Institute

On July 4, 2008, the institute of Communication Science was founded in the Rosensäle of the University of Jena. From its onset, the Institute followed an empirical social science orientation in research and teaching. It was also structurally separated from the philosophically-oriented institute of Media Science, which is located at the philosophical faculty.

The four founding-fathers were:

• Prof. Georg Ruhrmann: Mediated Communication and Media Effects
• Prof. Wolfgang Seufert: Communication Science/Media Economics
• Prof. Wolfgang Frindte: Psychology of Communication and Media Use (emeritus since April 2017)
• Prof. Bertram Scheufele: Empirical Methods of Communication Science (since October 2010 at the University of Hohenheim)

Their fields of work were linked in an interdisciplinary way, especially to sociology, political science, psychology and economics. In winter semester 2007/08 the institute started with the BA program in "Communication Science", in 2009/10 it started the consecutive Master program in "Communication in the Public Sphere". In line with a generational change on the professorial level, the institute is currently developing a new profile in research and teaching. This will take into account the increasing digitalisation of public communication.

Our annual reports provide a detailed overview of our research and teaching activities.