HAW-Hamburg: Programm: ISGF

Interdisciplinary Social and Health Research (ISGF)

The ISGF doctoral program is an interdisciplinary network of researchers with the authority to award doctoral degrees who address important innovative topics in social work, health sciences in general, and specifically nursing, midwifery, therapeutic sciences, ergonomics, educational sciences, and related fields – such as medical technology and ecotrophology – as well as related disciplines, such as economics and law.

The heart of the program is the heuristically understood concept of "The Human Being in Their Social Contexts: Social and Health Participation." An essential component of this is the so-called concept of "Daseinssorge" ("care for existence"), from which central terms such as "public services" and "social welfare" are derived. These terms stand in a complementary relationship, as they are to be understood as a comprehensive guarantee for the basic provision of goods and services, both from political science and legal perspectives. These services, in particular, also explicitly concern the professions addressed in this doctoral program, insofar as they fall under public or municipal responsibility. At the same time, participation extends beyond this "mandate to provide" in the narrow sense, and it also takes into account social initiatives of self-care (self-help, citizens’ initiatives, neighborhood, community, etc.) as well as living environments.

This concept of "Daseinssorge" addresses, on the one hand, the discourse on care (discussed internationally under terms such as "care policies" "caring societies", "caring communities", "health care", "care ethics", and "care economics", etc.) in its health-related, social, and societal dimensions. On the other hand, it aims to focus on the further development of care tasks within the respective professional contexts mentioned above. Doctoral studies in this area are to be facilitated and promoted from both disciplinary and inter- or transdisciplinary perspectives. In this context, "care for human existence" also represents the common thread linking all participating professions and disciplines, as caring (nursing, educating, supporting, assisting, accompanying) activities for individual and collective human existence are researched and (further) developed from various perspectives (particularly health, participation, and education) and in various settings.

The following research focus areas are central to the ISGF doctoral program:

Neighborhood and community development,
Life situations/target groups,
Service delivery structures,
Social innovation, concept and project development,
Technology/computer science,
Cross-cutting themes: sustainability and equity.

Professorial Members

Name	Faculty	Research Area	Note
Prof. Dr. Silke Betscher	Social Work and Childhood Education	Social and health inequalities Community health Community-based participatory research & community-based health care Community organizing, local democracy & neighborhood development Intersectionality & anti-discrimination Discourse analysis Diversity- and discrimination-sensitive organizational development
Prof. Dr. Johanna Buchcik	Health	Migration and Health Refugee Status and Mental Health Intersectionality: Gender and Migration Gender Health Gap Diversity and Health Health and Nutrition Behaviors (among vulnerable populations)
Prof. Dr. Susanne Busch	Health	Health Economics Health Policy Health and Long-Term Care Services Research Innovative (Interdisciplinary) Models of Care Social and health inequalities Community health Health Promotion Distributional Effects and Social Inequalities Dementia Care	Sprecherin und Direktoriumsmitglied
Prof. Dr. Anja Carlsohn	Health
Prof. Dr. Uta Gaidys	Health	Ethics in Health Care Research in Nursing and Health Care The Science-Based Foundation of Nursing and Health Care Professionalization and Competency Development in Nursing and Health Care Professions Advanced Nursing Practice Care for People with Chronic Conditions
Prof. Dr. Gunter Groen	Social Work and Childhood Education	Clinical Child Psychology and Psychotherapy Children and adolescents with complex needs Interprofessional collaboration, particularly at the intersection of youth services and child and adolescent psychiatry Self-care in the psychosocial professions Training of professionals
Prof. Dr. Simon Güntner	Social Work and Childhood Education	Social Inequality and Poverty Social Policy and Social Infrastructure Urban Development, Housing, and Housing Policy Migration Research Sustainability and the Energy Transition
Prof. Dr. Kirsten Hötting	Health	Effects of physical activity and sports on cognitive performance and neural plasticity Multisensory perception Effects of visual deprivation on the development of perception, motor skills, and cognition
Prof. Dr. André Klußmann	Health	Ergonomics	Promotionsausschuss
Prof. Dr. Sonia Lippke	Health	Prevention and Health Promotion Health Behavior Change Psychology and Psychological Processes, Mental Public Health Medical Rehabilitation Behavioral Medicine
Prof. Dr. Andreas Langer	Social Work and Childhood Education	Social Policy Social Management and the Social Economy Sociology Professional Studies Social Work in Urban and Rural Settings Social Services in Child and Youth Welfare, Elderly Care, and Services for People with Disabilities Innovation Health Services Research Evaluation	Promotionsausschuss
Prof. Dr. Walter Leal	Health	Sustainable Development Climate Change Climate Change and Health Energy Security Life Sciences Innovation
Prof. Dr. Stephan G. H. Meyerding	Health	Market Research Consumer Behavior Sustainable food consumption Sustainability Consumer education and protection
Prof. Dr. Corinna Petersen-Ewert	Health	Innovative care models (e.g., community health nursing) Prevention and health promotion Coping, subjective health Student health	Wissenschaftlicher Beirat
Prof. Dr. Julia Quitmann	Social Work and Childhood Education	Health-Related Quality of Life among children, adolescents, and young adults Quality of life, well-being, and psychosocial stressors among families living with chronic, complex, and rare diseases Family-oriented health research and family outcomes Research on infants, toddlers, and families Attachment development and early parent-child interaction Early childhood and development amid health challenges Participation, engagement, and inclusion of children and adolescents Children’s rights and participation in research, healthcare, and society Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and Patient-Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) Development, validation, and application of measurement instruments in health and social services Health services research among children and adolescents with special health needs Rare diseases and their impact on daily life, education, and social participation Participatory and patient-centered research Mixed-methods research as well as quantitative and qualitative research methods Social and health inequalities among children, adolescents, and families with special support needs
Prof. Dr. Ralf Reintjes	Health	Epidemiology, with a focus on the study of infectious diseases Health reporting/public health surveillance Pandemic preparedness at the national and international levels (particularly in Europe, Asia, and Africa) and risk communication Research on students’ health behaviors Health systems research
Prof. Dr. Miriam Tariba Richter	Health	Diversity in Health Care Equity, Anti-Racism, and Anti-Discrimination in Health Care Gender, with a focus on the health of trans* people and queer-sensitive health care The health of people with disabilities Theoretical Foundations of Nursing Science, Nursing Education, and Nursing Ethics
Prof. Dr. Dieter Röh	Social Work and Childhood Education	Assistance for People with Disabilities, Social Psychiatry Clinical Social Work Rehabilitation History, Theories, Ethics, and Methods of Social Work	Sprecher und Direktoriumsmitglied
Prof. Dr. Louis Henri Seukwa	Social Work and Childhood Education	Educational Research on Migration Critical Research on Competence Intercultural Educational Research Postcolonial Approaches in Educational Science Resilience Research and Education in the Context of Refugee and Asylum Situations Educational Processes in the Nonformal and Informal Sectors International Comparative Educational Research Using Qualitative Methods
Prof. Dr. Boris Tolg	Life Sciences	Computer Science Mathematics With a focus on large-scale disaster scenarios: Simulation Virtual Reality Artificial Intelligence Planning, execution, and analysis of simulated mass casualty incidents	Wissenschaftlicher Beirat
Prof. Dr. Katja Weidtmann	Social Work and Childhood Education	Family psychology Family counseling Children and adolescents, child and adolescent psychiatry Giftedness Self-care (Higher education) pedagogy, curriculum development Quality assurance, evaluation
Prof. Dr. Sabine Wöhlke	Health	Applied Ethics in Public Health, Nursing, and Medicine Decision-Making and Ethical Challenges in Healthcare Participatory and User-Centered Research Gender, Diversity, and Inequality Research in Healthcare Digital Transformation in Healthcare Interprofessional Collaboration and Health Professions Medical Anthropological and Ethical Perspectives on Health and Illness Health and Illness in Culture, Film, and Literature	Qualifizierungsbeauftragte
Prof. Dr. Adina Dreier-Wolfgramm	Health	Innovative health care concepts and interprofessional collaboration Advanced Practice Nursing, task-shifting/task-sharing of health care professional with focus on doctor-nurse substitution Person-centered care for patients with dementia caregiver burden and informal/family caregiver support Nursing Qualification (nursing training, nursing degree programs, advanced nursing trainings, and professional development)

You can find contact information and additional details about the professors on the linked profile pages in the table above.

For general inquiries about the ISGF doctoral program, please contact promotion-isgf(at)haw-hamburg(dot)de.