The GIGA is an international research institute for area studies and comparative area studies. It employs approximately 160 people, 90 of whom are political scientists, economists, social scientists, peace and conflict researchers, or historians. The academics study the four global regions of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East and simultaneously work within the four research programmes on the following issues: accountability and participation, peace and security, growth and development, power and ideas.
Organisation
The GIGA was founded in 1964 as the German Overseas Institute by the City of Hamburg and the Hamburg business community. It was initially the umbrella organisation for the Institute of Asian Affairs, the German Orient Institute, the Institute of Latin American Affairs and the Institute of African Affairs. In 2006, the institute adopted the name "GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies"; as of 1 May 2020, the name was changed into "German Institute for Global and Area Studies". In the first decade of this century the German Overseas Institute underwent a transformation that saw the previously relatively autonomous regional institutes united as the GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies/Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien in 2007. Only the German Orient Institute did not take part in the fusion. However, the GIGA had already hired many of its employees. The GIGA collaborates with numerous universities, research institutes and expert associations around the world. It is represented on the boards of various academic networks, particularly those related to Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. The GIGA is a foundation under civil law and is based in Hamburg. It is jointly funded by the Federal Foreign Office, the Hamburg Ministry of Science and Research and the other federal states. The GIGA also receives external funding, which accounts for around 25 per cent of the total budget. Since 2014, Prof. Dr. Amrita Narlikar is the president of the GIGA. Together with the president, the GIGA executive board comprises Asia researcher Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner, Middle East academic Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz, Africa academic Prof. Dr. Matthias Basedau, Latin America expert Prof. Dr. Merike Blofield and Managing Director Dr. Peter Peetz.
International Networks
The GIGA serves as the central coordinator of various academic networks. The Institutions for Sustainable Peace network undertakes research on measures to promote peace in post-war societies with partners from Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, England and Germany. The Land Matrix project is an online platform that collects global data on large-scale land acquisitions. The GIGA maintains the platform and evaluates the data. The academics in the Regional Powers Network are studying the global rise of the new regional powers. This is a joint project of the GIGA, the University of Oxford and Sciences Po, Paris. As of July 2014 the GIGA is coordinating the International Diffusion and Cooperation of Authoritarian Regimes network, as part of which it is investigating, together with 12 international research institutes, the influence of and cooperation between authoritarian regimes on the international stage.
Publications
The GIGA publishes three open access series: the GIGA Focus, the GIGA Working Papers, and the GIGA Journal Family.
In the GIGA Focus series academics publish short analyses of current global events. The German editions comprise four different regional series and the GIGA Focus Global, which covers comparative and global topics. Each edition is published approx. 6 times per year.
The GIGA Working Papers publish the results of research projects currently underway.
