BIGSSS is an inter-university institute of the University of Bremen (UB) and Jacobs University Bremen. Itis a new institution founded in 2008, but relies on the prior experience of UB's Graduate School of Social Sciences (GSSS) and Jacobs University's School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS) and Jacobs Center on Lifelong Learning and Institutional Development (JCLL). It is supported by the German Excellence Initiative.