course teaches the fundamental concepts behind the estimation of causal effects, including potential obstacles to causal inference. Real-world examples will be discussed in detail and students will apply the techniques learned with real datasets in R. Students will come away with an understanding of how to estimate causal effects in both randomized and observational settings, with a particular focus on the careful design of both types of studies.
This course teaches the fundamental concepts behind the estimation of causal effects, including potential obstacles to causal inference. Real-world examples will be discussed in detail and students will apply the techniques learned with real datasets in R. Students will come away with an understanding of how to estimate causal effects in both randomized and observational settings, with a particular focus on the careful design of both types of studies.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Research Design (Tutorial) (Scientific exercise, english)
Course type:
Scientific exercise
ECTS:
3.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Dr. Ruben Bach
Date(s):
| Wednesday (fortnightly) | 03.09.2025 – 26.11.2025 | 12:00 – 15:30 | A 301 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
Description:
| In the practice sessions, students will learn how to implement causal inference methods in R. Students should bring their own laptop for the all practice sessions. Previous knowledge in R is not necessary although advantageous. Please make also sure to install R and R studio before the first practice session. |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Research Design (Tutorial) (Scientific exercise, english)
Course type:
Scientific exercise
ECTS:
3.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Max Otto
Date(s):
| Thursday (fortnightly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 15:30 – 18:45 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
Description:
| In the practice sessions, students will learn how to implement causal inference methods in R. Students should bring their own laptop for the all practice sessions. Previous knowledge in R is not necessary although advantageous. Please make also sure to install R and R studio before the first practice session. |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
S Elective Seminar: Comparing welfare states with cross-national and process tracing analyses (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Written term paper (5000 words) by mid-January 2026
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Ebbinghaus, Andrew Zola
Date(s):
| Tuesday (weekly) | 02.09.2025 – 02.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | C 112 Unterrichtsraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
Comparing welfare states has become a major sociological field, using a variety of methods to study institutional differences, historical path dependencies, and societal changes. This elective seminar provides an introduction to comparative strategies and methods, particular those used in cross‐national comparison of modern welfare states, using examples of empirical studies from this filed. In the seminar, the different quantitative and qualitative methods and strategies to compare internationally and to analyse processes over time will be discussed. It begins with an overview of the main approaches to historical and comparative sociology (Durkheim, Weber) and the differences in current research practice between variable‐and case‐oriented sociological analysis. Comparative welfare state analysis and the varieties of capitalism perspective use macro‐comparative typologies to explain cross‐ national differences, using both qualitative and quantitative methods to explore cross‐national differences. Qualitative comparative methods (QCA, fuzzy set), comparative or time‐related quantitative methods (cluster analysis, pooled time series) will be discussed. In addition, the method of within‐case analysis, in particular process tracing, that seeks to establish tests for evaluating evidence about causal mechanism over time will be discussed. The application of these methods and approaches will be illustrated by examples from comparative studies of welfare states and market economies. Finally, recent debates on the pro/
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
S Wahlmodul B: Migration and Integration (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Students will be evaluated based on a term paper (6 ECTS).
Term Paper:
Term Paper:
- Length: Approximately 5,000 words (±500), including references but excluding appendices.
- Content Requirements:
- Research Question: A clearly defined and original question.
- Literature Review: A critical review demonstrating the relevance of the research question and existing scholarship.
- Argument: A well-reasoned and evidence-based thesis.
- Empirical Evidence: Empirical examples that substantiate the argument.
- Deadline: January 15, 2026.
Instructor(s):
Dr. Keonhi Son
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 12:00 – 13:30 | C 216 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
A gender perspective challenges key assumptions in comparative welfare research. Traditionally, the unit of comparative welfare analysis has been the average male worker in the manufacturing industry with dependents. This operationalization implicitly excludes women from empirical analysis, particularly in historical contexts, as significant female labor market participation only emerged after the 1970s. For example, while male workers' political struggles were instrumental in shaping welfare states by securing social rights, it remains unclear whether women exerted similar influence, given their historically limited access to political resources such as voting rights in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Moreover, although traditional social policies have faced retrenchment in times of austerity, work-family policies have expanded over the past two decades, coinciding with rising female labor force participation and increased female representation in parliaments.
This seminar provides students with the opportunity to critically examine theoretical frameworks in comparative welfare research from a gender perspective and to test these theoretical propositions empirically. The course explores the impact of welfare policies on gender relations and assesses women's political influence on the formation of welfare policies within historical continuities. The seminar is structured in two parts. First, it introduces feminist critiques of welfare states and empirical studies that analyze the historical development of social policies for women and the role of women as political actors in these processes. After engaging with the relevant literature, the second part of the seminar culminates in a student-led conference, where participants will present empirical research testing whether conventional welfare research determinants apply to social policies for women. Each presentation will be 20 minutes long and will integrate key course themes and insights.
This seminar provides students with the opportunity to critically examine theoretical frameworks in comparative welfare research from a gender perspective and to test these theoretical propositions empirically. The course explores the impact of welfare policies on gender relations and assesses women's political influence on the formation of welfare policies within historical continuities. The seminar is structured in two parts. First, it introduces feminist critiques of welfare states and empirical studies that analyze the historical development of social policies for women and the role of women as political actors in these processes. After engaging with the relevant literature, the second part of the seminar culminates in a student-led conference, where participants will present empirical research testing whether conventional welfare research determinants apply to social policies for women. Each presentation will be 20 minutes long and will integrate key course themes and insights.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
S Vertiefungsmodul/
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Recommended requirement:
Examination achievement:
Term paper
Instructor(s):
Dr. Tamara Gutfleisch
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 13:45 – 15:15 | C 112 Unterrichtsraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
In sociology and related fields, factorial survey experiments (also known as vignette experiments) are widely used to study a range of social phenomena. This method combines experimental logic with survey techniques to examine the causal effects of multiple dimensions (e.g., education, age) on outcomes such as attitudes, judgments, or behavioral intentions. This course provides an introduction to the methodological foundations of factorial survey experiments, discusses the strengths and limitations of the approach, and situates it within the broader family of experimental methods. Emphasis will be placed on practical application: through hands-on exercises, students will learn how to develop and conduct their own factorial survey experiment, from formulating research questions and constructing vignettes to preparing the design for implementation. By the end of the course, participants will be able to critically assess experimental research in the social sciences and to design their own research project using factorial survey experiments.
Students will be required to create an account on the SAS on Demand platform using their student email adress. Further details will be provided in the seminar.
Students will be required to create an account on the SAS on Demand platform using their student email adress. Further details will be provided in the seminar.
S Elective Seminar: Introduction to Political Sociology (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Term paper
Instructor(s):
Benjamin Rohr Ph.D.
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | D 002 Seminarraum 1; B 6, 27–29 Bauteil D |
Description:
Beschreibung: How did nation states form? How do small groups of people get large populations to obey them? When and why do people protest and rebel? What is the relationship between the state and the economy? What stabilizes authoritarian regimes? What draws people to populist ideologies? By reading and discussing texts which attempt to provide answers to these and related questions, this course introduces students to the main themes that have dominated the subfield of political sociology, including state formation, revolutions, social movements, nationalism, authoritarianism, populism, political polarization, and voting and political parties. By the end of the course, students will not only be familiar with the main topics within political sociology but also have acquired a sociological perspective on politics and a set of conceptual tools with which to analyze political developments.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
S Elective Seminar: Structuralist Theory (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Write three memos (4–5 pages) on three selected topics of the class.
Instructor(s):
Prof. Ph. D. Henning Hillmann
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 01.10.2025 – 12.11.2025 | 08:30 – 11:45 | D 002 Seminarraum 1; B 6, 27–29 Bauteil D |
Description:
The aim of this course is to introduce students to structuralist theorizing in the social sciences. One way to characterize structuralist thinking is to posit the primacy of relations over attributes: considering kinship, for example, it is not meaningful to speak of being a father without any reference to sons and daughters. In other words, any social role is inherently relational because it always entails a role complement (father-son, or father-daughter). As we will see throughout the course, much of social life and human behavior can be understood with reference to such relational pairs. Pairs often come in the form of binary oppositions: nature-nurture; female-male; young-elder; us-them; and so forth. Drawing on the work of Claude Lévi-Strauss in particular, the course aims (a) to systematically understand the building blocks of structuralist thinking, and (b) to understand its implications for social organization and cohesion writ large, that is, what holds societies together in the long run. Substantive empirical evidence will come from systems of social exchange, governed by norms of reciprocity; from the contrast between restricted and generalized exchange; the formation and ambiguities of role structures; and from the structural analysis of culture, in particular in the form of myths that provide a foundation for social organization in indigenous societies. Students planning to take this class should be prepared to consider empirical examples that come from rather exotic societies, remote in place and time from our contemporary society.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
S Elective Seminar: The unequal distribution of health and illness (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Students are required to attend all classes (one absence will be excused). Credits will be granted for active participation, an oral presentation and a paper on one of the themes of the seminar.
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Christof Wolf
Date(s):
| Friday (block date) | 12.09.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
| Friday (block date) | 26.09.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
| Friday (block date) | 10.10.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
| Friday (block date) | 17.10.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
| Friday (block date) | 07.11.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
| Friday (block date) | 21.11.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
| Friday (block date) | 28.11.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
Description:
This course aims at introducing students to selected research questions from the field of health sociology. We begin by giving a short introduction to the sociology of health and illness and some key findings regarding the role of societal factors in the historical development of population health. Additionally, we will discuss methodological questions arising when defining, measuring and studying health and illness. After these introductory sessions we will focus on two central topics: first, the relationship between social inequality and health and second, the effect of social cohesion on health. Both topics will be discussed from a micro and macro perspective, respectively. The course ends with a discussion of policy implications following from a sociological perspective on health and illness.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Additional courses outside the doctoral program
Classes on methodology from the course offer of the M.A. programs in Political Science
Advanced Topics in Comparative Politics: Formal Models in CP (and some in IR) (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Recommended requirement:
Literature:
Various chapters of Scott Gehlbach's Formal Models of Domestic Politics (CUP) and journal articles from different fields
Examination achievement:
Term paper
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Bräuninger
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | B 317 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
This course is a continuation of the intro into Game Theory and surveys key applications of game theory with a particular emphasis on the link of theories, methods and empirics. Emphasis will be placed on prominent applications of those concepts in political science, in both comparative and international politics. Topics covered include electoral competition, delegation, political agency, governmental veto players, authoritarian politics, manipulation, war and crisis bargaining. While the focus is on understanding applied work, previous training in game theory is required. Students will build upon their previous game theory training to become informed consumers of scholarship utilizing the methodology and begin to learn how to apply game-theoretic logic to their own work. The course is partly taught from lecture notes, at other times students present a research paper and stimulate discussion in class.
The course may also count as an Advanced Topics Seminar in International Relations. In this case, please indicate this accordingly to the Student Services via email when you register for the exam during exam registration period.
The course may also count as an Advanced Topics Seminar in International Relations. In this case, please indicate this accordingly to the Student Services via email when you register for the exam during exam registration period.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Classes on methodology from the course offer of the M.Sc. programs in Psychology
BC2 (also AC1): Research and Application Techniques 2: Creating experiments with lab.js (Intensive seminar, english)
Course type:
Intensive seminar
ECTS:
4.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Registration procedure:
If exchange students require a grade, the course will be graded.
PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS will be contacted by the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de) via mail to indicate their course preferences.
NON-PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS may solely attend if (a) places are left (b) students posses basic knowledge in Psychology and statistics (c) the docent approves participation. For applications please contact the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de).
PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS will be contacted by the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de) via mail to indicate their course preferences.
NON-PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS may solely attend if (a) places are left (b) students posses basic knowledge in Psychology and statistics (c) the docent approves participation. For applications please contact the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de).
Literature:
Software:
OpenSesame can be downloaded for free under http://osdoc.cogsci.nl/index.html, where you can also find an extensive documentation.
Literature:
Mathôt, S., Schreij, D., & Theeuwes, J. (2012). OpenSesame: An open-source, graphical experiment builder for the social sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 44(2), 314–324. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0168-7 (Open Access)
OpenSesame can be downloaded for free under http://osdoc.cogsci.nl/index.html, where you can also find an extensive documentation.
Literature:
Mathôt, S., Schreij, D., & Theeuwes, J. (2012). OpenSesame: An open-source, graphical experiment builder for the social sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 44(2), 314–324. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0168-7 (Open Access)
Examination achievement:
Creating an experiment (specific requirements discussed in course)
Instructor(s):
Dr. Sophie Scharf
Date(s):
| Friday (single date) | 10.10.2025 | 10:15 – 17:00 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Saturday (single date) | 11.10.2025 | 10:15 – 15:15 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 24.10.2025 | 10:15 – 17:00 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Saturday (single date) | 25.10.2025 | 10:15 – 15:15 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
lab.js is a simple, graphical tool to help you build studies for the web and the laboratory – in addition, it is free and open-source. Many standard tasks can be implemented in lab.js using its graphical user interface. Further, more complex tasks can be realized through the underlying programming language JavaScript.
The goal of the workshop is to provide an introduction to both approaches. In doing so, the workshop involves both structured input from the instructor as well as a number of practical exercises so that participants can directly explore the features of lab.js.
No prior knowledge of the software or JavaScript is required. As an assignment, participants will create their own experiment based on the requirements discussed in the workshop.
The goal of the workshop is to provide an introduction to both approaches. In doing so, the workshop involves both structured input from the instructor as well as a number of practical exercises so that participants can directly explore the features of lab.js.
No prior knowledge of the software or JavaScript is required. As an assignment, participants will create their own experiment based on the requirements discussed in the workshop.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
BC2 (also AC1): Research and Application Techniques 2: Mathematical and Statistical Foundations of Psychology (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
4.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Literature:
- Dunn, P. K., & Smyth, G. K. (2018). Generalized linear models with examples in R. New York: Springer.
- Hoffman, L. (2015). Longitudinal analysis: Modeling within-person fluctuation and change. New York: Routledge.
- James, G., Witten, D., Hastie, T., & Tibshirani, R. (2013). An intro¬duction to statistical learning with applications in R. New York: Springer.
- Kline, R. B. (2023). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford.
- Snijders, T. A. B., & Bosker, R. J. (2012). Multilevel analysis: An introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modeling. London: Sage.
Examination achievement:
Master students (BC2): Marked written exam (90 minutes)
Doctoral researchers (CDSS): Individual course criteria (e.g., short presentation, exercises, etc.)
Doctoral researchers from other institutions: Criteria depending on local regulations and requirements
Doctoral researchers (CDSS): Individual course criteria (e.g., short presentation, exercises, etc.)
Doctoral researchers from other institutions: Criteria depending on local regulations and requirements
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thorsten Meiser
Date(s):
| Friday (single date) | 12.09.2025 | 09:00 – 12:30 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 17.10.2025 | 09:00 – 12:30 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 21.11.2025 | 09:00 – 12:30 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
Mathematical and Statistical Foundations of Psychology
This course gives an introduction to the basic elements of linear algebra and mathematical calculus that are relevant for statistical modeling and hypothesis testing in psychological research and in related areas of the social sciences. We will go through essential concepts and operations of matrix and vector algebra, differential equations and integral calculus, and we will discuss implications for parameter estimation and measures of statistical uncertainty in multivariate models. Beyond these formal foundations, an advanced overview of applied statistical models will be provided, including linear and generalized linear models, machine learning-based regularization procedures, structural equation models, and multilevel analysis with a particular focus on modeling longitudinal data. The statistical models and procedures will be illustrated with simulated and empirical data. In addition, model specification, parameter estimation and hypothesis testing will be demonstrated and practiced in R. The combination of mathematical foundations and applied statistical analysis enhances the understanding of key concepts of statistical modeling, and it enables students and young researchers to tailor statistical models and tests according to their specific research questions.
This course gives an introduction to the basic elements of linear algebra and mathematical calculus that are relevant for statistical modeling and hypothesis testing in psychological research and in related areas of the social sciences. We will go through essential concepts and operations of matrix and vector algebra, differential equations and integral calculus, and we will discuss implications for parameter estimation and measures of statistical uncertainty in multivariate models. Beyond these formal foundations, an advanced overview of applied statistical models will be provided, including linear and generalized linear models, machine learning-based regularization procedures, structural equation models, and multilevel analysis with a particular focus on modeling longitudinal data. The statistical models and procedures will be illustrated with simulated and empirical data. In addition, model specification, parameter estimation and hypothesis testing will be demonstrated and practiced in R. The combination of mathematical foundations and applied statistical analysis enhances the understanding of key concepts of statistical modeling, and it enables students and young researchers to tailor statistical models and tests according to their specific research questions.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Psychology
Basic and Preparatory Courses (BAS)
Mathematics for Social Scientists
Mathematics for Social Scientists (Lecture w/
Course type:
Lecture w/
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Instructor(s):
Carlos Barbosa Gueiros
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | C 216 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Current Research Perspectives
Current Research Perspectives (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
2
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Gschwend
Date(s):
| Friday (single date) | 05.09.2025 | 08:30 – 11:45 | 211 Seminarraum; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Thursday (single date) | 11.09.2025 | 10:15 – 13:45 | 211 Seminarraum; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Thursday (single date) | 25.09.2025 | 10:15 – 13:45 | 211 Seminarraum; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 10.10.2025 | 08:30 – 11:45 | 211 Seminarraum; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
The core course “Current Research Perspectives” introduces first year doctoral students to the theoretically informed research approaches and substantive research fields that build the strongholds of social science research in Mannheim. The lecture series provides first year doctoral students with an overview of current debates and ongoing research in the fields of psychology, political science and sociology. Members of CDSS faculty will present in one hour lectures an overview of their research fields, report on prime examples of their current research, and provide an outlook on potential research topics for future research. CDSS doctoral students will have the opportunity to discuss the lecture and the required readings with the lecturer during the remaining discussion time.
A list of readings will be provided with required readings for all CDSS students that provide one state-of-the-art introductory text per lecture.
A list of readings will be provided with required readings for all CDSS students that provide one state-of-the-art introductory text per lecture.
Methods (MET)
Crafting Social Science Research
Crafting Social Science Research (Lecture w/
Course type:
Lecture w/
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Examination achievement:
Research proposal term paper (circa 10 pages)
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Gschwend
Date(s):
| Tuesday (weekly) | 02.09.2025 – 02.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | 211 Seminarraum; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
All researchers face similar challenges with core issues of research design. A research design is a plan that specifies how you are going to carry out a research project and, particularly, how to use evidence to answer your research question. The goal of this course is to jump-start students with their dissertation proposal. This course should help students to see the trade-offs involved in choosing a particular research design in their research projects. Consequently students are expected to develop own ideas about potential research questions and actively participate in those seminar-style meetings that are organized within this lecture course.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Classes on methodology from the course offer of the M.Sc. programs in Psychology
BC2 (also AC1): Research and Application Techniques 2: Creating experiments with lab.js (Intensive seminar, english)
Course type:
Intensive seminar
ECTS:
4.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Registration procedure:
If exchange students require a grade, the course will be graded.
PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS will be contacted by the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de) via mail to indicate their course preferences.
NON-PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS may solely attend if (a) places are left (b) students posses basic knowledge in Psychology and statistics (c) the docent approves participation. For applications please contact the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de).
PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS will be contacted by the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de) via mail to indicate their course preferences.
NON-PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS may solely attend if (a) places are left (b) students posses basic knowledge in Psychology and statistics (c) the docent approves participation. For applications please contact the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de).
Literature:
Software:
OpenSesame can be downloaded for free under http://osdoc.cogsci.nl/index.html, where you can also find an extensive documentation.
Literature:
Mathôt, S., Schreij, D., & Theeuwes, J. (2012). OpenSesame: An open-source, graphical experiment builder for the social sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 44(2), 314–324. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0168-7 (Open Access)
OpenSesame can be downloaded for free under http://osdoc.cogsci.nl/index.html, where you can also find an extensive documentation.
Literature:
Mathôt, S., Schreij, D., & Theeuwes, J. (2012). OpenSesame: An open-source, graphical experiment builder for the social sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 44(2), 314–324. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0168-7 (Open Access)
Examination achievement:
Creating an experiment (specific requirements discussed in course)
Instructor(s):
Dr. Sophie Scharf
Date(s):
| Friday (single date) | 10.10.2025 | 10:15 – 17:00 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Saturday (single date) | 11.10.2025 | 10:15 – 15:15 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 24.10.2025 | 10:15 – 17:00 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Saturday (single date) | 25.10.2025 | 10:15 – 15:15 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
lab.js is a simple, graphical tool to help you build studies for the web and the laboratory – in addition, it is free and open-source. Many standard tasks can be implemented in lab.js using its graphical user interface. Further, more complex tasks can be realized through the underlying programming language JavaScript.
The goal of the workshop is to provide an introduction to both approaches. In doing so, the workshop involves both structured input from the instructor as well as a number of practical exercises so that participants can directly explore the features of lab.js.
No prior knowledge of the software or JavaScript is required. As an assignment, participants will create their own experiment based on the requirements discussed in the workshop.
The goal of the workshop is to provide an introduction to both approaches. In doing so, the workshop involves both structured input from the instructor as well as a number of practical exercises so that participants can directly explore the features of lab.js.
No prior knowledge of the software or JavaScript is required. As an assignment, participants will create their own experiment based on the requirements discussed in the workshop.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
BC2 (also AC1): Research and Application Techniques 2: Mathematical and Statistical Foundations of Psychology (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
4.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Literature:
- Dunn, P. K., & Smyth, G. K. (2018). Generalized linear models with examples in R. New York: Springer.
- Hoffman, L. (2015). Longitudinal analysis: Modeling within-person fluctuation and change. New York: Routledge.
- James, G., Witten, D., Hastie, T., & Tibshirani, R. (2013). An intro¬duction to statistical learning with applications in R. New York: Springer.
- Kline, R. B. (2023). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford.
- Snijders, T. A. B., & Bosker, R. J. (2012). Multilevel analysis: An introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modeling. London: Sage.
Examination achievement:
Master students (BC2): Marked written exam (90 minutes)
Doctoral researchers (CDSS): Individual course criteria (e.g., short presentation, exercises, etc.)
Doctoral researchers from other institutions: Criteria depending on local regulations and requirements
Doctoral researchers (CDSS): Individual course criteria (e.g., short presentation, exercises, etc.)
Doctoral researchers from other institutions: Criteria depending on local regulations and requirements
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thorsten Meiser
Date(s):
| Friday (single date) | 12.09.2025 | 09:00 – 12:30 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 17.10.2025 | 09:00 – 12:30 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 21.11.2025 | 09:00 – 12:30 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
Mathematical and Statistical Foundations of Psychology
This course gives an introduction to the basic elements of linear algebra and mathematical calculus that are relevant for statistical modeling and hypothesis testing in psychological research and in related areas of the social sciences. We will go through essential concepts and operations of matrix and vector algebra, differential equations and integral calculus, and we will discuss implications for parameter estimation and measures of statistical uncertainty in multivariate models. Beyond these formal foundations, an advanced overview of applied statistical models will be provided, including linear and generalized linear models, machine learning-based regularization procedures, structural equation models, and multilevel analysis with a particular focus on modeling longitudinal data. The statistical models and procedures will be illustrated with simulated and empirical data. In addition, model specification, parameter estimation and hypothesis testing will be demonstrated and practiced in R. The combination of mathematical foundations and applied statistical analysis enhances the understanding of key concepts of statistical modeling, and it enables students and young researchers to tailor statistical models and tests according to their specific research questions.
This course gives an introduction to the basic elements of linear algebra and mathematical calculus that are relevant for statistical modeling and hypothesis testing in psychological research and in related areas of the social sciences. We will go through essential concepts and operations of matrix and vector algebra, differential equations and integral calculus, and we will discuss implications for parameter estimation and measures of statistical uncertainty in multivariate models. Beyond these formal foundations, an advanced overview of applied statistical models will be provided, including linear and generalized linear models, machine learning-based regularization procedures, structural equation models, and multilevel analysis with a particular focus on modeling longitudinal data. The statistical models and procedures will be illustrated with simulated and empirical data. In addition, model specification, parameter estimation and hypothesis testing will be demonstrated and practiced in R. The combination of mathematical foundations and applied statistical analysis enhances the understanding of key concepts of statistical modeling, and it enables students and young researchers to tailor statistical models and tests according to their specific research questions.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Classes on methodology from the course offer of the M.A. programs in Political Science
Advanced Topics in Comparative Politics: Formal Models in CP (and some in IR) (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Recommended requirement:
Literature:
Various chapters of Scott Gehlbach's Formal Models of Domestic Politics (CUP) and journal articles from different fields
Examination achievement:
Term paper
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Bräuninger
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | B 317 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
This course is a continuation of the intro into Game Theory and surveys key applications of game theory with a particular emphasis on the link of theories, methods and empirics. Emphasis will be placed on prominent applications of those concepts in political science, in both comparative and international politics. Topics covered include electoral competition, delegation, political agency, governmental veto players, authoritarian politics, manipulation, war and crisis bargaining. While the focus is on understanding applied work, previous training in game theory is required. Students will build upon their previous game theory training to become informed consumers of scholarship utilizing the methodology and begin to learn how to apply game-theoretic logic to their own work. The course is partly taught from lecture notes, at other times students present a research paper and stimulate discussion in class.
The course may also count as an Advanced Topics Seminar in International Relations. In this case, please indicate this accordingly to the Student Services via email when you register for the exam during exam registration period.
The course may also count as an Advanced Topics Seminar in International Relations. In this case, please indicate this accordingly to the Student Services via email when you register for the exam during exam registration period.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
S Game Theory (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
David Avagian
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 13:45 – 15:15 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
This tutorial accompanies the graduate-level introductory lecture on game theory. Its main objective is to practice solution concepts for static and dynamic games of complete and incomplete information. The contents are centered around the material covered in the lecture. Thus, the following key areas will be discussed: normal-form games, dominance, Nash equilibria, mixed strategies, continuous strategies, sequential games with perfect and incomplete information, subgames and subgame perfection, Bayesian equilibria, signaling and cheap talk games, expected utility and decision theory, bargaining theory, and social choice. At the substantial level, we will use these concepts to study, as examples, candidate competition, political lobbying, and war and deterrence.
S Quantitative Methods (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Domantas Undzenas
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 08:30 – 10:00 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
Description:
| This tutorial accompanies the course “Quantitative Methods” in the M.A. program in Political Science. The lab sessions will focus on the practical issues associated with quantitative methods, including obtaining and preparing data sets, how to use statistical software, which tests to use for different kinds of problems, how to graph data effectively for presentation and analysis, and how to interpret results. The seminar will also serve as a software tutorial. No prior knowledge of statistical programming is expected. |
S Quantitative Methods (Tutorial) (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Muhammad Muhammad
Date(s):
| Friday (weekly) | 05.09.2025 – 05.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | B 318 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
| This tutorial accompanies the course “Quantitative Methods” in the M.A. program in Political Science. The lab sessions will focus on the practical issues associated with quantitative methods, including obtaining and preparing data sets, how to use statistical software, which tests to use for different kinds of problems, how to graph data effectively for presentation and analysis, and how to interpret results. The seminar will also serve as a software tutorial. No prior knowledge of statistical programming is expected. |
VL Game Theory (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Recommended requirement:
Examination achievement:
Exam
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Bräuninger
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | C 012 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
The objective of this course is to provide students with the basics of formal modeling in political science. The course has some breadth in coverage in the sense that it provides a graduate-level introduction and overview to different areas in game theory. It is also narrow in the sense that the emphasis is not on application and model testing but getting trained in reading and writing down formal models. At the conceptual level the course will cover the following topics: normal form games, Nash equilibria, extensive form games, subgame perfect equilibria, repeated games, bargaining, games with incomplete and imperfect information, Bayesian perfect equilibria, signaling games, preferences and individual choices, basics of decision theory and social choice. At the substantial level, we will use these concepts to study, as examples, candidate competition, political lobbying, and war and deterrence.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
VL Quantitative Methods (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Examination achievement:
data essay approx. 2000 words
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Gschwend
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 08:30 – 10:00 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
The course introduces students to quantitative methods in political science. During the first half of the course, we will focus on linear regression models. The topics covered include discussions of the mathematical bases for such models, their estimation and interpretation, model assumptions and techniques for addressing violations of those assumptions, and topics related to model specification and functional forms. During the second half of the course, students will be introduced to likelihood as a theory of inference, including models for binary and count data.
The main goals of this course are to develop sound critical judgment about quantitative studies of political problems, to understand the logic of statistical inference, to recognize and understand the basics of the linear regression model, to develop the skills necessary to work with datasets to perform basic quantitative analyses, and to provide a basis of knowledge for more advanced statistical methods.
In the accompanying course “Tutorial Multivariate Analyses” students will develop the necessary expertise in using statistical software to conduct quantitative research in political science.
The main goals of this course are to develop sound critical judgment about quantitative studies of political problems, to understand the logic of statistical inference, to recognize and understand the basics of the linear regression model, to develop the skills necessary to work with datasets to perform basic quantitative analyses, and to provide a basis of knowledge for more advanced statistical methods.
In the accompanying course “Tutorial Multivariate Analyses” students will develop the necessary expertise in using statistical software to conduct quantitative research in political science.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Psychology Courses (PSY)
Elective courses from the course offer of the M.Sc. Psychology
AG1/
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
4.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Learning target:
This course provides an in-depth overview of current topics in work and organizational psychology. Based on the restricted employee sustainability theory (REST, Barnes et al., 2003) we will discuss processes related to stress, well-being maintenance, social support, and learning & development within organizations. The focus is on reading recent original literature and critical discussions. To gain course credits, students will provide written answers to questions related to the topics and articles discussed in the course.
Literature:
Journal papers; reading assignments will be given at the beginning of the semester.
Examination achievement:
schriftliche Hausarbeit
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Sabine Sonnentag
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 17:15 – 18:45 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
| Wednesday (single date) | 01.10.2025 | 19:00 – 20:30 | C 217 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
Diese Vorlesung bietet eine Einführung in das Fach Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie und stellt dabei wesentliche Themen vor, unter anderem Arbeitsmotivation, Stress, Arbeitsgruppen, Führung, Arbeitsanalyse, Leistungsbeurteilung, Personalauswahl, Training. Es wird ein erster Überblick über wichtige forschungs- und praxisbezogene Fragestellungen vermittelt, wobei insbesondere die empirische Basis des Faches betont wird. Diese Veranstaltung empfiehlt sich für alle Studierenden als Einstieg in das Fach „Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie”.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
BC2 (also AC1): Research and Application Techniques 2: Creating experiments with lab.js (Intensive seminar, english)
Course type:
Intensive seminar
ECTS:
4.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Registration procedure:
If exchange students require a grade, the course will be graded.
PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS will be contacted by the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de) via mail to indicate their course preferences.
NON-PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS may solely attend if (a) places are left (b) students posses basic knowledge in Psychology and statistics (c) the docent approves participation. For applications please contact the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de).
PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS will be contacted by the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de) via mail to indicate their course preferences.
NON-PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS may solely attend if (a) places are left (b) students posses basic knowledge in Psychology and statistics (c) the docent approves participation. For applications please contact the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de).
Literature:
Software:
OpenSesame can be downloaded for free under http://osdoc.cogsci.nl/index.html, where you can also find an extensive documentation.
Literature:
Mathôt, S., Schreij, D., & Theeuwes, J. (2012). OpenSesame: An open-source, graphical experiment builder for the social sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 44(2), 314–324. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0168-7 (Open Access)
OpenSesame can be downloaded for free under http://osdoc.cogsci.nl/index.html, where you can also find an extensive documentation.
Literature:
Mathôt, S., Schreij, D., & Theeuwes, J. (2012). OpenSesame: An open-source, graphical experiment builder for the social sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 44(2), 314–324. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0168-7 (Open Access)
Examination achievement:
Creating an experiment (specific requirements discussed in course)
Instructor(s):
Dr. Sophie Scharf
Date(s):
| Friday (single date) | 10.10.2025 | 10:15 – 17:00 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Saturday (single date) | 11.10.2025 | 10:15 – 15:15 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 24.10.2025 | 10:15 – 17:00 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Saturday (single date) | 25.10.2025 | 10:15 – 15:15 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
lab.js is a simple, graphical tool to help you build studies for the web and the laboratory – in addition, it is free and open-source. Many standard tasks can be implemented in lab.js using its graphical user interface. Further, more complex tasks can be realized through the underlying programming language JavaScript.
The goal of the workshop is to provide an introduction to both approaches. In doing so, the workshop involves both structured input from the instructor as well as a number of practical exercises so that participants can directly explore the features of lab.js.
No prior knowledge of the software or JavaScript is required. As an assignment, participants will create their own experiment based on the requirements discussed in the workshop.
The goal of the workshop is to provide an introduction to both approaches. In doing so, the workshop involves both structured input from the instructor as well as a number of practical exercises so that participants can directly explore the features of lab.js.
No prior knowledge of the software or JavaScript is required. As an assignment, participants will create their own experiment based on the requirements discussed in the workshop.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Ringvorlesung: Unwrapping the mind: knowledge, cognition, and AI (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
5.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Exam
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Nicole Altvater-Mackensen, Prof. Dr. Arndt Bröder, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Freitag, Prof. Dr. Beatrice Kuhlmann, Prof. Dr. Simone Paolo Ponzetto, Prof. Dr. Carola Trips
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 17:15 – 18:45 | EO 150 AbsolventUM Hörsaal; Schloss Ehrenhof Ost |
Description:
With the rise of AI models like GPT-4, machines seem capable of mimicking human cognitive processes-thinking, perceiving, learning, and even making decisions. But do they truly think, or are they merely processing patterns in complex ways? In this lecture series, experts in cognitive science will explore what makes human cognition exceptional (if at all), how AI challenges our understanding of intelligence, and what we can gain from integrating AI into cognitive research. We will also address how insights from human cognition can help develop more efficient, interpretable AI models and examine the ethical considerations that come with their use. The perspective of psychology will approach cognition using both experiments and formal modeling.
Lectures will tackle human judgment and decision making, memory processes and memory strategies developing across the life-span, categorization and estimation as well as metacognition – the knowledge about one's own cognitive processes. . From the linguistic perspective, we will focus on language acquisition and processing, as well as on the question how language relates to other domains of cognition. We will present both experimental results and historical corpus data to showcase how language is represented and processed in the mind and how learners acquire language along the dimension of time. From a computational and AI-driven standpoint, the series will cover the modeling of cognitive processes, investigating how human judgment and decision-making are represented in computational frameworks. We will also explore the inner workings of AI language models, discussing how they process and generate language and how they can be extended through multimodal learning and interaction with users.
The philosophy lectures will explore what it means to say that something or someone “thinks” or “feels”. We examine whether attributing mental states to artificial machines differs fundamentally from doing so to humans or non-human animals. We hope that this will also shed light on the broader implications of AI for our general understanding of mind and agency.
Bringing together research from psychology, linguistics, computational science, and philosophy, this series offers a rich and interdisciplinary exploration of intelligence, learning, and perception-both human and artificial.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Research Skills (RES)
CDSS Workshop Psychology
CDSS Workshop: Research in Cognitive Psychology (Workshop, english)
Course type:
Workshop
ECTS:
3.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Literature:
References will be given during the course
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Arndt Bröder, Prof. Dr. Edgar Erdfelder, Prof. Dr. Michaela Wänke
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
Description:
Research projects in cognitive psychology and neuropsychology are planned, conducted, analyzed, and discussed.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Research Colloquium
AC2: Colloquium I/
Course type:
Colloquium
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
german
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Dr. Nils Petras
Date(s):
| Friday (weekly) | 05.09.2025 – 05.12.2025 | 12:00 – 13:30 | A1.01–08 Seminarraum; Willy-Brandt-Platz 1 |
AC2/
Course type:
Colloquium
ECTS:
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
german
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Sabine Sonnentag
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 12:00 – 13:30 | C 116 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
Das Kolloquium ist zunächst für alle Masterstudierende offen, die ihre Masterarbeit in der Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie schreiben wollen. Studierende, die sich entschieden haben, die Abschlussarbeit in der Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie zu schreiben, sollten regelmäßig am Kolloquium teilnehmen. In dem Kolloquium präsentieren Studierende ihre Untersuchungskonzepte und die empirischen Ergebnisse der Untersuchungen. Ergänzt wird das Kolloquium durch Input-Präsentationen der Dozentin und durch Fragerunden.
Am ersten Termin wird eine erste Orientierung darüber gegeben, wie bei der Konzeption und Erstellung einer Masterarbeit am Lehrstuhl Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie vorgegangen werden kann. Themenbereiche für Masterarbeiten werden vorgestellt. Erste Termine für Präsentationen werden vergeben.
Am ersten Termin wird eine erste Orientierung darüber gegeben, wie bei der Konzeption und Erstellung einer Masterarbeit am Lehrstuhl Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie vorgegangen werden kann. Themenbereiche für Masterarbeiten werden vorgestellt. Erste Termine für Präsentationen werden vergeben.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
AC2/
Course type:
Colloquium
ECTS:
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
german
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Stefan Münzer
Date(s):
| ⚠ Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 |
Caution: Individual dates in the series marked with ⚠ have changed. Please check the portal for details.
Description:
Das Kolloquium findet gemeinsam mit Prof. Dickhäuser statt.
Angaben zu Räumen finden Sie bei Herrn Prof. Dickhäusers Veranstaltung.
Angaben zu Räumen finden Sie bei Herrn Prof. Dickhäusers Veranstaltung.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
AC2/
Course type:
Colloquium
ECTS:
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
german
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Michaela Wänke
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 17:15 – 18:45 | B 318 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
Wichtige Informationen:
Bei freiwilliger Teilnahme melden Sie sich bitte nur zur Veranstaltung, nicht aber zur Prüfung an (ansonsten muss die Leistung auch bewertet werden).
Die Anmeldung und Zulassung zum Kolloquium ist NICHT verbunden mit der Zusage, dass die Masterarbeit der TeilnehmerInnen betreut wird. Die Betreuung der Masterarbeit ist unabhängig individuell mit den BetreuerInnen zu vereinbaren.
Die Veranstaltungen von Prof. Dr. Wänke, Prof. Dr. Stavrova und Prof. Dr. Gebauer finden in der Regel am selben Termin statt (Beginn: 12:00 Uhr). Die Veranstaltung findet nur an Tagen statt, an denen auch Vorträge gehalten werden (nicht zwingend wöchentlich). Bei Gastvorträgen kann sich die Uhrzeit verschieben. Die aktuellen Daten werden per Rundmail an alle angemeldeten TeilnehmerInnen verschickt.
Inhalt: Im Rahmen der Veranstaltung werden aktuelle Forschungsideen und -ergebnisse vorgestellt und diskutiert. Einerseits werden die teilnehmenden Studierenden eine eigene Forschungsidee aufgrund aktueller selbst ausgewählter Literatur aus einem Forschungsgebiet der Sozialpsychologie entwickeln und präsentieren (z. B. das Konzept der eigenen Abschlussarbeit). Andererseits können Vorträge von MitarbeiterInnen der Abteilung sowie von auswärtigen Gästen stattfinden.
Bei freiwilliger Teilnahme melden Sie sich bitte nur zur Veranstaltung, nicht aber zur Prüfung an (ansonsten muss die Leistung auch bewertet werden).
Die Anmeldung und Zulassung zum Kolloquium ist NICHT verbunden mit der Zusage, dass die Masterarbeit der TeilnehmerInnen betreut wird. Die Betreuung der Masterarbeit ist unabhängig individuell mit den BetreuerInnen zu vereinbaren.
Die Veranstaltungen von Prof. Dr. Wänke, Prof. Dr. Stavrova und Prof. Dr. Gebauer finden in der Regel am selben Termin statt (Beginn: 12:00 Uhr). Die Veranstaltung findet nur an Tagen statt, an denen auch Vorträge gehalten werden (nicht zwingend wöchentlich). Bei Gastvorträgen kann sich die Uhrzeit verschieben. Die aktuellen Daten werden per Rundmail an alle angemeldeten TeilnehmerInnen verschickt.
Inhalt: Im Rahmen der Veranstaltung werden aktuelle Forschungsideen und -ergebnisse vorgestellt und diskutiert. Einerseits werden die teilnehmenden Studierenden eine eigene Forschungsidee aufgrund aktueller selbst ausgewählter Literatur aus einem Forschungsgebiet der Sozialpsychologie entwickeln und präsentieren (z. B. das Konzept der eigenen Abschlussarbeit). Andererseits können Vorträge von MitarbeiterInnen der Abteilung sowie von auswärtigen Gästen stattfinden.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
AC2/
Course type:
Colloquium
ECTS:
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
german
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Oliver Dickhäuser
Date(s):
| ⚠ Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | D 007 Seminarraum 2; B 6, 27–29 Bauteil D |
Caution: Individual dates in the series marked with ⚠ have changed. Please check the portal for details.
Description:
In diesem Kolloquium werden laufende Master-, Diplom-, Magister- und Bachelorarbeiten vorgestellt und gemeinsam diskutiert. Die Teilnahme an dem Kolloquium wird im Rahmen der Betreuung empfohlen für Studierende, die am Lehrstuhl Pädagogische Psychologie ihre Abschlussarbeit schreiben.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
AC2/
Course type:
Colloquium
ECTS:
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
german
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Literature:
Wird in der Veranstaltung bekannt gegeben
Examination achievement:
keine
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Jochen Gebauer
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 12:00 – 13:30 | B 317 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
Im Rahmen der Veranstaltung werden aktuelle Forschungsideen und -ergebnisse vorgestellt und diskutiert. Einerseits werden die teilnehmenden Studierenden eine eigene Forschungsidee aufgrund aktueller selbst ausgewählter Literatur aus einem Forschungsgebiet der Sozial- und Persönlichkeitspsychologie entwickeln und präsentieren (z. B. das Konzept der eigenen Abschlussarbeit). Andererseits können Vorträge von MitarbeiterInnen der Abteilung sowie von auswärtigen Gästen stattfinden.
Wichtige Informationen: Bei freiwilliger Teilnahme melden Sie sich bitte nur zur Veranstaltung, nicht aber zur Prüfung an (ansonsten muss die Leistung auch bewertet werden).
Die Anmeldung und Zulassung zum Kolloquium ist NICHT verbunden mit der Zusage, dass die Masterarbeit der Teilnehmenden betreut wird. Die Betreuung der Masterarbeit ist unabhängig individuell mit den Betreuenden zu vereinbaren.
Die Veranstaltung findet nur an Tagen statt, an denen auch Vorträge gehalten werden (nicht zwingend wöchentlich). Die aktuellen Daten werden per Rundmail an alle angemeldeten Teilnehmenden verschickt.
Sprechstunde: Nach Vereinbarung per E-Mail (Jochen.Gebauer@uni-mannheim.de)
Wichtige Informationen: Bei freiwilliger Teilnahme melden Sie sich bitte nur zur Veranstaltung, nicht aber zur Prüfung an (ansonsten muss die Leistung auch bewertet werden).
Die Anmeldung und Zulassung zum Kolloquium ist NICHT verbunden mit der Zusage, dass die Masterarbeit der Teilnehmenden betreut wird. Die Betreuung der Masterarbeit ist unabhängig individuell mit den Betreuenden zu vereinbaren.
Die Veranstaltung findet nur an Tagen statt, an denen auch Vorträge gehalten werden (nicht zwingend wöchentlich). Die aktuellen Daten werden per Rundmail an alle angemeldeten Teilnehmenden verschickt.
Sprechstunde: Nach Vereinbarung per E-Mail (Jochen.Gebauer@uni-mannheim.de)
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
AC2/
Course type:
Colloquium
ECTS:
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
german
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
wird im Kolloquium bekannt gegeben
Instructor(s):
Dr. Martin Brandt, Prof. Dr. Beatrice Kuhlmann, Prof. Dr. Arndt Bröder
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 12:00 – 13:30 |
Description:
Dieses Kolloquium richtet sich in erster Linie an Studierende der psychologischen Masterstudiengänge, die eine Masterarbeit oder Doktorarbeit im Bereich der Kognitiven Psychologie durchführen oder planen. Zugelassen sind ebenfalls Studierende des Bachelorstudienganges Psychologie, die am Ende ihres Studiums stehen und eine Bachelorarbeit im Bereich Kognitionspsychologie anfertigen. Im Rahmen des Seminars werden die derzeit laufenden Examensarbeiten und Doktorarbeiten am Lehrstuhl für Kognitive Psychologie mit Schwerpunkt kognitives Altern vorgestellt und diskutiert. Außerdem werden aktuelle und zukünftig geplante Forschungsarbeitendes Lehrstuhls vorgestellt.
Das Kolloquium findet statt im Seminarraum W017 (Schloss Westflügel)
Zu ausgewählten Themen werden externe Kolloquiumsgäste eingeladen, die über ihre Forschungsergebnisse berichten.
Bei Interesse an einer Masterarbeit an unserem Lehrstuhl, schauen Sie bitte auf unsere Webseite zu Themenvorschlägen und kontaktieren Sie Prof. Kuhlmann und die Mitarbeitenden im Voraus.
Das Kolloquium findet statt im Seminarraum W017 (Schloss Westflügel)
Zu ausgewählten Themen werden externe Kolloquiumsgäste eingeladen, die über ihre Forschungsergebnisse berichten.
Bei Interesse an einer Masterarbeit an unserem Lehrstuhl, schauen Sie bitte auf unsere Webseite zu Themenvorschlägen und kontaktieren Sie Prof. Kuhlmann und die Mitarbeitenden im Voraus.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
AC2/
Course type:
Colloquium
ECTS:
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
german
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Studienleistung ersetzt Prüfungsleistung
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Jutta Mata
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 12:00 – 13:30 |
Description:
Wie schreibe ich eine Masterarbeit?
Diskussion und Vorstellung geplanter Masterarbeiten und aktueller Forschungsvorhaben.
Diskussion und Vorstellung geplanter Masterarbeiten und aktueller Forschungsvorhaben.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
AC2/
Course type:
Colloquium
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
german
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Recommended requirement:
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Corina Aguilar-Raab
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 12:00 – 13:30 | A2.01–03 Seminarraum; Willy-Brandt-Platz 1 |
Description:
Im Kolloquium werden aktuelle Forschungsprojekte am Lehrstuhl für Klinische, Interaktions- und Psychotherapieforschung / IN-CARE vorgestellt. Wissenschaftliche Fragestellungen, die im Rahmen von Masterarbeiten bearbeitet werden sollen, werden von teilnehmenden Studierenden diskutiert und gemeinsam reflektiert. Die Beiträge werden in Form von Power-Point-Präsentationen eine Woche vor dem geplanten Präsentationstermin an die Dozentin gesendet – ggf. nach vorheriger Rücksprache.
Ziel ist es, Studierende bei der Erstellung ihrer Masterarbeit ein interaktives und lebendiges Diskussions- und Reflexionsforum zu bieten, um Fragen rund um die Bearbeitung, das Vorgehen bis zu Anfertigung und Fertigstellung ihrer Abschlussarbeit zu klären.
Ziel ist es, Studierende bei der Erstellung ihrer Masterarbeit ein interaktives und lebendiges Diskussions- und Reflexionsforum zu bieten, um Fragen rund um die Bearbeitung, das Vorgehen bis zu Anfertigung und Fertigstellung ihrer Abschlussarbeit zu klären.
AC2/
Course type:
Colloquium
ECTS:
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
german
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Arndt Bröder
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 12:00 – 13:30 | W 017 Seminarraum; Schloss Westflügel |
Description:
Dieses Kolloquium richtet sich in erster Linie an Studierende der psychologischen Masterstudiengänge, die eine Masterarbeit oder Doktorarbeit im Bereich der Allgemeinen oder Differentiellen Kognitionspsychologie durchführen oder planen. Zugelassen sind ebenfalls Studierende des Bachelorstudienganges Psychologie, die am Ende ihres Studiums stehen und eine Bachelorarbeit im Bereich Kognitionspsychologie anfertigen. Im Rahmen des Seminars werden die derzeit laufenden Examensarbeiten und Doktorarbeiten am Lehrstuhl für Psychologie III und an der Juniorprofessur für Urteils- und Entscheidungsforschung vorgestellt und diskutiert. Außerdem werden aktuelle und zukünftig geplante Forschungsarbeiten beider Lehrstühle behandelt. Zu ausgewählten Themen werden externe Kolloquiumsgäste eingeladen, die über ihre Forschungsergebnisse berichten.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
AC2/
Course type:
Colloquium
ECTS:
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
german
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Registration procedure:
ACHTUNG: Sollte die Pandemielage es zulassen, so behalten wir uns vor, im Laufe des HWS 21 wieder in den Präsenzbetrieb zu wechseln. Die digitale Alternative bleibt bestehen.
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thorsten Meiser
Date(s):
| Friday (weekly) | 05.09.2025 – 05.12.2025 | 13:45 – 15:15 | 519 Besprechungsraum; L 13, 15–17 |
Description:
Die Veranstaltungstermine und Themen finden Sie auf unserer homepage:
http://methods.uni-mannheim.de/
Inhalt:
In dem Kolloquium werden laufende Forschungsprojekte und Qualifikationsarbeiten der Arbeitsgruppe vorgestellt und diskutiert. Darüber hinaus finden in jedem Semester Forschungsvorträge eingeladener Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler statt. Themen sind unter anderem die mathematische Modellierung von episodischen und prospektiven Gedächtnisleistungen, die Analyse von Urteils- und Entscheidungsprozessen sowie neue Entwicklungen der Testtheorie und Testkonstruktion.
Sprechstunde:
Freitag, 11:00–12:00 in L13, 15, Raum 520
http://methods.uni-mannheim.de/
Inhalt:
In dem Kolloquium werden laufende Forschungsprojekte und Qualifikationsarbeiten der Arbeitsgruppe vorgestellt und diskutiert. Darüber hinaus finden in jedem Semester Forschungsvorträge eingeladener Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler statt. Themen sind unter anderem die mathematische Modellierung von episodischen und prospektiven Gedächtnisleistungen, die Analyse von Urteils- und Entscheidungsprozessen sowie neue Entwicklungen der Testtheorie und Testkonstruktion.
Sprechstunde:
Freitag, 11:00–12:00 in L13, 15, Raum 520
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSS, CDSB and CDSE
Bridge Course – from the GESS course offer
Women in Leadership (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
5
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
This is a Pass/
- Give a paper presentation in building block 1.
- Participate in an IAT in building block 2.
- Give a conference presentation in building block 3.
- Participate in a negotiation in building block 4.
- Full and active participation in all four building blocks is necessary to pass the course.
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Alexandra Niessen-Ruenzi, Sehrish Usman
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | O 131 Wilhelm Müller Hörsaal; Schloss Ostflügel |
| Wednesday (block date) | 22.10.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | O 131 Wilhelm Müller Hörsaal; Schloss Ostflügel |
| Wednesday (block date) | 29.10.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | O 131 Wilhelm Müller Hörsaal; Schloss Ostflügel |
| Wednesday (block date) | 05.11.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | O 131 Wilhelm Müller Hörsaal; Schloss Ostflügel |
| Wednesday (block date) | 12.11.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | O 131 Wilhelm Müller Hörsaal; Schloss Ostflügel |
Description:
This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine the gender gap in leadership positions.
We will analyze the psychological and economic reasons for the low fraction of women in leadership. While leadership positions are defined broadly and range from politics to public and private institutions, a special emphasis will be on the academic environment.
The course will highlight women’s educational and labor market choices, their fertility decisions, and their preferences. We will also examine structural hurdles for women to reach the top, for example stereotypes, discrimination, and social norms. Finally, the effectiveness of gender equality measures – such as quota systems – will be discussed. In addition to the theoretical and empirical fundamentals, the course also comprises two hands-on practical sessions taught by experienced instructors in which students’ rhetoric and negotiation skills are trained.
The course consists of four core building blocks:
1. Women in Leadership: The Economic Perspective.
This part of the course focusses on (economic) reasons for gender gaps in leadership positions. We start by looking at the status quo of women in leadership. Course participants are introduced to statistics on the fraction of women in various leadership positions (with an emphasis on women in academia). We will discuss time trends and differences across countries. Research evidence on the effectiveness of gender equality measures such as gender quotas and family friendly policies will be discussed and their impact on economic outcome variables such as women’s labor market choices and the gender pay gap will be examined. We will also examine gender differences in risk preferences and in the willingness to compete. The last part of this section deals with role model effects and students will be asked to prepare a short presentation on a female role model.
2. Women in Leadership: The Psychological Perspective.
The psychological perspective addresses gender stereotypes as one of the key barriers to female advancement into attractive organizational positions such as leadership positions. Gender stereotypes reflect widely shared expectations about the characteristics of men and women (descriptive component of gender stereotypes), but they can also prescribe how women and men should or should not behave (prescriptive stereotypes). Both kinds of stereotypical expectations about men and women can impact the way men and women define themselves and are perceived by others. Three sessions dealing with leadership and gender stereotypes will discuss stereotype contents, the changes over time and their impact on gender differences in leadership aspirations and success. In this context, we will address topics such as the “Think Manager – Think Male” – phenomenon, research on the Glass metaphors (glass ceiling, glass escalator, glass cliff), Queen Bee effects, backlash effects, as well as failure-as-an-asset effects. Students will be asked to discuss practical implications of the research presented and develop own ideas regarding interventions to increase the number of female leaders.
3. “Raise Your Voice” – Rhetoric Training
The third block consists of a hands-on training on delivering presentations in an academic context. Students will be instructed to present their research findings in a conference-like scenario. They will learn how to present their work in a convincing and professional manner and how to adequately respond to (critical) questions. Each student will have to give a short presentation and will receive individual feedback by the instructor on how to improve their presentation skills.
For successful training, students are asked to prepare the following items before the beginning of this block:
- Prepare a short presentation (5–7 minutes) on the following question: “What excites me about my research topic?”
- Bring a video-capable device (mobile phone or tablet) for the video exercises.
4. “Raise Your Pay” – Negotiation Training
The final part of this course teaches students negotiation skills. Students learn how to carry their point in a negotiation, how to deal with conflicts, and how to react to verbal attacks. Students will have to participate in a negotiation game and receive individual feedback by the instructor to improve their negotiation skills.
Training concept:
- Develop strategic negotiation skills for career advancement
- Apply theoretical insights through practical exercises
- Improve decision-making and conflict resolution capabilities
- Build a toolkit of negotiation tactics for salary, promotion, and career opportunities
As a prerequisite for participating in this training, students are expected to submit one personal negotiation topic in advance that they would like to address and develop during the course.
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSB (Other)
CDSB-Kurs-Intensive Longitudinal Methods in Contexts of Work and Learning (Seminar for doctoral students, german)
Course type:
Seminar for doctoral students
ECTS:
5.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
german
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Andreas Rausch
Date(s):
| Friday (weekly) | 05.09.2025 – 05.12.2025 | 08:30 – 10:00 | O 226–28 Seminarraum; Schloss Ostflügel |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSB (Accounting)
MET: Applied Data Science: Machine Learning for Economics and Business Data (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
5.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Instructor(s):
Dr. Eduard Brüll
Date(s):
| Tuesday (weekly) | 02.09.2025 – 02.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | O 226–28 Seminarraum; Schloss Ostflügel |
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSB (Information Systems)
Advanced Data Science Lab I (Exercise, english)
Course type:
Exercise
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
4
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Markus Strohmaier, Indira Sen
Date(s):
| Tuesday (weekly) | 02.09.2025 – 02.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | 314–315 Besprechungsraum; L 15, 1–6 (Hochhaus) |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSB (Management)
MAN 802 Fundamentals of Non-Profit Management Science (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
4
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Bernd Helmig
Date(s):
| Thursday (single date) | 18.09.2025 | 14:30 – 16:30 | EO 237 Besprechung; Schloss Ehrenhof Ost |
| Thursday (single date) | 09.10.2025 | 15:30 – 16:30 | EO 237 Besprechung; Schloss Ehrenhof Ost |
| Thursday (single date) | 20.11.2025 | 10:00 – 17:30 | EO 237 Besprechung; Schloss Ehrenhof Ost |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSB (Operations Management)
OPM 801 Optimization and Heuristics (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Raik Stolletz
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 15:30 – 18:45 | SO 322 Seminarraum; Schloss Schneckenhof Ost |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
OPM 918 Business Analytics: Models, Methods, Managerial Insights (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Raik Stolletz
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 29.01.2026 | 10:15 – 13:30 | SO 318 Seminarraum; Schloss Schneckenhof Ost |
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSS (Political Science)
Advanced Topics in Comparative Politics: Formal Models in CP (and some in IR) (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Recommended requirement:
Literature:
Various chapters of Scott Gehlbach's Formal Models of Domestic Politics (CUP) and journal articles from different fields
Examination achievement:
Term paper
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Bräuninger
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | B 317 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
This course is a continuation of the intro into Game Theory and surveys key applications of game theory with a particular emphasis on the link of theories, methods and empirics. Emphasis will be placed on prominent applications of those concepts in political science, in both comparative and international politics. Topics covered include electoral competition, delegation, political agency, governmental veto players, authoritarian politics, manipulation, war and crisis bargaining. While the focus is on understanding applied work, previous training in game theory is required. Students will build upon their previous game theory training to become informed consumers of scholarship utilizing the methodology and begin to learn how to apply game-theoretic logic to their own work. The course is partly taught from lecture notes, at other times students present a research paper and stimulate discussion in class.
The course may also count as an Advanced Topics Seminar in International Relations. In this case, please indicate this accordingly to the Student Services via email when you register for the exam during exam registration period.
The course may also count as an Advanced Topics Seminar in International Relations. In this case, please indicate this accordingly to the Student Services via email when you register for the exam during exam registration period.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Advanced Topics in Comparative Politics: Free Speech and Censorship (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Term paper
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Richard Traunmüller
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | B 318 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
This seminar starts from the premise that the current epistemic political crisis is not rooted in a denial of scientific facts, but in the ubiquitous tendency to evaluate scientific findings selectively and according to one's own political ideas. Researchers, too, are ordinary people and therefore politically motivated information processors. They seek information that supports their political ideas and avoid information that contradicts their ideas. They also seem to consider study results more plausible when they are consistent with their political ideas and to doubt study results that contradict their political beliefs. If this tendency, known as myside bias, meets the possibility of flexible presentation of results and a politically unbalanced disciplinary environment, politically biased findings are a very real danger and epistemic distrust an obvious, if not indicated, consequence. In this seminar we will discuss what political biases in science exist, where they come from, what consequences they have and what we can do about them.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Advanced Topics in Comparative Politics: Political Behavior in Context (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Term Paper (ca. 8.000 words)
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Harald Schoen
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 13:45 – 15:15 | B 318 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
Political behavior takes place in context. This statement is a truism and implies several challenges at the same time. Context is a multidimensional concept comprising – inter alia – social, political, and institutional features. At the theoretical level, the diversity of dimensions requires careful consideration of how to integrate contextual features into individual-level models of political behavior. Moreover, combining data from different levels of aggregation to examine the role of contexts in individual-level behavior raises several methodological issues. In this seminar, we will address the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological issues in the analysis of contextual effects on individual-level political behavior. Students will review the latest empirical studies in the field and prepare research papers in which they analyze specific questions using available data sets.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Advanced Topics in International Politics: Quantitative Analysis of Political Speech: The Case of the European Parliament (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Term paper
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas König
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | C 216 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
Attention: This seminar starts on September 18, 2025 (3 rd week of lecture time)
This seminar introduces students to cutting-edge methods for analyzing political speech quantitatively, with a special focus on the European Parliament (EP). The course covers techniques in computational text analysis (e.g., topic modeling, sentiment analysis, scaling models), data preprocessing, and causal inference using speech data. Students will engage with theoretical debates about representation, agenda-setting, and rhetorical strategy, and will complete a research project using a large corpus of EP speeches. Participants should have skills in quantitative methods (regression, causal inference), familiarity with R or Python, and prior coursework or reading in text-as-data or NLP is recommended but not required. Grimmer, Justin & Brandon M. Stewart. Text as Data: A New Framework for Machine Learning and the Social Sciences, Slapin, Jonathan B. & Sven-Oliver Proksch. The Politics of Parliamentary Debate, selected journal articles (APSR, AJPS, EUP, JOP, CPS).
This seminar introduces students to cutting-edge methods for analyzing political speech quantitatively, with a special focus on the European Parliament (EP). The course covers techniques in computational text analysis (e.g., topic modeling, sentiment analysis, scaling models), data preprocessing, and causal inference using speech data. Students will engage with theoretical debates about representation, agenda-setting, and rhetorical strategy, and will complete a research project using a large corpus of EP speeches. Participants should have skills in quantitative methods (regression, causal inference), familiarity with R or Python, and prior coursework or reading in text-as-data or NLP is recommended but not required. Grimmer, Justin & Brandon M. Stewart. Text as Data: A New Framework for Machine Learning and the Social Sciences, Slapin, Jonathan B. & Sven-Oliver Proksch. The Politics of Parliamentary Debate, selected journal articles (APSR, AJPS, EUP, JOP, CPS).
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Advanced Topics in International Politics: The Politics of Human Rights (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Learning target:
The goals of this course are
- to provide you with systematic knowledge and understanding about key debates on human rights violations and state repression
- to enable you to critically assess and evaluate academic research, its theoretical and empirical contributions
- to familiarize yourself with key datasets in human rights research
- to engage in and contribute to analytical discussions about published research
- to foster constructive discussions and effective reading
- to improve your writing and presentation skills
Examination achievement:
Schriftliche Hausarbeit / Research paper
Instructor(s):
Prof. Ph. D. Sabine Carey
Date(s):
| Tuesday (weekly) | 02.09.2025 – 02.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | B 318 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
Why do governments engage in repression of citizens? This seminar introduces students to foundational and recent research on human rights violations and repression around the world. We start by defining human rights and how they can be observed and measured. We discuss conditions that facilitate repression with particular focus on the role of democratic institutions and international human rights norms. The seminar sheds light on how governments organize repression, and we investigate different perpetrators of repression and how actors aim to justify or obfuscate state violence. We will also consider the role of the international community on influencing domestic processes of human rights protection and violation. Over the course of the seminar, you will develop your own research question on one of the topics discussed in the seminar and carrying out your own research.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
International Political Economy (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Valentin Lang
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
International Political Economy:
This lecture offers an introduction to current research topics in the field of International Political Economy (IPE). After introducing what it means to study IPE in the age of globalization, the course addresses four major themes of current IPE research.
1) In the first part on international trade, we will learn about the opportunities and challenges that come with the intensifying exchange of goods across the globe.
2) In the second part on international finance, we will focus on how global financial flows interact with political and economic stability, instability, and crises.
3) In the third part on international development, we will learn about global economic inequality and understand its links to development cooperation and migration.
4) In the fourth part on international institutions, we will focus on the role that international institutions and organizations play in the globalized economy.
This lecture offers an introduction to current research topics in the field of International Political Economy (IPE). After introducing what it means to study IPE in the age of globalization, the course addresses four major themes of current IPE research.
1) In the first part on international trade, we will learn about the opportunities and challenges that come with the intensifying exchange of goods across the globe.
2) In the second part on international finance, we will focus on how global financial flows interact with political and economic stability, instability, and crises.
3) In the third part on international development, we will learn about global economic inequality and understand its links to development cooperation and migration.
4) In the fourth part on international institutions, we will focus on the role that international institutions and organizations play in the globalized economy.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
S Game Theory (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
David Avagian
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 13:45 – 15:15 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
This tutorial accompanies the graduate-level introductory lecture on game theory. Its main objective is to practice solution concepts for static and dynamic games of complete and incomplete information. The contents are centered around the material covered in the lecture. Thus, the following key areas will be discussed: normal-form games, dominance, Nash equilibria, mixed strategies, continuous strategies, sequential games with perfect and incomplete information, subgames and subgame perfection, Bayesian equilibria, signaling and cheap talk games, expected utility and decision theory, bargaining theory, and social choice. At the substantial level, we will use these concepts to study, as examples, candidate competition, political lobbying, and war and deterrence.
S Quantitative Methods (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Domantas Undzenas
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 08:30 – 10:00 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
Description:
| This tutorial accompanies the course “Quantitative Methods” in the M.A. program in Political Science. The lab sessions will focus on the practical issues associated with quantitative methods, including obtaining and preparing data sets, how to use statistical software, which tests to use for different kinds of problems, how to graph data effectively for presentation and analysis, and how to interpret results. The seminar will also serve as a software tutorial. No prior knowledge of statistical programming is expected. |
S Quantitative Methods (Tutorial) (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Muhammad Muhammad
Date(s):
| Friday (weekly) | 05.09.2025 – 05.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | B 318 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
| This tutorial accompanies the course “Quantitative Methods” in the M.A. program in Political Science. The lab sessions will focus on the practical issues associated with quantitative methods, including obtaining and preparing data sets, how to use statistical software, which tests to use for different kinds of problems, how to graph data effectively for presentation and analysis, and how to interpret results. The seminar will also serve as a software tutorial. No prior knowledge of statistical programming is expected. |
VL Game Theory (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Recommended requirement:
Examination achievement:
Exam
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Bräuninger
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | C 012 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
The objective of this course is to provide students with the basics of formal modeling in political science. The course has some breadth in coverage in the sense that it provides a graduate-level introduction and overview to different areas in game theory. It is also narrow in the sense that the emphasis is not on application and model testing but getting trained in reading and writing down formal models. At the conceptual level the course will cover the following topics: normal form games, Nash equilibria, extensive form games, subgame perfect equilibria, repeated games, bargaining, games with incomplete and imperfect information, Bayesian perfect equilibria, signaling games, preferences and individual choices, basics of decision theory and social choice. At the substantial level, we will use these concepts to study, as examples, candidate competition, political lobbying, and war and deterrence.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
VL Quantitative Methods (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Examination achievement:
data essay approx. 2000 words
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Gschwend
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 08:30 – 10:00 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
The course introduces students to quantitative methods in political science. During the first half of the course, we will focus on linear regression models. The topics covered include discussions of the mathematical bases for such models, their estimation and interpretation, model assumptions and techniques for addressing violations of those assumptions, and topics related to model specification and functional forms. During the second half of the course, students will be introduced to likelihood as a theory of inference, including models for binary and count data.
The main goals of this course are to develop sound critical judgment about quantitative studies of political problems, to understand the logic of statistical inference, to recognize and understand the basics of the linear regression model, to develop the skills necessary to work with datasets to perform basic quantitative analyses, and to provide a basis of knowledge for more advanced statistical methods.
In the accompanying course “Tutorial Multivariate Analyses” students will develop the necessary expertise in using statistical software to conduct quantitative research in political science.
The main goals of this course are to develop sound critical judgment about quantitative studies of political problems, to understand the logic of statistical inference, to recognize and understand the basics of the linear regression model, to develop the skills necessary to work with datasets to perform basic quantitative analyses, and to provide a basis of knowledge for more advanced statistical methods.
In the accompanying course “Tutorial Multivariate Analyses” students will develop the necessary expertise in using statistical software to conduct quantitative research in political science.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSS (Sociology)
Cross Sectional Data Analysis (Lecture) (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Recommended requirement:
Literature:
Literature: Books are available in the library. The slides can be downloaded from ILIAS.
Examination achievement:
Written exam (90 minutes)
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Gautschi
Date(s):
| Tuesday (weekly) | 02.09.2025 – 02.12.2025 | 13:45 – 15:15 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
The main focus of this course lies on the introduction to statistical models and estimators beyond linear regression useful to social and economic scientists. Although very useful, the general linear model (linear regression) is not appropriate if the range of the dependent variable Y is restricted (e.g., binary, ordinal, count) and/
Tutorials: Classes will be accompanied by two tutorials to repeat and practice the topics from the lectures. We will use the statistical packages R and Stata.
Credits and Exam: Credits (6+3 ECTS points) are awarded on a passed written exam. Participation in the final exam is subject to having passed all requirements (Studienleistungen) in the tutorial.
Requirements tutorial (Studienleistungen): Presentations of weekly exercises; you must hand in the slides of the presentation, the Stata or R syntax file and output of the respective exercise, and a short output interpretation.
Contact: Fon (0621) 181–2049 or mail gautschi@sowi.uni-mannheim.de
Tutorials: Classes will be accompanied by two tutorials to repeat and practice the topics from the lectures. We will use the statistical packages R and Stata.
Credits and Exam: Credits (6+3 ECTS points) are awarded on a passed written exam. Participation in the final exam is subject to having passed all requirements (Studienleistungen) in the tutorial.
Requirements tutorial (Studienleistungen): Presentations of weekly exercises; you must hand in the slides of the presentation, the Stata or R syntax file and output of the respective exercise, and a short output interpretation.
Contact: Fon (0621) 181–2049 or mail gautschi@sowi.uni-mannheim.de
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Cross Sectional Data Analysis (Tutorial) (Scientific exercise, english)
Course type:
Scientific exercise
ECTS:
3
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Learning target:
The goal of the lab session is a) to practice the topics you learned in applied form, b) an opportunity for questions, and c) give you and discuss with you hands-on approaches for your further empirical work (e.g., the graphical representation of results).
Instructor(s):
Danielle Martin Ph.D.
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | B 318 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
Lab sessions will repeat and practice topics from the lecture based on weekly exercises. These exercises follow the lecture so that you will have a week or more to solve each exercise.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Cross Sectional Data Analysis (Tutorial) (Scientific exercise, english)
Course type:
Scientific exercise
ECTS:
3
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Learning target:
The goal of the lab session is a) to practice the topics you learned in applied form, b) an opportunity for questions, and c) give you and discuss with you hands-on approaches for your further empirical work (e.g., the graphical representation of results).
Instructor(s):
Dr. Sandra Morgenstern
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 13:45 – 15:15 | B 243 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
Lab sessions will repeat and practice topics from the lecture based on weekly exercises. These exercises follow the lecture so that you will have a week or more to solve each exercise.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Research Design (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
4
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
written exam (90 min.)
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Joseph Sakshaug
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 13:45 – 15:15 | C 012 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
How do we know which research design fits best our research question? What requirements must be in place for good descriptive, causal and predictive inference? How do we estimate causal effects? How do we design and analyze experiments? Can we make causal claims from observational data? Researchers in the social sciences must be able to answer all of these questions.
This course teaches the fundamental concepts behind the estimation of causal effects, including potential obstacles to causal inference. Real-world examples will be discussed in detail and students will apply the techniques learned with real datasets in R. Students will come away with an understanding of how to estimate causal effects in both randomized and observational settings, with a particular focus on the careful design of both types of studies.
This course teaches the fundamental concepts behind the estimation of causal effects, including potential obstacles to causal inference. Real-world examples will be discussed in detail and students will apply the techniques learned with real datasets in R. Students will come away with an understanding of how to estimate causal effects in both randomized and observational settings, with a particular focus on the careful design of both types of studies.
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1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Research Design (Tutorial) (Scientific exercise, english)
Course type:
Scientific exercise
ECTS:
3.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Dr. Ruben Bach
Date(s):
| Wednesday (fortnightly) | 03.09.2025 – 26.11.2025 | 12:00 – 15:30 | A 301 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
Description:
| In the practice sessions, students will learn how to implement causal inference methods in R. Students should bring their own laptop for the all practice sessions. Previous knowledge in R is not necessary although advantageous. Please make also sure to install R and R studio before the first practice session. |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Research Design (Tutorial) (Scientific exercise, english)
Course type:
Scientific exercise
ECTS:
3.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Max Otto
Date(s):
| Thursday (fortnightly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 15:30 – 18:45 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
Description:
| In the practice sessions, students will learn how to implement causal inference methods in R. Students should bring their own laptop for the all practice sessions. Previous knowledge in R is not necessary although advantageous. Please make also sure to install R and R studio before the first practice session. |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
S Elective Seminar: Comparing welfare states with cross-national and process tracing analyses (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Written term paper (5000 words) by mid-January 2026
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Ebbinghaus, Andrew Zola
Date(s):
| Tuesday (weekly) | 02.09.2025 – 02.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | C 112 Unterrichtsraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
Comparing welfare states has become a major sociological field, using a variety of methods to study institutional differences, historical path dependencies, and societal changes. This elective seminar provides an introduction to comparative strategies and methods, particular those used in cross‐national comparison of modern welfare states, using examples of empirical studies from this filed. In the seminar, the different quantitative and qualitative methods and strategies to compare internationally and to analyse processes over time will be discussed. It begins with an overview of the main approaches to historical and comparative sociology (Durkheim, Weber) and the differences in current research practice between variable‐and case‐oriented sociological analysis. Comparative welfare state analysis and the varieties of capitalism perspective use macro‐comparative typologies to explain cross‐ national differences, using both qualitative and quantitative methods to explore cross‐national differences. Qualitative comparative methods (QCA, fuzzy set), comparative or time‐related quantitative methods (cluster analysis, pooled time series) will be discussed. In addition, the method of within‐case analysis, in particular process tracing, that seeks to establish tests for evaluating evidence about causal mechanism over time will be discussed. The application of these methods and approaches will be illustrated by examples from comparative studies of welfare states and market economies. Finally, recent debates on the pro/
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1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
S Wahlmodul B: Migration and Integration (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Students will be evaluated based on a term paper (6 ECTS).
Term Paper:
Term Paper:
- Length: Approximately 5,000 words (±500), including references but excluding appendices.
- Content Requirements:
- Research Question: A clearly defined and original question.
- Literature Review: A critical review demonstrating the relevance of the research question and existing scholarship.
- Argument: A well-reasoned and evidence-based thesis.
- Empirical Evidence: Empirical examples that substantiate the argument.
- Deadline: January 15, 2026.
Instructor(s):
Dr. Keonhi Son
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 12:00 – 13:30 | C 216 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
A gender perspective challenges key assumptions in comparative welfare research. Traditionally, the unit of comparative welfare analysis has been the average male worker in the manufacturing industry with dependents. This operationalization implicitly excludes women from empirical analysis, particularly in historical contexts, as significant female labor market participation only emerged after the 1970s. For example, while male workers' political struggles were instrumental in shaping welfare states by securing social rights, it remains unclear whether women exerted similar influence, given their historically limited access to political resources such as voting rights in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Moreover, although traditional social policies have faced retrenchment in times of austerity, work-family policies have expanded over the past two decades, coinciding with rising female labor force participation and increased female representation in parliaments.
This seminar provides students with the opportunity to critically examine theoretical frameworks in comparative welfare research from a gender perspective and to test these theoretical propositions empirically. The course explores the impact of welfare policies on gender relations and assesses women's political influence on the formation of welfare policies within historical continuities. The seminar is structured in two parts. First, it introduces feminist critiques of welfare states and empirical studies that analyze the historical development of social policies for women and the role of women as political actors in these processes. After engaging with the relevant literature, the second part of the seminar culminates in a student-led conference, where participants will present empirical research testing whether conventional welfare research determinants apply to social policies for women. Each presentation will be 20 minutes long and will integrate key course themes and insights.
This seminar provides students with the opportunity to critically examine theoretical frameworks in comparative welfare research from a gender perspective and to test these theoretical propositions empirically. The course explores the impact of welfare policies on gender relations and assesses women's political influence on the formation of welfare policies within historical continuities. The seminar is structured in two parts. First, it introduces feminist critiques of welfare states and empirical studies that analyze the historical development of social policies for women and the role of women as political actors in these processes. After engaging with the relevant literature, the second part of the seminar culminates in a student-led conference, where participants will present empirical research testing whether conventional welfare research determinants apply to social policies for women. Each presentation will be 20 minutes long and will integrate key course themes and insights.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
S Vertiefungsmodul/
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Recommended requirement:
Examination achievement:
Term paper
Instructor(s):
Dr. Tamara Gutfleisch
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 13:45 – 15:15 | C 112 Unterrichtsraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
In sociology and related fields, factorial survey experiments (also known as vignette experiments) are widely used to study a range of social phenomena. This method combines experimental logic with survey techniques to examine the causal effects of multiple dimensions (e.g., education, age) on outcomes such as attitudes, judgments, or behavioral intentions. This course provides an introduction to the methodological foundations of factorial survey experiments, discusses the strengths and limitations of the approach, and situates it within the broader family of experimental methods. Emphasis will be placed on practical application: through hands-on exercises, students will learn how to develop and conduct their own factorial survey experiment, from formulating research questions and constructing vignettes to preparing the design for implementation. By the end of the course, participants will be able to critically assess experimental research in the social sciences and to design their own research project using factorial survey experiments.
Students will be required to create an account on the SAS on Demand platform using their student email adress. Further details will be provided in the seminar.
Students will be required to create an account on the SAS on Demand platform using their student email adress. Further details will be provided in the seminar.
S Elective Seminar: Introduction to Political Sociology (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Term paper
Instructor(s):
Benjamin Rohr Ph.D.
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | D 002 Seminarraum 1; B 6, 27–29 Bauteil D |
Description:
Beschreibung: How did nation states form? How do small groups of people get large populations to obey them? When and why do people protest and rebel? What is the relationship between the state and the economy? What stabilizes authoritarian regimes? What draws people to populist ideologies? By reading and discussing texts which attempt to provide answers to these and related questions, this course introduces students to the main themes that have dominated the subfield of political sociology, including state formation, revolutions, social movements, nationalism, authoritarianism, populism, political polarization, and voting and political parties. By the end of the course, students will not only be familiar with the main topics within political sociology but also have acquired a sociological perspective on politics and a set of conceptual tools with which to analyze political developments.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
S Elective Seminar: Structuralist Theory (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Write three memos (4–5 pages) on three selected topics of the class.
Instructor(s):
Prof. Ph. D. Henning Hillmann
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 01.10.2025 – 12.11.2025 | 08:30 – 11:45 | D 002 Seminarraum 1; B 6, 27–29 Bauteil D |
Description:
The aim of this course is to introduce students to structuralist theorizing in the social sciences. One way to characterize structuralist thinking is to posit the primacy of relations over attributes: considering kinship, for example, it is not meaningful to speak of being a father without any reference to sons and daughters. In other words, any social role is inherently relational because it always entails a role complement (father-son, or father-daughter). As we will see throughout the course, much of social life and human behavior can be understood with reference to such relational pairs. Pairs often come in the form of binary oppositions: nature-nurture; female-male; young-elder; us-them; and so forth. Drawing on the work of Claude Lévi-Strauss in particular, the course aims (a) to systematically understand the building blocks of structuralist thinking, and (b) to understand its implications for social organization and cohesion writ large, that is, what holds societies together in the long run. Substantive empirical evidence will come from systems of social exchange, governed by norms of reciprocity; from the contrast between restricted and generalized exchange; the formation and ambiguities of role structures; and from the structural analysis of culture, in particular in the form of myths that provide a foundation for social organization in indigenous societies. Students planning to take this class should be prepared to consider empirical examples that come from rather exotic societies, remote in place and time from our contemporary society.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
S Elective Seminar: The unequal distribution of health and illness (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Students are required to attend all classes (one absence will be excused). Credits will be granted for active participation, an oral presentation and a paper on one of the themes of the seminar.
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Christof Wolf
Date(s):
| Friday (block date) | 12.09.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
| Friday (block date) | 26.09.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
| Friday (block date) | 10.10.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
| Friday (block date) | 17.10.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
| Friday (block date) | 07.11.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
| Friday (block date) | 21.11.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
| Friday (block date) | 28.11.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
Description:
This course aims at introducing students to selected research questions from the field of health sociology. We begin by giving a short introduction to the sociology of health and illness and some key findings regarding the role of societal factors in the historical development of population health. Additionally, we will discuss methodological questions arising when defining, measuring and studying health and illness. After these introductory sessions we will focus on two central topics: first, the relationship between social inequality and health and second, the effect of social cohesion on health. Both topics will be discussed from a micro and macro perspective, respectively. The course ends with a discussion of policy implications following from a sociological perspective on health and illness.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Sociology
Basic and Preparatory Courses (BAS)
Mathematics for Social Scientists
Mathematics for Social Scientists (Lecture w/
Course type:
Lecture w/
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Instructor(s):
Carlos Barbosa Gueiros
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | C 216 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Current Research Perspectives
Current Research Perspectives (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
2
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Gschwend
Date(s):
| Friday (single date) | 05.09.2025 | 08:30 – 11:45 | 211 Seminarraum; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Thursday (single date) | 11.09.2025 | 10:15 – 13:45 | 211 Seminarraum; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Thursday (single date) | 25.09.2025 | 10:15 – 13:45 | 211 Seminarraum; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 10.10.2025 | 08:30 – 11:45 | 211 Seminarraum; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
The core course “Current Research Perspectives” introduces first year doctoral students to the theoretically informed research approaches and substantive research fields that build the strongholds of social science research in Mannheim. The lecture series provides first year doctoral students with an overview of current debates and ongoing research in the fields of psychology, political science and sociology. Members of CDSS faculty will present in one hour lectures an overview of their research fields, report on prime examples of their current research, and provide an outlook on potential research topics for future research. CDSS doctoral students will have the opportunity to discuss the lecture and the required readings with the lecturer during the remaining discussion time.
A list of readings will be provided with required readings for all CDSS students that provide one state-of-the-art introductory text per lecture.
A list of readings will be provided with required readings for all CDSS students that provide one state-of-the-art introductory text per lecture.
Research Skills (RES)
CDSS Workshop Sociology
CDSS Workshop: Sociology (Workshop, english)
Course type:
Workshop
ECTS:
3.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Florian Keusch
Date(s):
| Tuesday (weekly) | 02.09.2025 – 02.12.2025 | 17:15 – 18:45 | 209 Seminarraum; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSS, CDSB and CDSE
Bridge Course – from the GESS course offer
Women in Leadership (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
5
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
This is a Pass/
- Give a paper presentation in building block 1.
- Participate in an IAT in building block 2.
- Give a conference presentation in building block 3.
- Participate in a negotiation in building block 4.
- Full and active participation in all four building blocks is necessary to pass the course.
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Alexandra Niessen-Ruenzi, Sehrish Usman
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | O 131 Wilhelm Müller Hörsaal; Schloss Ostflügel |
| Wednesday (block date) | 22.10.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | O 131 Wilhelm Müller Hörsaal; Schloss Ostflügel |
| Wednesday (block date) | 29.10.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | O 131 Wilhelm Müller Hörsaal; Schloss Ostflügel |
| Wednesday (block date) | 05.11.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | O 131 Wilhelm Müller Hörsaal; Schloss Ostflügel |
| Wednesday (block date) | 12.11.2025 | 10:15 – 13:30 | O 131 Wilhelm Müller Hörsaal; Schloss Ostflügel |
Description:
This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine the gender gap in leadership positions.
We will analyze the psychological and economic reasons for the low fraction of women in leadership. While leadership positions are defined broadly and range from politics to public and private institutions, a special emphasis will be on the academic environment.
The course will highlight women’s educational and labor market choices, their fertility decisions, and their preferences. We will also examine structural hurdles for women to reach the top, for example stereotypes, discrimination, and social norms. Finally, the effectiveness of gender equality measures – such as quota systems – will be discussed. In addition to the theoretical and empirical fundamentals, the course also comprises two hands-on practical sessions taught by experienced instructors in which students’ rhetoric and negotiation skills are trained.
The course consists of four core building blocks:
1. Women in Leadership: The Economic Perspective.
This part of the course focusses on (economic) reasons for gender gaps in leadership positions. We start by looking at the status quo of women in leadership. Course participants are introduced to statistics on the fraction of women in various leadership positions (with an emphasis on women in academia). We will discuss time trends and differences across countries. Research evidence on the effectiveness of gender equality measures such as gender quotas and family friendly policies will be discussed and their impact on economic outcome variables such as women’s labor market choices and the gender pay gap will be examined. We will also examine gender differences in risk preferences and in the willingness to compete. The last part of this section deals with role model effects and students will be asked to prepare a short presentation on a female role model.
2. Women in Leadership: The Psychological Perspective.
The psychological perspective addresses gender stereotypes as one of the key barriers to female advancement into attractive organizational positions such as leadership positions. Gender stereotypes reflect widely shared expectations about the characteristics of men and women (descriptive component of gender stereotypes), but they can also prescribe how women and men should or should not behave (prescriptive stereotypes). Both kinds of stereotypical expectations about men and women can impact the way men and women define themselves and are perceived by others. Three sessions dealing with leadership and gender stereotypes will discuss stereotype contents, the changes over time and their impact on gender differences in leadership aspirations and success. In this context, we will address topics such as the “Think Manager – Think Male” – phenomenon, research on the Glass metaphors (glass ceiling, glass escalator, glass cliff), Queen Bee effects, backlash effects, as well as failure-as-an-asset effects. Students will be asked to discuss practical implications of the research presented and develop own ideas regarding interventions to increase the number of female leaders.
3. “Raise Your Voice” – Rhetoric Training
The third block consists of a hands-on training on delivering presentations in an academic context. Students will be instructed to present their research findings in a conference-like scenario. They will learn how to present their work in a convincing and professional manner and how to adequately respond to (critical) questions. Each student will have to give a short presentation and will receive individual feedback by the instructor on how to improve their presentation skills.
For successful training, students are asked to prepare the following items before the beginning of this block:
- Prepare a short presentation (5–7 minutes) on the following question: “What excites me about my research topic?”
- Bring a video-capable device (mobile phone or tablet) for the video exercises.
4. “Raise Your Pay” – Negotiation Training
The final part of this course teaches students negotiation skills. Students learn how to carry their point in a negotiation, how to deal with conflicts, and how to react to verbal attacks. Students will have to participate in a negotiation game and receive individual feedback by the instructor to improve their negotiation skills.
Training concept:
- Develop strategic negotiation skills for career advancement
- Apply theoretical insights through practical exercises
- Improve decision-making and conflict resolution capabilities
- Build a toolkit of negotiation tactics for salary, promotion, and career opportunities
As a prerequisite for participating in this training, students are expected to submit one personal negotiation topic in advance that they would like to address and develop during the course.
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSB (Other)
CDSB-Kurs-Intensive Longitudinal Methods in Contexts of Work and Learning (Seminar for doctoral students, german)
Course type:
Seminar for doctoral students
ECTS:
5.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
german
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Andreas Rausch
Date(s):
| Friday (weekly) | 05.09.2025 – 05.12.2025 | 08:30 – 10:00 | O 226–28 Seminarraum; Schloss Ostflügel |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSB (Accounting)
MET: Applied Data Science: Machine Learning for Economics and Business Data (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
5.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Instructor(s):
Dr. Eduard Brüll
Date(s):
| Tuesday (weekly) | 02.09.2025 – 02.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | O 226–28 Seminarraum; Schloss Ostflügel |
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSB (Information Systems)
Advanced Data Science Lab I (Exercise, english)
Course type:
Exercise
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
4
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Markus Strohmaier, Indira Sen
Date(s):
| Tuesday (weekly) | 02.09.2025 – 02.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | 314–315 Besprechungsraum; L 15, 1–6 (Hochhaus) |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSB (Management)
MAN 802 Fundamentals of Non-Profit Management Science (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
4
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Bernd Helmig
Date(s):
| Thursday (single date) | 18.09.2025 | 14:30 – 16:30 | EO 237 Besprechung; Schloss Ehrenhof Ost |
| Thursday (single date) | 09.10.2025 | 15:30 – 16:30 | EO 237 Besprechung; Schloss Ehrenhof Ost |
| Thursday (single date) | 20.11.2025 | 10:00 – 17:30 | EO 237 Besprechung; Schloss Ehrenhof Ost |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSB (Operations Management)
OPM 801 Optimization and Heuristics (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Raik Stolletz
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 15:30 – 18:45 | SO 322 Seminarraum; Schloss Schneckenhof Ost |
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
OPM 918 Business Analytics: Models, Methods, Managerial Insights (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Raik Stolletz
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 29.01.2026 | 10:15 – 13:30 | SO 318 Seminarraum; Schloss Schneckenhof Ost |
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSS (Political Science)
Advanced Topics in Comparative Politics: Formal Models in CP (and some in IR) (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Recommended requirement:
Literature:
Various chapters of Scott Gehlbach's Formal Models of Domestic Politics (CUP) and journal articles from different fields
Examination achievement:
Term paper
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Bräuninger
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | B 317 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
This course is a continuation of the intro into Game Theory and surveys key applications of game theory with a particular emphasis on the link of theories, methods and empirics. Emphasis will be placed on prominent applications of those concepts in political science, in both comparative and international politics. Topics covered include electoral competition, delegation, political agency, governmental veto players, authoritarian politics, manipulation, war and crisis bargaining. While the focus is on understanding applied work, previous training in game theory is required. Students will build upon their previous game theory training to become informed consumers of scholarship utilizing the methodology and begin to learn how to apply game-theoretic logic to their own work. The course is partly taught from lecture notes, at other times students present a research paper and stimulate discussion in class.
The course may also count as an Advanced Topics Seminar in International Relations. In this case, please indicate this accordingly to the Student Services via email when you register for the exam during exam registration period.
The course may also count as an Advanced Topics Seminar in International Relations. In this case, please indicate this accordingly to the Student Services via email when you register for the exam during exam registration period.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Advanced Topics in Comparative Politics: Free Speech and Censorship (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Term paper
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Richard Traunmüller
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | B 318 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
This seminar starts from the premise that the current epistemic political crisis is not rooted in a denial of scientific facts, but in the ubiquitous tendency to evaluate scientific findings selectively and according to one's own political ideas. Researchers, too, are ordinary people and therefore politically motivated information processors. They seek information that supports their political ideas and avoid information that contradicts their ideas. They also seem to consider study results more plausible when they are consistent with their political ideas and to doubt study results that contradict their political beliefs. If this tendency, known as myside bias, meets the possibility of flexible presentation of results and a politically unbalanced disciplinary environment, politically biased findings are a very real danger and epistemic distrust an obvious, if not indicated, consequence. In this seminar we will discuss what political biases in science exist, where they come from, what consequences they have and what we can do about them.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Advanced Topics in Comparative Politics: Political Behavior in Context (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Term Paper (ca. 8.000 words)
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Harald Schoen
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 13:45 – 15:15 | B 318 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
Political behavior takes place in context. This statement is a truism and implies several challenges at the same time. Context is a multidimensional concept comprising – inter alia – social, political, and institutional features. At the theoretical level, the diversity of dimensions requires careful consideration of how to integrate contextual features into individual-level models of political behavior. Moreover, combining data from different levels of aggregation to examine the role of contexts in individual-level behavior raises several methodological issues. In this seminar, we will address the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological issues in the analysis of contextual effects on individual-level political behavior. Students will review the latest empirical studies in the field and prepare research papers in which they analyze specific questions using available data sets.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Advanced Topics in International Politics: Quantitative Analysis of Political Speech: The Case of the European Parliament (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Term paper
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas König
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | C 216 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
Attention: This seminar starts on September 18, 2025 (3 rd week of lecture time)
This seminar introduces students to cutting-edge methods for analyzing political speech quantitatively, with a special focus on the European Parliament (EP). The course covers techniques in computational text analysis (e.g., topic modeling, sentiment analysis, scaling models), data preprocessing, and causal inference using speech data. Students will engage with theoretical debates about representation, agenda-setting, and rhetorical strategy, and will complete a research project using a large corpus of EP speeches. Participants should have skills in quantitative methods (regression, causal inference), familiarity with R or Python, and prior coursework or reading in text-as-data or NLP is recommended but not required. Grimmer, Justin & Brandon M. Stewart. Text as Data: A New Framework for Machine Learning and the Social Sciences, Slapin, Jonathan B. & Sven-Oliver Proksch. The Politics of Parliamentary Debate, selected journal articles (APSR, AJPS, EUP, JOP, CPS).
This seminar introduces students to cutting-edge methods for analyzing political speech quantitatively, with a special focus on the European Parliament (EP). The course covers techniques in computational text analysis (e.g., topic modeling, sentiment analysis, scaling models), data preprocessing, and causal inference using speech data. Students will engage with theoretical debates about representation, agenda-setting, and rhetorical strategy, and will complete a research project using a large corpus of EP speeches. Participants should have skills in quantitative methods (regression, causal inference), familiarity with R or Python, and prior coursework or reading in text-as-data or NLP is recommended but not required. Grimmer, Justin & Brandon M. Stewart. Text as Data: A New Framework for Machine Learning and the Social Sciences, Slapin, Jonathan B. & Sven-Oliver Proksch. The Politics of Parliamentary Debate, selected journal articles (APSR, AJPS, EUP, JOP, CPS).
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Advanced Topics in International Politics: The Politics of Human Rights (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Learning target:
The goals of this course are
- to provide you with systematic knowledge and understanding about key debates on human rights violations and state repression
- to enable you to critically assess and evaluate academic research, its theoretical and empirical contributions
- to familiarize yourself with key datasets in human rights research
- to engage in and contribute to analytical discussions about published research
- to foster constructive discussions and effective reading
- to improve your writing and presentation skills
Examination achievement:
Schriftliche Hausarbeit / Research paper
Instructor(s):
Prof. Ph. D. Sabine Carey
Date(s):
| Tuesday (weekly) | 02.09.2025 – 02.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | B 318 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
Why do governments engage in repression of citizens? This seminar introduces students to foundational and recent research on human rights violations and repression around the world. We start by defining human rights and how they can be observed and measured. We discuss conditions that facilitate repression with particular focus on the role of democratic institutions and international human rights norms. The seminar sheds light on how governments organize repression, and we investigate different perpetrators of repression and how actors aim to justify or obfuscate state violence. We will also consider the role of the international community on influencing domestic processes of human rights protection and violation. Over the course of the seminar, you will develop your own research question on one of the topics discussed in the seminar and carrying out your own research.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
International Political Economy (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Valentin Lang
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
International Political Economy:
This lecture offers an introduction to current research topics in the field of International Political Economy (IPE). After introducing what it means to study IPE in the age of globalization, the course addresses four major themes of current IPE research.
1) In the first part on international trade, we will learn about the opportunities and challenges that come with the intensifying exchange of goods across the globe.
2) In the second part on international finance, we will focus on how global financial flows interact with political and economic stability, instability, and crises.
3) In the third part on international development, we will learn about global economic inequality and understand its links to development cooperation and migration.
4) In the fourth part on international institutions, we will focus on the role that international institutions and organizations play in the globalized economy.
This lecture offers an introduction to current research topics in the field of International Political Economy (IPE). After introducing what it means to study IPE in the age of globalization, the course addresses four major themes of current IPE research.
1) In the first part on international trade, we will learn about the opportunities and challenges that come with the intensifying exchange of goods across the globe.
2) In the second part on international finance, we will focus on how global financial flows interact with political and economic stability, instability, and crises.
3) In the third part on international development, we will learn about global economic inequality and understand its links to development cooperation and migration.
4) In the fourth part on international institutions, we will focus on the role that international institutions and organizations play in the globalized economy.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
S Game Theory (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
David Avagian
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 13:45 – 15:15 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
This tutorial accompanies the graduate-level introductory lecture on game theory. Its main objective is to practice solution concepts for static and dynamic games of complete and incomplete information. The contents are centered around the material covered in the lecture. Thus, the following key areas will be discussed: normal-form games, dominance, Nash equilibria, mixed strategies, continuous strategies, sequential games with perfect and incomplete information, subgames and subgame perfection, Bayesian equilibria, signaling and cheap talk games, expected utility and decision theory, bargaining theory, and social choice. At the substantial level, we will use these concepts to study, as examples, candidate competition, political lobbying, and war and deterrence.
S Quantitative Methods (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Domantas Undzenas
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 08:30 – 10:00 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
Description:
| This tutorial accompanies the course “Quantitative Methods” in the M.A. program in Political Science. The lab sessions will focus on the practical issues associated with quantitative methods, including obtaining and preparing data sets, how to use statistical software, which tests to use for different kinds of problems, how to graph data effectively for presentation and analysis, and how to interpret results. The seminar will also serve as a software tutorial. No prior knowledge of statistical programming is expected. |
S Quantitative Methods (Tutorial) (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Muhammad Muhammad
Date(s):
| Friday (weekly) | 05.09.2025 – 05.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | B 318 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
| This tutorial accompanies the course “Quantitative Methods” in the M.A. program in Political Science. The lab sessions will focus on the practical issues associated with quantitative methods, including obtaining and preparing data sets, how to use statistical software, which tests to use for different kinds of problems, how to graph data effectively for presentation and analysis, and how to interpret results. The seminar will also serve as a software tutorial. No prior knowledge of statistical programming is expected. |
VL Game Theory (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Recommended requirement:
Examination achievement:
Exam
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Bräuninger
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | C 012 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
The objective of this course is to provide students with the basics of formal modeling in political science. The course has some breadth in coverage in the sense that it provides a graduate-level introduction and overview to different areas in game theory. It is also narrow in the sense that the emphasis is not on application and model testing but getting trained in reading and writing down formal models. At the conceptual level the course will cover the following topics: normal form games, Nash equilibria, extensive form games, subgame perfect equilibria, repeated games, bargaining, games with incomplete and imperfect information, Bayesian perfect equilibria, signaling games, preferences and individual choices, basics of decision theory and social choice. At the substantial level, we will use these concepts to study, as examples, candidate competition, political lobbying, and war and deterrence.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
VL Quantitative Methods (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Examination achievement:
data essay approx. 2000 words
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Gschwend
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 08:30 – 10:00 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
The course introduces students to quantitative methods in political science. During the first half of the course, we will focus on linear regression models. The topics covered include discussions of the mathematical bases for such models, their estimation and interpretation, model assumptions and techniques for addressing violations of those assumptions, and topics related to model specification and functional forms. During the second half of the course, students will be introduced to likelihood as a theory of inference, including models for binary and count data.
The main goals of this course are to develop sound critical judgment about quantitative studies of political problems, to understand the logic of statistical inference, to recognize and understand the basics of the linear regression model, to develop the skills necessary to work with datasets to perform basic quantitative analyses, and to provide a basis of knowledge for more advanced statistical methods.
In the accompanying course “Tutorial Multivariate Analyses” students will develop the necessary expertise in using statistical software to conduct quantitative research in political science.
The main goals of this course are to develop sound critical judgment about quantitative studies of political problems, to understand the logic of statistical inference, to recognize and understand the basics of the linear regression model, to develop the skills necessary to work with datasets to perform basic quantitative analyses, and to provide a basis of knowledge for more advanced statistical methods.
In the accompanying course “Tutorial Multivariate Analyses” students will develop the necessary expertise in using statistical software to conduct quantitative research in political science.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Bridge Course from the course offer of the CDSS (Psychology)
AG1/
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
4.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Learning target:
This course provides an in-depth overview of current topics in work and organizational psychology. Based on the restricted employee sustainability theory (REST, Barnes et al., 2003) we will discuss processes related to stress, well-being maintenance, social support, and learning & development within organizations. The focus is on reading recent original literature and critical discussions. To gain course credits, students will provide written answers to questions related to the topics and articles discussed in the course.
Literature:
Journal papers; reading assignments will be given at the beginning of the semester.
Examination achievement:
schriftliche Hausarbeit
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Sabine Sonnentag
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 17:15 – 18:45 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
| Wednesday (single date) | 01.10.2025 | 19:00 – 20:30 | C 217 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
Diese Vorlesung bietet eine Einführung in das Fach Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie und stellt dabei wesentliche Themen vor, unter anderem Arbeitsmotivation, Stress, Arbeitsgruppen, Führung, Arbeitsanalyse, Leistungsbeurteilung, Personalauswahl, Training. Es wird ein erster Überblick über wichtige forschungs- und praxisbezogene Fragestellungen vermittelt, wobei insbesondere die empirische Basis des Faches betont wird. Diese Veranstaltung empfiehlt sich für alle Studierenden als Einstieg in das Fach „Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie”.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
BC2 (also AC1): Research and Application Techniques 2: Creating experiments with lab.js (Intensive seminar, english)
Course type:
Intensive seminar
ECTS:
4.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Registration procedure:
If exchange students require a grade, the course will be graded.
PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS will be contacted by the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de) via mail to indicate their course preferences.
NON-PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS may solely attend if (a) places are left (b) students posses basic knowledge in Psychology and statistics (c) the docent approves participation. For applications please contact the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de).
PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS will be contacted by the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de) via mail to indicate their course preferences.
NON-PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS may solely attend if (a) places are left (b) students posses basic knowledge in Psychology and statistics (c) the docent approves participation. For applications please contact the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de).
Literature:
Software:
OpenSesame can be downloaded for free under http://osdoc.cogsci.nl/index.html, where you can also find an extensive documentation.
Literature:
Mathôt, S., Schreij, D., & Theeuwes, J. (2012). OpenSesame: An open-source, graphical experiment builder for the social sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 44(2), 314–324. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0168-7 (Open Access)
OpenSesame can be downloaded for free under http://osdoc.cogsci.nl/index.html, where you can also find an extensive documentation.
Literature:
Mathôt, S., Schreij, D., & Theeuwes, J. (2012). OpenSesame: An open-source, graphical experiment builder for the social sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 44(2), 314–324. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0168-7 (Open Access)
Examination achievement:
Creating an experiment (specific requirements discussed in course)
Instructor(s):
Dr. Sophie Scharf
Date(s):
| Friday (single date) | 10.10.2025 | 10:15 – 17:00 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Saturday (single date) | 11.10.2025 | 10:15 – 15:15 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 24.10.2025 | 10:15 – 17:00 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Saturday (single date) | 25.10.2025 | 10:15 – 15:15 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
lab.js is a simple, graphical tool to help you build studies for the web and the laboratory – in addition, it is free and open-source. Many standard tasks can be implemented in lab.js using its graphical user interface. Further, more complex tasks can be realized through the underlying programming language JavaScript.
The goal of the workshop is to provide an introduction to both approaches. In doing so, the workshop involves both structured input from the instructor as well as a number of practical exercises so that participants can directly explore the features of lab.js.
No prior knowledge of the software or JavaScript is required. As an assignment, participants will create their own experiment based on the requirements discussed in the workshop.
The goal of the workshop is to provide an introduction to both approaches. In doing so, the workshop involves both structured input from the instructor as well as a number of practical exercises so that participants can directly explore the features of lab.js.
No prior knowledge of the software or JavaScript is required. As an assignment, participants will create their own experiment based on the requirements discussed in the workshop.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
BC2 (also AC1): Research and Application Techniques 2: Mathematical and Statistical Foundations of Psychology (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
4.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Literature:
- Dunn, P. K., & Smyth, G. K. (2018). Generalized linear models with examples in R. New York: Springer.
- Hoffman, L. (2015). Longitudinal analysis: Modeling within-person fluctuation and change. New York: Routledge.
- James, G., Witten, D., Hastie, T., & Tibshirani, R. (2013). An intro¬duction to statistical learning with applications in R. New York: Springer.
- Kline, R. B. (2023). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford.
- Snijders, T. A. B., & Bosker, R. J. (2012). Multilevel analysis: An introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modeling. London: Sage.
Examination achievement:
Master students (BC2): Marked written exam (90 minutes)
Doctoral researchers (CDSS): Individual course criteria (e.g., short presentation, exercises, etc.)
Doctoral researchers from other institutions: Criteria depending on local regulations and requirements
Doctoral researchers (CDSS): Individual course criteria (e.g., short presentation, exercises, etc.)
Doctoral researchers from other institutions: Criteria depending on local regulations and requirements
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thorsten Meiser
Date(s):
| Friday (single date) | 12.09.2025 | 09:00 – 12:30 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 17.10.2025 | 09:00 – 12:30 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 21.11.2025 | 09:00 – 12:30 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
Mathematical and Statistical Foundations of Psychology
This course gives an introduction to the basic elements of linear algebra and mathematical calculus that are relevant for statistical modeling and hypothesis testing in psychological research and in related areas of the social sciences. We will go through essential concepts and operations of matrix and vector algebra, differential equations and integral calculus, and we will discuss implications for parameter estimation and measures of statistical uncertainty in multivariate models. Beyond these formal foundations, an advanced overview of applied statistical models will be provided, including linear and generalized linear models, machine learning-based regularization procedures, structural equation models, and multilevel analysis with a particular focus on modeling longitudinal data. The statistical models and procedures will be illustrated with simulated and empirical data. In addition, model specification, parameter estimation and hypothesis testing will be demonstrated and practiced in R. The combination of mathematical foundations and applied statistical analysis enhances the understanding of key concepts of statistical modeling, and it enables students and young researchers to tailor statistical models and tests according to their specific research questions.
This course gives an introduction to the basic elements of linear algebra and mathematical calculus that are relevant for statistical modeling and hypothesis testing in psychological research and in related areas of the social sciences. We will go through essential concepts and operations of matrix and vector algebra, differential equations and integral calculus, and we will discuss implications for parameter estimation and measures of statistical uncertainty in multivariate models. Beyond these formal foundations, an advanced overview of applied statistical models will be provided, including linear and generalized linear models, machine learning-based regularization procedures, structural equation models, and multilevel analysis with a particular focus on modeling longitudinal data. The statistical models and procedures will be illustrated with simulated and empirical data. In addition, model specification, parameter estimation and hypothesis testing will be demonstrated and practiced in R. The combination of mathematical foundations and applied statistical analysis enhances the understanding of key concepts of statistical modeling, and it enables students and young researchers to tailor statistical models and tests according to their specific research questions.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Ringvorlesung: Unwrapping the mind: knowledge, cognition, and AI (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
5.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Examination achievement:
Exam
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Nicole Altvater-Mackensen, Prof. Dr. Arndt Bröder, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Freitag, Prof. Dr. Beatrice Kuhlmann, Prof. Dr. Simone Paolo Ponzetto, Prof. Dr. Carola Trips
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 17:15 – 18:45 | EO 150 AbsolventUM Hörsaal; Schloss Ehrenhof Ost |
Description:
With the rise of AI models like GPT-4, machines seem capable of mimicking human cognitive processes-thinking, perceiving, learning, and even making decisions. But do they truly think, or are they merely processing patterns in complex ways? In this lecture series, experts in cognitive science will explore what makes human cognition exceptional (if at all), how AI challenges our understanding of intelligence, and what we can gain from integrating AI into cognitive research. We will also address how insights from human cognition can help develop more efficient, interpretable AI models and examine the ethical considerations that come with their use. The perspective of psychology will approach cognition using both experiments and formal modeling.
Lectures will tackle human judgment and decision making, memory processes and memory strategies developing across the life-span, categorization and estimation as well as metacognition – the knowledge about one's own cognitive processes. . From the linguistic perspective, we will focus on language acquisition and processing, as well as on the question how language relates to other domains of cognition. We will present both experimental results and historical corpus data to showcase how language is represented and processed in the mind and how learners acquire language along the dimension of time. From a computational and AI-driven standpoint, the series will cover the modeling of cognitive processes, investigating how human judgment and decision-making are represented in computational frameworks. We will also explore the inner workings of AI language models, discussing how they process and generate language and how they can be extended through multimodal learning and interaction with users.
The philosophy lectures will explore what it means to say that something or someone “thinks” or “feels”. We examine whether attributing mental states to artificial machines differs fundamentally from doing so to humans or non-human animals. We hope that this will also shed light on the broader implications of AI for our general understanding of mind and agency.
Bringing together research from psychology, linguistics, computational science, and philosophy, this series offers a rich and interdisciplinary exploration of intelligence, learning, and perception-both human and artificial.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Methods (MET)
Crafting Social Science Research
Crafting Social Science Research (Lecture w/
Course type:
Lecture w/
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Examination achievement:
Research proposal term paper (circa 10 pages)
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Gschwend
Date(s):
| Tuesday (weekly) | 02.09.2025 – 02.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | 211 Seminarraum; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
All researchers face similar challenges with core issues of research design. A research design is a plan that specifies how you are going to carry out a research project and, particularly, how to use evidence to answer your research question. The goal of this course is to jump-start students with their dissertation proposal. This course should help students to see the trade-offs involved in choosing a particular research design in their research projects. Consequently students are expected to develop own ideas about potential research questions and actively participate in those seminar-style meetings that are organized within this lecture course.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Classes on methodology from the course offer of the M.A. programs in Political Science
Advanced Topics in Comparative Politics: Formal Models in CP (and some in IR) (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Recommended requirement:
Literature:
Various chapters of Scott Gehlbach's Formal Models of Domestic Politics (CUP) and journal articles from different fields
Examination achievement:
Term paper
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Bräuninger
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 15:30 – 17:00 | B 317 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
This course is a continuation of the intro into Game Theory and surveys key applications of game theory with a particular emphasis on the link of theories, methods and empirics. Emphasis will be placed on prominent applications of those concepts in political science, in both comparative and international politics. Topics covered include electoral competition, delegation, political agency, governmental veto players, authoritarian politics, manipulation, war and crisis bargaining. While the focus is on understanding applied work, previous training in game theory is required. Students will build upon their previous game theory training to become informed consumers of scholarship utilizing the methodology and begin to learn how to apply game-theoretic logic to their own work. The course is partly taught from lecture notes, at other times students present a research paper and stimulate discussion in class.
The course may also count as an Advanced Topics Seminar in International Relations. In this case, please indicate this accordingly to the Student Services via email when you register for the exam during exam registration period.
The course may also count as an Advanced Topics Seminar in International Relations. In this case, please indicate this accordingly to the Student Services via email when you register for the exam during exam registration period.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
S Game Theory (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
David Avagian
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 13:45 – 15:15 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
This tutorial accompanies the graduate-level introductory lecture on game theory. Its main objective is to practice solution concepts for static and dynamic games of complete and incomplete information. The contents are centered around the material covered in the lecture. Thus, the following key areas will be discussed: normal-form games, dominance, Nash equilibria, mixed strategies, continuous strategies, sequential games with perfect and incomplete information, subgames and subgame perfection, Bayesian equilibria, signaling and cheap talk games, expected utility and decision theory, bargaining theory, and social choice. At the substantial level, we will use these concepts to study, as examples, candidate competition, political lobbying, and war and deterrence.
S Quantitative Methods (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Domantas Undzenas
Date(s):
| Thursday (weekly) | 04.09.2025 – 04.12.2025 | 08:30 – 10:00 | A 102 Seminarraum; B 6, 23–25 Bauteil A |
Description:
| This tutorial accompanies the course “Quantitative Methods” in the M.A. program in Political Science. The lab sessions will focus on the practical issues associated with quantitative methods, including obtaining and preparing data sets, how to use statistical software, which tests to use for different kinds of problems, how to graph data effectively for presentation and analysis, and how to interpret results. The seminar will also serve as a software tutorial. No prior knowledge of statistical programming is expected. |
S Quantitative Methods (Tutorial) (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
2.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Instructor(s):
Muhammad Muhammad
Date(s):
| Friday (weekly) | 05.09.2025 – 05.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | B 318 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
| This tutorial accompanies the course “Quantitative Methods” in the M.A. program in Political Science. The lab sessions will focus on the practical issues associated with quantitative methods, including obtaining and preparing data sets, how to use statistical software, which tests to use for different kinds of problems, how to graph data effectively for presentation and analysis, and how to interpret results. The seminar will also serve as a software tutorial. No prior knowledge of statistical programming is expected. |
VL Game Theory (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Recommended requirement:
Examination achievement:
Exam
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Bräuninger
Date(s):
| Monday (weekly) | 01.09.2025 – 01.12.2025 | 10:15 – 11:45 | C 012 Seminarraum; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
Description:
The objective of this course is to provide students with the basics of formal modeling in political science. The course has some breadth in coverage in the sense that it provides a graduate-level introduction and overview to different areas in game theory. It is also narrow in the sense that the emphasis is not on application and model testing but getting trained in reading and writing down formal models. At the conceptual level the course will cover the following topics: normal form games, Nash equilibria, extensive form games, subgame perfect equilibria, repeated games, bargaining, games with incomplete and imperfect information, Bayesian perfect equilibria, signaling games, preferences and individual choices, basics of decision theory and social choice. At the substantial level, we will use these concepts to study, as examples, candidate competition, political lobbying, and war and deterrence.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
VL Quantitative Methods (Lecture, english)
Course type:
Lecture
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Examination achievement:
data essay approx. 2000 words
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thomas Gschwend
Date(s):
| Wednesday (weekly) | 03.09.2025 – 03.12.2025 | 08:30 – 10:00 | B 244 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
Description:
The course introduces students to quantitative methods in political science. During the first half of the course, we will focus on linear regression models. The topics covered include discussions of the mathematical bases for such models, their estimation and interpretation, model assumptions and techniques for addressing violations of those assumptions, and topics related to model specification and functional forms. During the second half of the course, students will be introduced to likelihood as a theory of inference, including models for binary and count data.
The main goals of this course are to develop sound critical judgment about quantitative studies of political problems, to understand the logic of statistical inference, to recognize and understand the basics of the linear regression model, to develop the skills necessary to work with datasets to perform basic quantitative analyses, and to provide a basis of knowledge for more advanced statistical methods.
In the accompanying course “Tutorial Multivariate Analyses” students will develop the necessary expertise in using statistical software to conduct quantitative research in political science.
The main goals of this course are to develop sound critical judgment about quantitative studies of political problems, to understand the logic of statistical inference, to recognize and understand the basics of the linear regression model, to develop the skills necessary to work with datasets to perform basic quantitative analyses, and to provide a basis of knowledge for more advanced statistical methods.
In the accompanying course “Tutorial Multivariate Analyses” students will develop the necessary expertise in using statistical software to conduct quantitative research in political science.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
Classes on methodology from the course offer of the M.Sc. programs in Psychology
BC2 (also AC1): Research and Application Techniques 2: Creating experiments with lab.js (Intensive seminar, english)
Course type:
Intensive seminar
ECTS:
4.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
Live & on-campus
Registration procedure:
If exchange students require a grade, the course will be graded.
PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS will be contacted by the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de) via mail to indicate their course preferences.
NON-PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS may solely attend if (a) places are left (b) students posses basic knowledge in Psychology and statistics (c) the docent approves participation. For applications please contact the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de).
PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS will be contacted by the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de) via mail to indicate their course preferences.
NON-PSYCHOLOGY EXCHANGE STUDENTS may solely attend if (a) places are left (b) students posses basic knowledge in Psychology and statistics (c) the docent approves participation. For applications please contact the international affairs coordinator for Psychology (int-psy@uni-mannheim.de).
Literature:
Software:
OpenSesame can be downloaded for free under http://osdoc.cogsci.nl/index.html, where you can also find an extensive documentation.
Literature:
Mathôt, S., Schreij, D., & Theeuwes, J. (2012). OpenSesame: An open-source, graphical experiment builder for the social sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 44(2), 314–324. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0168-7 (Open Access)
OpenSesame can be downloaded for free under http://osdoc.cogsci.nl/index.html, where you can also find an extensive documentation.
Literature:
Mathôt, S., Schreij, D., & Theeuwes, J. (2012). OpenSesame: An open-source, graphical experiment builder for the social sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 44(2), 314–324. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0168-7 (Open Access)
Examination achievement:
Creating an experiment (specific requirements discussed in course)
Instructor(s):
Dr. Sophie Scharf
Date(s):
| Friday (single date) | 10.10.2025 | 10:15 – 17:00 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Saturday (single date) | 11.10.2025 | 10:15 – 15:15 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 24.10.2025 | 10:15 – 17:00 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Saturday (single date) | 25.10.2025 | 10:15 – 15:15 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
lab.js is a simple, graphical tool to help you build studies for the web and the laboratory – in addition, it is free and open-source. Many standard tasks can be implemented in lab.js using its graphical user interface. Further, more complex tasks can be realized through the underlying programming language JavaScript.
The goal of the workshop is to provide an introduction to both approaches. In doing so, the workshop involves both structured input from the instructor as well as a number of practical exercises so that participants can directly explore the features of lab.js.
No prior knowledge of the software or JavaScript is required. As an assignment, participants will create their own experiment based on the requirements discussed in the workshop.
The goal of the workshop is to provide an introduction to both approaches. In doing so, the workshop involves both structured input from the instructor as well as a number of practical exercises so that participants can directly explore the features of lab.js.
No prior knowledge of the software or JavaScript is required. As an assignment, participants will create their own experiment based on the requirements discussed in the workshop.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.
BC2 (also AC1): Research and Application Techniques 2: Mathematical and Statistical Foundations of Psychology (Seminar, english)
Course type:
Seminar
ECTS:
4.0
Course suitable for:
Master
Language of instruction:
english
Credit hours 1:
2
Attendance:
On-campus and online, live
Literature:
- Dunn, P. K., & Smyth, G. K. (2018). Generalized linear models with examples in R. New York: Springer.
- Hoffman, L. (2015). Longitudinal analysis: Modeling within-person fluctuation and change. New York: Routledge.
- James, G., Witten, D., Hastie, T., & Tibshirani, R. (2013). An intro¬duction to statistical learning with applications in R. New York: Springer.
- Kline, R. B. (2023). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford.
- Snijders, T. A. B., & Bosker, R. J. (2012). Multilevel analysis: An introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modeling. London: Sage.
Examination achievement:
Master students (BC2): Marked written exam (90 minutes)
Doctoral researchers (CDSS): Individual course criteria (e.g., short presentation, exercises, etc.)
Doctoral researchers from other institutions: Criteria depending on local regulations and requirements
Doctoral researchers (CDSS): Individual course criteria (e.g., short presentation, exercises, etc.)
Doctoral researchers from other institutions: Criteria depending on local regulations and requirements
Instructor(s):
Prof. Dr. Thorsten Meiser
Date(s):
| Friday (single date) | 12.09.2025 | 09:00 – 12:30 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 17.10.2025 | 09:00 – 12:30 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
| Friday (single date) | 21.11.2025 | 09:00 – 12:30 | 108 CIP-Pool; B 6, 30–32 Bauteil E-F |
Description:
Mathematical and Statistical Foundations of Psychology
This course gives an introduction to the basic elements of linear algebra and mathematical calculus that are relevant for statistical modeling and hypothesis testing in psychological research and in related areas of the social sciences. We will go through essential concepts and operations of matrix and vector algebra, differential equations and integral calculus, and we will discuss implications for parameter estimation and measures of statistical uncertainty in multivariate models. Beyond these formal foundations, an advanced overview of applied statistical models will be provided, including linear and generalized linear models, machine learning-based regularization procedures, structural equation models, and multilevel analysis with a particular focus on modeling longitudinal data. The statistical models and procedures will be illustrated with simulated and empirical data. In addition, model specification, parameter estimation and hypothesis testing will be demonstrated and practiced in R. The combination of mathematical foundations and applied statistical analysis enhances the understanding of key concepts of statistical modeling, and it enables students and young researchers to tailor statistical models and tests according to their specific research questions.
This course gives an introduction to the basic elements of linear algebra and mathematical calculus that are relevant for statistical modeling and hypothesis testing in psychological research and in related areas of the social sciences. We will go through essential concepts and operations of matrix and vector algebra, differential equations and integral calculus, and we will discuss implications for parameter estimation and measures of statistical uncertainty in multivariate models. Beyond these formal foundations, an advanced overview of applied statistical models will be provided, including linear and generalized linear models, machine learning-based regularization procedures, structural equation models, and multilevel analysis with a particular focus on modeling longitudinal data. The statistical models and procedures will be illustrated with simulated and empirical data. In addition, model specification, parameter estimation and hypothesis testing will be demonstrated and practiced in R. The combination of mathematical foundations and applied statistical analysis enhances the understanding of key concepts of statistical modeling, and it enables students and young researchers to tailor statistical models and tests according to their specific research questions.
More information
1 Credit hours indicate the duration of a course which is offered weekly during one semester. One credit hour equals 45 minutes.