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The Hans Kilian Award honors researchers whose outstanding scientific achievements provide a deeper insight into the historical and cultural existence of humankind and the changing human psyche.
The award was conceived by Lotte Köhler and established by the Köhler Foundation. It bears the name of the late social psychologist and psychoanalyst Hans Kilian (1921-2008) and aims to foster his idea of an interdisciplinary social psychology and psychoanalysis as well as his concept of "metacultural humanization." This concept reflects the interactions between individual life history and broader sociohistorical developments and aims to integrate social and cultural psychological, psychoanalytic, anthropological, historical, and sociological perspectives.
In line with Hans Kilian's ideas, the award recognizes international scientific achievements that cross the boundaries between disciplines and cultures and create productive syntheses between previously isolated areas of knowledge. Desirable inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives combine theories, methods, and findings from a wide spectrum of disciplines including the humanities, the social sciences, and cultural studies, as well as psychiatry and other areas of medicine. Amounting to 80,000 euros, the Hans Kilian Award is one of the best-endowed social sciences awards in Europe. It is awarded every two years and was first awarded in 2011.
The award will be a central part of the activities of the Hans Kilian and Lotte Köhler Center (KKC) for Social and Cultural Scientific Psychology and Historical Anthropology which was founded by the Köhler Foundation in August 2014 and whose office and activities are based at the Chair of Social Theory and Social Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany.