The DeZIM Institute is a research institution funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ). The Institute’s main objective is to conduct evidence-based research and to provide expertise on matters of integration and migration. Together with the DeZIM Research Community it forms the two pillars of the German Center for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM).
The DeZIM Association (Deutsches Zentrum für Integrations- und Migrationsforschung e.V.) was founded on 31 July 2017 and is the legal owner of the DeZIM Institute. Founding members are the German Federal State represented by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ), the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS), the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Federal Ministry of Interior (BMI) as well as the federal states of Berlin and Lower Saxony, the Humboldt University of Berlin, the University of Osnabrück, the University of Bielefeld, the University of Duisburg-Essen, the University of Mannheim, the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), as well as the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB).
The central objective of the DeZIM Institute is to support the work of the BMFSFJ by providing research expertise on matters of integration and migration and thus to impact public knowledge in this field. Its primary goals are:
The DeZIM Institute works closely with the DeZIM Research Community, the BMFSFJ as well as other civil society initiatives in order to identify research needs in the area and close existing gaps in this field. It focuses on socio-political issues relating to the question of migration, its consequences and causes as well as the integration of families, women, children, youth and senior citizens. It further focuses on cultural, linguistic and religious plurality, in volunteering and welfare work, as well as on radicalization processes and the rejection of plurality while using an approach of integration that looks at society as a whole.
The DeZIM Institute aims to disseminate research results as well as to objectify political and public debates on integration and migration. It uses a variety of events, publications, press conferences, social media as well as other public formats to reach to the public.