GRK 2503:  Collective Decision-Making

• Subject Area: Economics ; Philosophy ; Social Sciences
• Term: since 2020
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 401375414

The Research Training Group (RTG) advances our knowledge of collective decision-making by bringing together state-of-the-art theoretical and methodological approaches as well as findings from economics, philosophy and political science, which are usually not shared across the disciplines. The RTG fosters scientific progress by encouraging doctoral researchers to leave the trodden paths of their discipline and receive inspiration and feedback from researchers in other fields. The unique research environment of the RTG provides an excellent preparation both for the international academic job market and for leading positions in the private and public sector. The RTG research program is concerned with the descriptive and normative dimensions of collective decision-making. It focusses on the interactions and interdependencies among individual agents, procedures, and outcomes of collective decision-making. In view of the many challenges and crises that societies face, including climate change, military conflicts, pandemics and the increasing political polarization in established democracies, fundamental research on collective decision-making is becoming ever more important. Since decisions are taken under the given institutional framework which itself is subject to a collective decision it is important to understand not only the effectiveness of specific institutions but also their resilience towards detrimental forces and their adaptability in times of crises. A primary goal of the RTG therefore is to train advanced specialists for the analysis and design of institutions and mechanisms of collective decision-making in both small groups and big societies. The RTG qualification program reflects the conviction that interdisciplinarity has additional value over and above disciplinary expertise but is not a replacement for it. Accordingly, doctoral researchers are assigned to a disciplinary track and take courses tailored to the background of the researcher and the theme of the RTG. In that way the qualification program ensures that doctoral researchers are firmly rooted in the discipline of their planned doctoral degrees and that their research meets the publication standards of top-ranked international outlets for this discipline. As a complement to the disciplinary qualification the RTG has established a high-quality interdisciplinary research environment that features an interdisciplinary research seminar with renowned international guest speakers and workshops with leaders of the profession, among others.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Universität Hamburg
• Spokesperson: Professorin Dr. Anke Gerber
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Matthew Braham; Professorin Ilaria Cozzaglio, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Thomas Krödel; Professor Dr. Andreas Lange; Professorin Dr. Lydia Mechtenberg; Professor Dr. Gerd Mühlheußer; Professor Dr. Peter Niesen; Professor Dr. Kai-Uwe Schnapp; Professorin Dr. Judith Simon; Professorin Dr. Vera Troeger; Professor Dr. Stefan Voigt