With 13 professors and more than 40 researchers, the Institute of Sociology (IfS) at the University of Duisburg-Essen is one of the largest higher education and research departments in Sociology in the German-speaking world. Currently, about 2,000 students are enrolled in different study programs at the IfS. The department forms part of the Faculty for Social Sciences at the University of Duisburg-Essen.

The Institute of Sociology is embedded in a dynamic and innovative research environment at the University of Duisburg-Essen which was created in 2003 through a fusion of two different University campuses. Research-intensive university chairs, the Institute for Work, Skills and Training (IAQ) and the Institute of East Asian Studies (IN-EAST), contribute to the national and international academic recognition of IfS scholars across a broad range of research topics. Together with the Institute of Political Sciences, the Centre for Global Cooperation Research, the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (KWI), and the Faculty of Education, the IfS forms an interdisciplinary cluster in the Social Sciences that inspires both academic staff and students. The knowledge and expertise of members of the IoS is regularly solicited by practitioners in different societal fields (e.g. political parties, trade unions, municipalities).