Wrap-up: 20th Anniversary and Week of Methods 2025
The 20th Interdisciplinary Week of Methods of the GGG took place from October 6 to October 9, 2025. The GGG is also celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The double anniversary gave rise to a public opening ceremony and an extended supporting program – including welcoming speeches and an anniversary cake.
After the opening by the organizers, Vice President Prof. Dr. Bernhard Brümmer summarized the challenges and successes of the graduate school. He especially thanked the doctoral students for their valuable contributions in actively using and shaping the GGG’s offerings and measures, and highlighted the office manager Dr. Roß as the “soul of the GGG.”
The renowned keynote speaker, Federal Constitutional Court Judge Prof. Dr. Christine Langenfeld, joined the event online at short notice due to illness. After her personal statement on the prevailing societal relevance of social science research on the one hand and the PhD support on the other, a lively exchange with the plenary ensued. In this exchange, she emphatically called on scientists and scholars to engage in open contextualization and reflection: by disclosing disciplinary references and the danger of a generalization of scientific findings, in communication with politics and society as a whole, but also through international comparison. The public part of the program was rounded off with an exchange over quiche and anniversary cake.
After the refreshment, all registered participants gathered for a speed networking session across workshops.
They then spent three and a half days working in three parallel workshops:
- Workshop 1: Foundations of Python and Introduction to Data Science (Dr. Denis Düsseldorf, Cologne)
- Workshop 2: Surveys planvoll nutzen: Konzeptionelle Grundlagen der Mehrebenenanalyse für komplexe Datenstrukturen (Dr. Sabine Trittler, Göttingen)
- Workshop 3: Generative AI for Qualitative Research (Dr. Susanne Friese, Netherlands)
In addition to our annual highlight – a short tour of the Historical Observatory followed by a barbecue evening – a new item on the program stood out in particular: the Alumni Lunch. The informal exchange with Dr. Stefan Kroll and Dr. Natascha Volk about personal experiences with, for example, balancing work and family life or starting a career, rounded off the supporting program nicely. Thank you very much for your inspiring contribution!
We all enjoyed the exchange and the relaxed atmosphere. The opportunity to ask questions and seek support was also taken advantage of repeatedly.