Prof. Dr. Birgit Behrensen is head of the department of sociology for social work at the Institute of Social Work at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg.

In the application-oriented research of her department, sociological scientific approaches are combined transdisciplinarily with expertise in educational science and social work science. Against the background of current problems and challenges, the focus is on the following interrelated topics:

- Regional contexts of social inequality,
- Social dynamics in the context of global flight and migration movements,
- Power asymmetries and institutionalized mechanisms of social control,
- Processes of social exclusion and re-integration,
- Childhood, education and upbringing in the light of social inequality,
- Peace studies, global solidarity and pacifism.