The NIPAG

Our mission and motto is to conduct 'Research on and for the public administration'. We therefore aim to maintain a balanced relationship between basic and applied research, with a view to integrating theory and practice. We present our results to the scientific community and facilitate the transfer of new findings through an ongoing dialogue with administrative practice. We provide public administrations with practical scientific advice and support, developing bespoke solutions for their respective practical tasks and needs. We also focus our research on topics that are important to our partners in public administration, interlinking current issues with long-term lines of development for states and societies.

In light of the significant pressure on administrations to transform in response to the multidimensional and dynamic changes in their environments, our research interests focus on the 'transformation of the state'. We are interested in identifying the processes of change and their causes affecting the state and administration, whether these are external or internal factors. We also explore how the state and public administration can shape transformation. To develop differentiated and effective concepts, we focus our research on central transformation factors.

We work predominantly in interdisciplinary project teams that cover a broad spectrum of administrative, legal, economic, political and sociological approaches and can draw on the methodological repertoire of these disciplines. Our comprehensive approach is supported by the fact that our researchers come from different research cultures, which allows us to draw on a diverse range of subject matter expertise. This makes us a primary point of contact for European and international public administration science and practice.

We consider recruitment and training to be a key driver of excellence in public administration. We therefore recruit highly qualified young researchers and provide them with the support they need to further their qualifications. We assess the gender-specific implications of all our proposals and decisions and work to eliminate existing disadvantages. In the interest of reconciling work and family life, we support a partnership model in which partners share joint responsibility for the upbringing of their children or their care of close relatives.