In addition to intensive bilateral consultations, magister theses and dissertations as well as ongoing research projects are presented and discussed in the research seminar.

During the mid-1990s a "project seminar" was offered, in which 15 students worked intensively and independently for over a year on a research project on "Civil Courage in Everyday Life". A core group worked on a book and the results were presented in conferences.

Since the winter semester 2005/2006, in the framework of the B.A. in Political Sci-ence, Prof. Meyer has been in charge of a new format for a research-oriented course that runs over two semesters and which is to be taken in the year before graduation. The so-called "Teaching-Research-Project" (Lehrforschungsprojekt LFP) is designed to enable students to work on and present individually and in groups political scientific analyses and practical results to a self-set political problem. The course aims at bridging scientific education and professional life.

The Teaching-Research-Project is conducted over two semesters in a two-hour class. In the winter semester the seminar is complemented by permanent themati-cally structured project groups. These groups consist of three to four students and meet regularly for two hours a week. After consulting the professor the students organize their work on their own to promote student autonomy. The work done in these project groups is documented through a list of attendance and minutes of each session. The results established in these project groups are to be recorded in a joint term paper written by all participants of the project group.

Parallel to the work conducted in the project groups, the students are introduced to important basic knowledge of research in political science with the help of a reader. This includes the formulation of questions and goals, the application of theories, concepts and models, the development of hypotheses, methods of qualitative and quantitative research (including comparative and case studies), general questions of how to structure, document and present papers in political science. These questions are always discussed with reference to concrete projects of the particular project groups who present their progress continually in the seminar sessions.

In the summer semester, the students take again the Teaching-Research-Project (2 hrs per week) which now concentrates especially on methods, structure, and presentation of projects in political science with regard to the bachelor's thesis the students have to write individually. Additionally, they take a research seminar (also 2 hrs per week) led by the professor who is their academic advisor and who is going to help the students with their B.A. thesis.

As chair of the Faculty's Commission for the Advancement of Women (1997-99), Professor Meyer initiated and was in charge of the publication of a brochure "Recommendations for advising female students and for the promotion of women in science." The commission received the University's "Promotion of Women Award." The text of the brochure (in German) can be found at http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/uni/qbf/. It is also available in the office of the University of Tübingen's women's representative (Frauenbeauftragte), Büro der Frauenbeauftragten der Universität Tübingen, Wilhelmstr. 26, 72074 Tübingen, Phone ++49 - (0)7071-74958