The CRC 1265 is looking for a research assistant (d/w/m) (100%, E13) for the newly proposed subproject D: Understanding – Explaining – Designing for the third funding phase starting on January 1, 2026.

Please send your application, quoting the reference number and including the usual documents, exclusively by email to Prof. Dr. Martina Löw at rim.winker@tu-berlin.de.

Further information can be found in the job advertisement.

D Understanding – Explaining – Designing: Theory and Practice of Refiguration (Martina Löw/Séverine Marguin/Silke Steets)

The new subproject D, which is not assigned to any specific project area, will assume conceptual cross-sectional tasks for the CRC 1265. The subproject pursues a dual objective: (1) to develop, in close interaction with the CRC as a whole, a spatially grounded model of interpretive explanation, and (2) to connect this with a design model that makes the CRC’s findings accessible to planning practice.

The model of interpretive explanation to be developed builds on the understanding of spatial relationships of meaning and action and follows the interpretive methodology that characterizes the CRC as a whole. It seeks to expand social-scientific forms of explanation – typically oriented toward the temporal sequence of events – by adding a spatial-theoretical perspective, thereby contributing to methodological innovation. Its point of departure and reference is the analysis of spatial figures (Raumfigurenanalyse). In parallel with the development of the explanatory model, a design model will be elaborated through shared work steps, likewise grounded in the analysis of spatial figures. This model is intended to enable actors in spatial practice to actively shape the refiguration of spaces through planning. To this end, specific instruments will be developed, building on the methodological foundations established within the CRC.

Both models are designed to be mutually beneficial: the explanatory model provides theoretical insights that inform the design model, while the design model contributes to theory development by engaging early on with practitioners in planning and architecture, thereby generating feedback loops that can refine the CRC’s conceptual framework. In this way, social-scientific theory formation proceeds in close connection with practice, while planning, design, and construction become guided by (spatial) theory. The subproject thus capitalizes on the CRC’s distinctive interdisciplinarity between the social sciences and planning/architecture to synthesize its findings.