The scientific activities of the Europa-Kolleg Hamburg take place at the Institute for European Integration, founded in 1978. It is an academic institution at the University of Hamburg and enjoys the constitutional freedom of research and teaching.
The Institute has the task of initiating and conducting interdisciplinary research in the area of European integration as well as integration processes in other regions of the world, either on its own or together with other academic institutions. It invites foreign researchers to work on their projects within the framework of a research stay. Furthermore, the Institute organizes scientific conferences and lectures. It also has, together with the University of Hamburg, the academic responsibility for the development and implementation of teaching especially in the Master Programme in European and European Legal Studies.
The scientific activities of the Institute result in numerous publications. Additionally, members of the institute comment on issues regarding the European integration in relevant media regularly.
The Institute has a specialized library, a reading room and attractive working conditions for scientists.