The Department of Sociology is part of the school of Political Science and Sociology at the University of Innsbruck. The research at the department focusses on Sociological Theory and Philosophy of Social Science, Social Structure and Space,  Cultural Sociology and Sociology of Knowledge and Rural Sociology.

The research field of rural sociology is covered by the Rural Changes Working Group. The group focuses on the analysis of social, cultural and structural change in rural regions. Thematic core areas are (agro-)food studies, cultural landscapes in mountain regions, human-environment relations, regional and rural development as well as changes of the socio-cultural position of agriculture and farmers.The various research topics are explored mainly in the frame of interdisciplinary projects applying different approaches of social sciences. The research results directly feed into courses of the Bachelor program in Sociology.

The working group is part of the interfaculty research center "Mountain Agriculture Research Unit" and the university research area "Alpine Space - Man and Environment".

The team working on REGARDS consists of:


Ika Darnhofer participates in REGARDS as a subcontractor working with the UIBK sociology team. She is an associate professor at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU)