Whether the issue is climate change, the global food supply, the energy supply, health development, species extinction or water shortages – worldwide, high expectations are placed on the scientific knowledge of tomorrow to solve most of the major challenges of the twenty-first century. However, the successful development, communication and application of scientific knowledge are themselves great challenges. The state of tension in which scientists increasingly find themselves is in many cases intensified through the increasing economisation, politicisation and mediatisation of science. The multifaceted responsibilities of universities should particularly be taken into account in the context of the challenges facing the scientific system.
The key research area Interdisciplinary Studies of Science pools research in the fields of humanities and social sciences regarding the social, epistemological, normative and cultural conditions of science.
In April 2016, the Leibniz Center for Science and Society (LCSS) was established at Leibniz Universität Hannover to create a central location for science studies and higher education research. There, as well as at the Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences (CELLS) at the Faculty of Humanities - with its main research area in the philosophy of science and the research training group ‘Integrating Ethics and Epistemology of Scientific Research’ - as well as in further departments of the three participating faculties, researchers study science as a social, cultural and cognitive phenomenon as the focus of their research. Leibniz University Hannover has evolved into a focal point for this research.
