Obstacles to Modernization in the Economy and Science of the GDR (Mod-Block-DDR)

Emergence and Consequences - an inner-German comparison and a comparison to neighbouring countries in Central Eastern Europe

Information about the project

In the year 2017, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) published the call for project proposals in the field of “GDR Research” in order to support social scientific research about the “heritage of socialism” in the German university landscape and to strengthen the research structure in this field of expertise on a competitive basis.

The research consortium “Hurdles to modernisation in the economy and science in the GDR” (Mod-Block-DDR) was selected for funding as one out of 14 projects in total. The project will run empirical and comparative analyses focusing on the question in how far the hurdles to modernisation in the GDR impact the economic development and structures of East Germany until today. Four universities in Germany together with their international cooperation partners participate in the research consortium. Jutta Günther from the University of Bremen, Faculty of Business Studies and Economics, is head of the interdisciplinary research team. Young researchers are actively participating in the research and will be promoted through a PhD or postdoc career. Further, the results of the research will be disseminated broadly in the scientific community, policy, economy and general public. Especially the transfer of new knowledge about the GDR into society will be paid special attention.

The consortium started its work on December 01, 2018 and will be supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in a first stage until the year 2022. After positive evaluation, the second funding period of Mod-Block-DDR started on October 1, 2023 for two years.

In the context of the research project and in order to strengthen sustainable research structures, the Faculty of Business Studies and Economics of the University of Bremen filled a professorship position in economics with the specialisation “Institutional Change”. This newly established professorship is an additional action, financed by the University of Bremen and will work in close cooperation with the research consortium on complementary topics. It will particularly engage in research about institutional factors, which impact the economic catching-up process in transition economies until today.

Press release of the BMBF

Press release of the University of Bremen

 

Gefördert vom BMBF

New Publication: Comprehensive Patent Data of the German Democratic Republic 1949-1990—technical report and dataset overview

Ann Hipp, Michael Fritsch, Maria Greve, Jutta Günther, Marcel Lange, Christian Liutik, Beate Pfeifer, Mariia Shkolnykova und Michael Wyrwich published a research paper entitled „Comprehensive Patent Data of the German Democratic Republic 1949-1990—technical report and dataset overview“ in the Jena…


Gruppenfoto Doc Konferenz 18.07.2022

Diverse perspectives & multiple overlaps: DDR conference will certainly have a long-term impact

From July 13 to 16, 2022, doctoral and post-doctoral researchers engaged in GDR research met in Leipzig. Six panels and a social as well as cultural program provided a good terrain for an intensive exchange.

More than 30 scientists took part in the interdisciplinary conference by and for doctoral…


Postdoc-Network "Learning (from) Transformation" receives financial support from BYRD

We live in times of global challenges. These challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity and pandemic threat have become too ubiquitous to be solved through minor innovation processes. Therefore, the call for transformation in the sense of disruptive, pathbreaking changes has become vital.…


[Translate to English:]

First and unique: GDR patent data is now available for research

In a cooperation project between the University of Bremen, the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena and the Patent Information Center of the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena in the realm of the BMBF-funded project Mod-Block-GDR, a new dataset with comprehensive and prepared information on…


Event open to the public - With innovative spirit to economic success / Talk with one of the most influential Polish female entrepreneurs

Polish entrepreneur Małgorzata Bieniaszewska visits the European University Viadrina on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, 11:15 a.m., to talk about ways to achieve economic success. The talk, entitled "Innovative Strength of Young Entrepreneurs: From Business Idea to International Success" will be moderated…


DFG Workshop

Successfully held 1st DFG Network meeting in Bremen

The first meeting of the DFG Network "The dynamics of innovation systems: Perspectives, influences and operationalization" was held from May 9th to 10th, 2022 in the House of Science in Bremen.

The network aims at a research exchange between the different perspectives of innovation systems. After a…


Logo Mod-Block-DDR und Erbe '89

Young GDR researchers take note: Mod-Block-DDR and Erbe '89 organize joint conference at July 14th and 15th 2022 in Leipzig!

Since 2018, the BMBF has been funding 14 collaborative projects across Germany that conduct DDR research. After two years of pandemic and a lot of research progress with few conferences offers, Charlotta Cordes, Ann Hipp, Jarina Kühn from the University of Bremen as well as Greta Hartmann from the…


Online colloquium successfully realized again in WiSe 2021/22

By now, the Mod-Block-DDR Colloquium has been established for four semesters and continues to prove its benefits to this day - which will continue beyond the pandemic.

In the winter semester 2022/23, several Mod-Block subprojects presented their research results for discussion in the consortium. In…


New Book Release: Socialist Economy in the Tension Field of Modernisation

Why did the attempts to realise the project of collectivist modernisation fail? This book, written within the framework of Mod-Block-DDR, explores this question by examining the development of economic thinking in the GDR and Poland. The authors Hans-Jürgen Wagener, Maciej Tymiński and Piotr Koryś…


Mod-Block-DDR Colloquium already a tradition - the winter semester 2021/22

For the fourth time, the Mod-Block-DDR Online-Colloquium, which was launched at the beginning of the Corona pandemic in order to keep the exchange going successfully, is starting up again. The principle is simple: researchers of the Mod-Block-DDR Colloquium present their research designs and results…


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