The Otto-Suhr-Institut für Politikwissenschaft (''Otto Suhr Institute for Political Science'', also ''OSI'') is a prestigious

research institute A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...

of the Free University of Berlin. It is the leading political science institution in Germany and one of the most highly rated in the world. It is named after Otto Suhr (1894–1957, SPD), a former mayor of Berlin. The OSI's political science undergraduate and graduate programs are consistently ranked as the best in Germany and among the top 5 in Europe. It is part of Free University's department of Political and Social Science and offers dual degree programs with

Sciences Po Paris , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

and

HEC Paris HEC Paris (french: École des hautes études commerciales de Paris) is a business school, and one of the most prestigious and selective grandes écoles, located in Jouy-en-Josas, France. HEC offers Master in Management, MSc International Fi ...

. It is the most selective department for political science in Germany.

History

The OSI arose in 1959 from the Deutsche Hochschule für Politik (''German Academy for Politics'') founded in 1920, which was the leading educational institution for the political elites during the Weimar Republic. Otto Suhr, a professor at the institute who would later become mayor of Berlin, envisioned an institute for the teaching of democracy. The opening ceremony was hosted by the

German president The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...

Theodor Heuss who proclaimed "the breath of the world will blow through the doors of this institution". During the

German student movement The West German student movement or sometimes called the 1968 movement in West Germany was a social movement that consisted of mass student protests in West Germany in 1968; participants in the movement would later come to be known as 68ers. T ...

in the late 1960s, the Otto-Suhr-Institut played a significant role and was reckoned a 'leftist' and later an 'alternative' think tank, as it employed radical thinkers such as

Johannes Agnoli Johannes Agnoli (22 February 1925 in Valle di Cadore, Eastern Dolomites – 4 May 2003 in San Quirico di Moriano near Lucca) was a German-Italian Marxist political scientist, though he rejected the label ''Marxist'', preferring instead - somewhat i ...

. However, in present days this reputation is rather legendary than lifelike.

Current activity

The ''OSI'' is part of the Department for Political and Social Sciences. It continues to be the leading institute in the field of political science in Germany, focussing on the study of International Relations. Since 2001,

Thomas Risse Thomas Risse (formerly Risse-Kappen) is a Berlin-based international relations scholar. He currently acts as chair for “transnational relations, foreign- and security policy” at the Otto-Suhr Institute for Political Science at Freie Univer ...

heads the institute's Center for Transnational Relations, Foreign and Security Policy which was founded in 1986 as the Center for Transatlantic Foreign and Security Policy by Helga Haftendorn.

Study Programmes

* BA Political Science * BA Political Science for Education * BA Political Science double degree with

Sciences Po Paris , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

* MA Political Science * MA International Relations * MA Political Science - European Affairs with

Sciences Po Paris , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

* MA Political Science - International Affairs with

Sciences Po Paris , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

* MA Public Policy and Management with

* MA International Relations with Humboldt University and the University of Potsdam * MA International Relations with Humboldt University, University of Potsdam and Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

International programmes

The institute offers an integrated German-French double-degree Bachelor as well as a double-degree Master programme with the French Grande Ecole

Sciences Po Paris , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

(formerly also known as Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris) as well as a German-Russian joint Master's programme in co-operation with the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. It has also successfully developed a Double Degree in Public Policy and Management with the European top-ranking business school,

. The German-French double degree programmes are recognised and coordinated by the Franco-German University. Furthermore, the Institute holds many agreements on academic exchange with international top universities.

Notable faculty

Arnulf Baring Arnulf Martin Baring (8 May 1932 in Dresden – 2 March 2019 in Berlin) was a German lawyer, journalist, political scientist, contemporary historian and author. He was a member of the German-British Baring family of bankers. Life Arnulf Baring wa ...

, historian and political scientist * Ernst Fraenkel, political scientist * Herta Däubler-Gmelin, former German Minister of Justice *

, international relations scholar * Heinrich August Winkler, historian *

Tanja Börzel Tanja A. Börzel (born 5 July 1970) is a German political scientist. Her research and teaching focus on the fields of European Integration, Governance, and Diffusion. She is professor of Political Science at the Otto-Suhr-Institute of Political Sci ...

, European integration and governance scholar *

Elmar Altvater Elmar Altvater (Kamen, Province of Westphalia, 24 August 1938 – 1 May 2018) was Professor of Political Science at the Otto-Suhr-Institut of the Free University of Berlin, before retiring on 30 September 2004. He continued to work at the institut ...

, political scientist

Notable alumni

* Jakob Augstein, journalist and publisher of '' Der Freitag'' * Hermann Scheer, environmentalist * Gesine Schwan, professor of political science * Gabor Steingart, journalist * Anne Will, TV journalist

References

External links

Website of the Otto-Suhr-Institut
(English) Free University of Berlin Political research institutes Educational institutions established in 1959 Political science in Germany 1959 establishments in Germany {{Berlin-struct-stub