The Centre for Security and Society (CSS) is a transdisciplinary research centre, focusing on sociological, legal, ethical and technological aspects of security research.
It was founded in 2010 and has professorial members from seven faculties. Its current Executive Director is Prof. Dr. Alexander Stolz. Numerous research projects, publications and outreach activities, as well as a total sum of €15 million third-party funding have made the CSS a leading institution in German and European Security Research.
Research Areas
Civil Security has become a contested topic of public discourse, a complex field of political intervention and a growing research area. Attention is being paid to topics such as the possibilities, risks and ambivalences of modern security technologies; the insecurities in the face of global economic, social and political upheavals; and, not least, the work of security organisations and actors against that backdrop. CSS-based projects and its members' further research address topics from all these areas, often in the context of national and European research consortia.
Location
In recent years, Freiburg has firmly established itself regionally as well as globally as an excellent location for security research. Drawing on transdisciplinary collaboration with two renowned local research institutes, the Max-Planck-Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, and the Fraunhofer-Institute for High Speed Dynamics Ernst-Mach-Institute, the CSS has ideal conditions for research integrating both technological and societal perspectives.
