Professor Ursula Apitzsch is the scientific coordinator of the project at the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research. She is teaching Sociology and Political Science at J.W. Goethe- University and is member of the Board of Directors of the Frankfurt Center for Women’s and Gender Studies. From 1995 until 1999, she was president of the section of “Biographical Research” within the “German Sociological Association” (DGS/Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Soziologie). Since 1999, she is on the extended board.

She is also a board member of the Research Committee “Biography and Society” within the “International Sociological Association” (ISA). She has been researching and broadly publishing within the fields of culture and migration studies. Especially, she has been publishing in recent years on the problems of migration and policy evaluation (2003 a, 2003 b); politics of ethnicity and tradition building (1999); consulting policies in the field of self employment (2000a), and on biographical analysis with special regard to gender and caring work (2000b, 2000c). She has done a considerable number of biographical research projects with special reference to gender studies and studies of marginalised groups.

In 1990 she concluded a research project on the education of Italian young migrants in the Rhein-Main-Region financed by the European Social Fund. The results of this project had an important impact on debates in the field of migration studies in Germany. They had been published in 1990 as Habilitation thesis at the University of Bremen under the title “Migration und Biographie.” Ursula Apitzsch is well acquainted with the infrastructure and the coordination of European projects. Since 1997 she has been the scientific coordinator of the TSER-project "Self-employment activities of women and minorities: their success or failure in relation to social citizenship policies" (PL 97-3211.), concluded in November 2000.

Professor Apitzsch has teaching experience as a guest Professor and invited speaker at the universities of Swansea /UK (1991); University of California/Berkeley, USA (1992 and 1993); Firenze/Italy (1994); Montréal/Canada (1998) Roma/Italy (1998); Bologna/Italy (1999); London/Open University and Tavistock Center (2000); Brisbane/Australia (2002); CNRS/ Paris (2003).

Recent publications related to the research theme:

1999 a (ed.) : Migration und Traditionsbildung, Opladen/Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag.

1999 b: Kultur und Ethnizität - Neue Diskussionen um Gruppenrechte, in: W.D. Bukow and M. Ottersbach (eds.) : Die Zivilgesellschaft in der Zerreißprobe. Wie reagieren Gesellschaft und Wissenschaft auf die postmoderne Herausforderung? Opladen: Leske+Budrich, pp. 129-142.

2000 a (ed.) : Selbständigkeitsprojekte (Special issue), Hessische Blätter für Volksbildung H.1.

2000 b (together with Lena Inowlocki): Biographical analysis: A ‘German’ school? In: The Turn to Biographical Methods in Social Science, ed. by Prue Chamberlayne, Joanna Bornat and Tom Wengraf, London and New York: Routledge 2000, pp.53-70.

2000 c: Biographische Unordnung und “Caring Work”. Die Entdeckung der strukturellen “Unangemessenheit” weiblicher Migrationsbiographien, in: Feministische Studien extra (special issue): Fürsorge-Anerkennung-Arbeit, Vol.18, Weinheim: Deutscher Studien Verlag, pp.102-115.

2001 : Leben in der Stadt: Der “Modernitätsvorsprung” der allochthonen Bevölkerung, in: W.-D. Bukow u.a.(Hg.): Auf dem Weg in die Stadtgesellschaft, Opladen: Leske+Budrich, pp.44-58.

2002 a: Ausländische Kinder und Jugendliche. In: H.H. Krüger et al. (ed.): Handbuch Kindheits- und Jugendforschung, Opladen: Leske+Budrich, pp. 819-836.

2002 b, Biographien in Europa. Neue Dimensionen des Sozialen, in: Hamburger, Franz/Eggert, Annelinde/Heinen, Angelika u.a. (Hg.): Gestaltung es Sozialen – eine Herausforderung für Europa. (Bundeskongress Soziale Arbeit 2001), Opladen: Leske+Budrich,
pp. 199-225.

2002 c: Ethnische Ökonomie und Self-employment: Modelle für aktive Selbstintegration angesichts des Abbaus wohlfahrtsstaatlicher Politiken? In: Zwischen Herrschaft und Befreiung. Politische, kulturelle und wissenschaftliche Strategien. Festschrift zum 60. Geburtstag von Heinz Steinert.Münster: Westf. Dampfboot.

2003 (ed., together with Kontos, M.): Self employment – Gender – Migration. International Review of Sociology. Monographic Part, ca. 300 pp., London: Taylor & Francis (forthcoming).

2003 (ed., together with Bornat, J. and Chamberlayne, P. (ed.): Biographical Analysis and Professional Practice. London: Policy Press 2003 (forthcoming).