The way in which we process, think, and research experiences depends on the concepts we use. At the same time, concepts are not only developed, but also changed and newly created. Reflecting on the associated processes and emerging relationships forms the focus of this research area.

In addition to the epistemological, social, and cultural-scientific reflection of psychoanalytic concepts, concept research is also understood as the a respective questioning of concepts from neighboring disciplines as well as empirical research on and with psychoanalytic concepts.

Since science is always situated in a concrete social and therefore also historical and cultural context, contributions to the theory and history of science and the history of concepts also deal with research on concepts in cultural and social change. Traditional concepts are examined for their currency and contemporary concepts are reflected against the background of their (scientific) history.

Research is conducted here at the intersections of psyche and society; this includes research on contemporary forms of subjectivity as well as methodological considerations on how to make subjectivity fruitful in the research process.

For example, the study "Procrastination. Psychoanalysis and Social Context" (2015-2018) was seated in this research focus, which, on the one hand, questioned the psychodynamics of this psychological term, which has migrated into everyday language. On the other hand, the study focused on the social significance of this phenomenon in order to, among other things, be able to answer the question of what the increase in procrastination (on a clinical/social psychological level) means and how the rise in relevance of the term since the 1990s is to be understood.

The project "Psychoanalysis and Culture in the 21st Century" is also part of this research focus of the IPU, which is carrying out a re-reading of the implicit and explicit cultural theoretical assumptions in psychoanalytic theory. The focus here is on the question of their currency and informative value for current interdisciplinary discourses and problems. Thus, work on central concepts and problems of psychoanalytic theory, such as sexuality, identity, majorities, authoritarianism, etc., as well as work on psychoanalysis as a science (cultures of knowledge) is continuously being produced here – also in exchange with neighboring disciplines. The project "Mediopassivity and Psychoanalysis", for example, builds a bridge to clinical practice by making a socio-philosophical concept fruitful for clinical understanding.