The Georg-August-Universität Göttingen was founded in 1737 in the spirit of the Enlightenment and is one of the most renowned universities in Germany. The beginnings of social sciences date back to the founding years of the university. The combination of the University of Social Sciences Wilhelmshaven and the Göttingen Sociological Seminar in 1981 led to the foundation of an independent faculty with the social scientific disciplines sociology, political science, journalism and social policy.

The Institute of Sociology at the University of Göttingen focusses on the international comparative analysis of modern societies, their economic, political and cultural dynamics of change as well as their embeddedness in global or transnational structures. Göttingen is one of the few locations in Germany whose sociological research covers not only European but also non-European societies. The Göttingen campus with its Centre for Modern Indian Studies (CEMIS) and East Asian Studies (CeMEAS) offers an excellent environment for this. The institute also cooperates with non-university institutions such as the Sociological Research Institute (SOFI) and the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Multi-Religious and Multiethnic Societies (MPIMMG).

The Institute of Sociology is divided into the three departments: "Work - Knowledge - Social Structure Analysis", "Political Sociology and Social Policy" and "Cultural Sociology". The associated professorships have Prof. Dr. med. Sarah Eaton, Prof. Dr. Silke Hans, Prof. Dr. Markus Holzinger, Prof. Dr. Matthias Koenig, Prof. Dr. Karin Kurz, Prof. Dr. Nicole Mayer-Ahuja, Prof. Dr. Sascha Münnich, Prof. Dr. med. Alexander-Kenneth Nagel, Prof. Timo Weishaupt, Ph.D. Steven Vertovec. In addition, under the leadership of Prof. Bliesener, a professorship for "Interdisciplinary Criminological Research" has been recently established at the institute.

The internationally comparative research profile of Göttingen sociology is also reflected in the teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate students. In the courses in sociology, they not only receive comprehensive theoretical and methodological training, which is carried out in cooperation with the Methods Center of the Faculty of Social Sciences, but also choose from a large number of comparative or regionally specific courses in special sociology. Göttingen-based sociology also participates in doctoral studies within the Göttingen Graduate School of Social Sciences (GGG).