The IfL is a non-profit research institution in the legal form of a registered association. The purpose of the association is the promotion of science and research in the field of regional geography and the provision of geographical information on spatial structures and their development in the national/regional as well as in the European context and for the external representation of the Federal Republic of Germany. The institutional bodies of the association are the executive board, the general committee and the scientific advisory board.
The Institute is structured into three research departments, the scientific collections, which are combined to form a service department, and the administration division and director´s staff unit. The departments fulfil the permanent tasks of the Institute as laid down in the statutes. The research areas and research groups are linked as variable units to the medium-term research programme of the IfL.
As a member of the Leibniz Association, the Institute is funded by the Federal Republic of Germany and its states.
The overall management of the IfL is the responsibility of the director, who is the executive committee in the sense of § 26 BGB. The Executive Board represents the Institute externally, is responsible for all scientific matters of the Institute and assumes commercial, legal and administrative responsibility.
Member of the board
The Board of Trustees of the IfL consists of people from science, business, politics and public administration. The Board of Trustees performs supervisory and advisory functions towards the Executive Board. Its tasks include the examination and approval of the activity reports to be submitted by the Board of Directors and the appointment of heads of scientific departments and members of the Scientific Advisory Board.
Members of the General Committee
The Scientific Advisory Board of the IfL consists of nine internationally renowned active scientists. It advises the Institute on scientific issues, evaluates the institute´s research and reports to the General Committees. The Scientific Advisory Board is also involved in appointment and similar selection procedures.
Members of the Scientific Advisory Board
The department investigates socio-spatial structures and processes in Europe with a spatial focus on Germany and Eastern Europe. It works at the intersection of application-oriented and theory-based basic research.
The department's task is to gain knowledge about current and historical developments in geography with a focus on regional geography. To this end, it follows the relevant international discussions as well as space-related debates in other disciplines and contributes new findings from its own research.
The department explores the production and use of geospatial respresentations. It accompanies the teams of scientists in their search for suitable visualisations of research findings and develops new forms of presentation adapted to the current media, working methods and technical possibilities.
The department supports the Institute's research, conducts its own research and ensures the best possible accessibility of the scientific collections for users from the scientific community and the general public.
The director´s staff unit performs central permanent tasks in the areas of administration, research support and representation. It is responsible for public relations and external representation, documentation, reporting and publication, research management and research funding.
The work at Ifl is supported by an efficient administrative department. Its most important tasks are the administration of finances and third-party funds, personnel management, purchasing, business travel management and the support of the IT infrastructure.