On 30th September 2015, Prof Dr Harald Müller resigned from being the Executive Director at the PRIF after almost 20 years of leadership for health reasons.
Until his retirement on 30th September 2016, Harald Müller will continue to be the Head of the research department “International Security and World Order”.
On 1st October 2015, Prof Dr Klaus Dieter Wolf, hitherto Deputy Director and Head of the research department “Private Actors in the Transnational Sphere”, has taken over the management. Holding the chair for International Relations at the Technische Universität Darmstadt, he is furthermore the spokesman of the Leibniz Research Alliance “Crises in a Globalised World” and Principal Investigator of the Cluster of Excellence "The Formation of Normative Orders". Prof Dr Nicole Deitelhoff is taking over the office of the Deputy Director.
The Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) was founded in 1970 by the government of the state of Hesse as a foundation under public law. In 1976, after having finished his studies at the Goethe University Frankfurt, Harald Müller joined the PRIF as a research associate and took over the PRIF’s management in 1996. Under his leadership, the institute evolved staff wise, financially and scientifically into a nationally and internationally recognized research centre. With almost 100 members of staff PRIF is the largest peace research institute in Germany. True to the motto “theoria cum praxi”, the scientists conduct interdisciplinary knowledge-driven research and provide their expertise to the consultancy of politics and society. Since 2009, PRIF has been a member of the Leibniz Association, a union of first-rate independent Institutes.
For his merit as a an ambassador of peace and reconciliation, the Hessian Prime Minister Volker Bouffier awarded Harald Müller in 2013 with the Wilhelm-Leuschner-Medaille, the highest honor of the federal state of Hesse.
Milestones of PRIF
| 1970 | Foundation under public law by the government of the state of Hesse |
| 1996 | Harald Müller takes over PRIF’s Management |
| 1997 | Cooperation agreement with the Goethe University Frankfurt |
| 1999 | Introduction of PRIF’s doctoral fellowships |
| 2002 | First supra-institutional research Programme “Antinomies of democratic peace” that concentrates all projects under a common question |
| 2005 | Cooperation agreement with the Technische Universität Darmstadt |
| 2007 | Partner within the Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders” |
| 2009 | Acceptance into the Leibniz Association |
| 2010 | Consultation of the EU on the question of non-proliferation and disarmament of nuclear weapons (EU Non-Proliferation Consortium) |
| 2010/2013 | Total E-Quality-Award for the successful implementation of gender equality |
| 2012 | Successful evaluation by the Leibniz Association |
| 2013 | Coordination of the Leibniz Research Alliance “Crises in a Globalised World” |
| 2015 | Cooperation agreement with the Justus-Liebig University Gießen |
| 2015 | Prof Dr Klaus Dieter Wolf takes over PRIF’s management |
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