The Institute of Sociology (IfS) was founded in 1960, making it the first institute of sociology in German-speaking Switzerland. Today, the IfS consists of four professorships, a Professorship for Sustainable Society (Prof. Dr. Wojtek Przepiorka), a Professorship for Social Structure Analysis (Prof. Dr. Ben Jann), a Professorship for Methods of Empirical Social Research (Prof. Dr. Axel Franzen) and an Assistant Professorship for Social Change and Inequality (Prof. Dr. Benita Combet). Around 50 academic staff work in research and teaching at the IfS.

The focus areas of the IfS include political sociology, economic sociology, cultural sociology, environmental sociology, sociological theory building, network and social capital research, education, labor market and inequality research as well as methods of empirical social research.