about TUDO
The Social Research Center of TUDO (Technical University Dortmund) is a scientific institution of the Department of Social Sciences. The guiding theme of the institute’s research work is social science innovation research. It examines how SIs arise and how they relate to technological innovations. Another focus is on the conditions and perspectives for realising economically, ecologically and socially sustainable development. TUDO was coordinator of the groundbreaking FP7 project SI-DRIVE, which had a strong impact on SI research in Europe and beyond. The institute was also part of the German SI Competence Center and is now of the Platform for Social Innovation and Enterprises for the Common Good in Germany.
team members

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Howaldt
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Howaldt is the director of Social Research Centre Dortmund, TU Dortmund University, and professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences. He is an internationally renowned expert in the field of social innovation and co-founder and chair of the European School of Social Innovation. In recent years, he has provided important impetus for the development of social innovation research and the formation of a scientific research community. He has lectured at numerous international conferences and published a number of books and scientific articles. Jürgen Howaldt has co-edited the Encyclopedia of Social Innovation, the Research Agenda for Social Innovation and the Atlas of Social Innovation.
He has been involved in a number of European research projects on this topic in various roles. He was the scientific coordinator of the global research project SI-DRIVE. At the same time, he has made important contributions to the integration of social innovation into a comprehensive innovation policy in Europe and beyond. He is currently working with a team of academics and practitioners to establish a national platform to promote social innovation in Germany.
Within the SI-Mission Facility Jürgen leads Work package 4 on matching demand and supply for a SI research agenda in EU Missions and is heavily involved in the conceptualisation of SI against the EU Missions in WP1.

Marthe Zirngiebl
Marthe Zirngiebl is a researcher at the Social Research Center at TU Dortmund University. Her research focuses on social innovation, processes of social change and social innovation at higher education institutions. She is and has been active in various national and international projects on social innovation (including SI-DRIVE, European Social Innovation Alliance – ESIA, Platform for Social Innovation and Social Enterprises). She teaches and has taught courses on social science perspectives on innovation, social innovation, participation, and climate change adaptation. In her PhD project, she is developing a practice-theory-based heuristic for investigating the diffusion of social innovations and applying it to the social innovation of zero-waste shops.
Within the SI-Mission Facility Marthe leads Work package 4 on matching demand and supply for a SI research agenda in EU Missions and is heavily involved in the conceptualisation of SI against the EU Missions in WP1.