Research 

The breadth of research that is undertaken here is central to all our activities: it enhances our teaching and learning, and it enriches the lives of all our staff and students. The main social science research topics at FSS MU are: families and youth, personality development in the processes of socialisation and social reproduction, ethnicity and social identity; along with related social problems such as poverty, unemployment, marginalised groups and incidental socially-pathological phenomena, as well as interventions aimed at their solutions; also political systems and political situation in the Czech Republic and in Europe; media analyses and environmental problems. Within their research projects, teachers and scholars cooperate with colleagues from a whole range of foreign universities, in the area of applied research, we collaborate with public administration institutions at all levels.

Research at the Faculty of Social Studies is organised under four specialized institutes, two of them being successors to previous large research schemes.

The Institute for Research on Children, Youth and the Family is engaged in a long-term study of children and their families that is part of a unique European research project. This longitudinal research, based on a widerange and detailed observation of hundreds of volunteers, is accompanied by satellite projects and validation programmes. Special attention is devoted to social and health risks of personality development and their impact on the psyche of young people.

International Institute of Political Science The Institute draws on a long-standing tradition of political science research at Masaryk University, and via its activities it helps to cultivate and develop the disciplines of political science, international relations and European studies; it disseminates its research both to scholars and to the general public. The Institute’s active involvement in the development of these disciplines is apparent from the research projects it instigates and implements, from the research outputs it publishes in periodicals and books, and from its co-ordination and organisation of conferences, seminars and lectures on topical social themes.

Interdisciplinary Research Team on Internet and Society is based in Masaryk University, Brno, the Czech Republic. Thier members carry out research related to the social, psychological, sociological and political implications of the use of information and communication technologies. Also co-organize the annual international conference Cyberspace and publish Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace.

Further research projects and studies are run by the faculty departments in line with their teaching and professional interest. The results of our research are regularly presented at international conferences. Recent research projects were supported, among others, by these institutions: The Ministry of Education, Fund for Development of Higher Education, Grant Agency of CR, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Jan Hus’ Educational Foundation, European Commission within JEAN MONNET programme, European Social Fund, and 5th, 6th and 7th Frame EU Programmes.