The DFG -funded research group "Multiple Competition in the Higher Education System", which has been working since 2020, has already contributed to a comprehensive understanding of multiple competition in the higher education system in the first funding phase. The initiative for the research group came from INCHER Board Spokesperson Prof. Dr. Georg Krücken, who has also been the group's spokesperson since 2020. In the next three-year funding phase, the research group will focus more strongly on multiple competition in connection with internationalization in the German higher education system and in international comparison.

Competition in the higher education system is understood to be multiple because the participants are simultaneously involved in different, intertwined and mutually influencing competitions in which they compete for different scarce goods. Often specifically initiated competitions, such as the Excellence Initiative, which interact with other competitive processes, create an increasingly complex network of demands on those involved, which has a considerable impact on the individuals and institutions concerned. The objectives of the first funding phase - a broad empirical investigation of multiple competition in the German higher education system, interdisciplinary theory development, relevance of the results for the investigation of multiple competition in other areas of society, relevance for higher education policy and science funding - are also central to the second phase. In addition, questions relating to the internationalization of the German system and international comparison in connection with the topic of "multiple competition" will come into focus. On the one hand, this raises fundamental questions about the scope of theoretical statements and empirical results on multiple competition; on the other hand, the first phase has given rise to more far-reaching questions that urgently require an international focus.

In the now beginning funding phase the interdisciplinary research group consists of twelve academics from the fields of sociology, economics and business administration, who are carrying out nine sub-projects at nine German universities from Hamburg to Passau. The  International Center for Higher Education Research (INCHER) is still coordinating the group.

The spokesperson for the research group in the second funding phase is Prof. Dr. Guido Bünstorf, who is a member of the INCHER board, Professor of Economics at the University of Kassel and head of two of the research group's sub-projects.

List of sub projects...