The University of Hildesheim is one of Germany’s public yet autonomous foundation universities and home to a vibrant, diverse research community with nearly 600 researchers. Within this environment, the Center for Diversity, Democracy, and Inclusion in Education (ZBI) serves as the central hub for migration-related research. The university is also one of the latest institutional members of the IMISCOE network.
Founded in 2014, it was long headed by Professor of Diversity Education Dr. Viola Georgi. The ZBI is now led by policy scholar Prof. Dr. Sybille Münch, with Postdoc Anna-Christine Görg as coordinator. The Center is currently undergoing a reorganization process to strengthen internal and international collaborations and expand interdisciplinary research on migration and diversity.
ZBI’s work reflects the breadth of migration research at the University of Hildesheim, bringing together scholars from social work (KuSe), education (Social Work as a Colonial Knowledge Archive?, Moving Europe), political science (FuturMig, More than four walls, Land.Zuhause.Zukunft, Migration Lab Germany), linguistics (TRANSLANG2, HERMES), arts and culture (KuBiDemo, Center for World Music, Intracomp), philosophy, and sociology (BiMiBi, MultiSeg). Its research spans multiple themes, including local and regional migration policy, forced migration and refugee studies, race, racism, and discrimination, education and social inequality, and linguistics and intercultural communication. These projects combine empirical and theoretical approaches to address key questions about inclusion, governance, and diversity in modern societies.
The ZBI is also distinguished by its commitment to knowledge transfer and collaboration beyond academia. Through the Hildesheim Research and Transfer Office for Migration Policy, led by Dr. Danielle Kasparick, the Center fosters partnerships with municipalities, NGOs, and public administrations, linking research findings directly to practice. It regularly organizes workshops, public lectures, and conferences, including the upcoming German Network for Forced Migration Studies conference in 2026.
Within the IMISCOE network, the ZBI aims to contribute with its interdisciplinary expertise, dedication to supporting early-career scholars, and research on policy dialogues, while also extending its ongoing cooperation in migration governance, education, and multilingualism. Its researchers such as Zeynep Aydar and Anna-Christine Görg are already active in IMISCOE’s Standing Committee on Migration Politics and Governance. Institutional membership offers the ZBI the opportunity to deepen these ties, promote international exchange, and strengthen joint research initiatives.
As a new IMISCOE institutional member, the ZBI looks forward to contributing to the network’s intellectual community and advancing comparative and interdisciplinary migration research.
