The German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) is a renowned research institute and influential think tank. IDOS conducts empirical, theory-led and application-oriented research, facilitates transregional knowledge cooperation and training, and offers policy advice at the intersection of “development” and “sustainability”, with the aspiration to co-shape a collaborative multipolar world for sustainable futures.
Established in 1964 as the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), the Institute was renamed to German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) in 2022. IDOS’ threefold approach of research, policy advice and knowledge cooperation & training uniquely positions the institute between disciplinary, political, social and cultural boundaries. The institute takes a global partnership approach and advances transformative pathways at the science-policy-society interface.
The institute’s research programme studies the dialectic relationship between “sustainability” and “development” by placing the focus on core areas undergoing transformational change (e.g. energy, transport, conflict, agriculture and natural resources, demography, health) and the political foundations of this change. The research, organised in four research departments, is application-oriented and directed by our normative compass to find practicable pathways to and solutions for sustainable futures – the cross-cutting theme for the Institute’s collaborative research efforts.
IDOS provides independent and research-based advice to decision-makers in Germany, Europe and other countries and world regions, as well as at the global level, such as the United Nations (UN), the G7 and the G20. The Institute mobilises scientific knowledge and networks to overcome conflictual perspectives in a multipolar world and contributes to trust-building as a basis for collaboration towards sustainable futures.
IDOS runs three academies which shape dialogue processes that allow for a joint definition of problems and the envisioning, negotiating and shaping of sustainable futures, bringing together actors from different world regions, sectors and social groups. The Postgraduate Programme for Sustainability Cooperation equips graduates for demanding tasks in German and European organisations of international cooperation for sustainable development. The Managing Global Governance programme is an innovative platform providing state and non-governmental stakeholders from emerging economies and Europe with the opportunity to receive training and engage in knowledge partnerships and policy dialogue. The Shaping Futures Academy is an innovative training and dialogue programme geared to early-career researchers from African partner countries. The institute runs a dual and semi-structured PhD programme that combines a focus on both research and policy advice. Through three joint professoral positions with the Universities of Bonn and Duisburg-Essen and through collaboration with universities worldwide, IDOS, as a non-university research institute, is well-embedded in the national and global science system.
IDOS has some 200 staff members, two thirds of whom work as researchers. The Institute is headed by Prof. Dr. Anna-Katharina Hornidge. IDOS is institutionally financed by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, based on a resolution of the German Bundestag, and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia as a member of the Johannes Rau Research Foundation.