Since autumn 1996, gender studies have been permanently established at an academic institution in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In November of that year, academics and students at the University of Greifswald founded the Interdisciplinary Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies (IZfG) at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.

The work of the IZfG is primarily financed by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Greifswald, with additional funding from the Ministry of Social Affairs, Integration and Gender Equality of the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg Greifswald Foundation.

The IZfG sees itself as both an academic institution and an organisation that influences (higher education) politics. The goal is to establish gender as a central category of knowledge that influences activities in the fields of research, teaching and (academic) politics. The centre aims to challenge the ongoing neglect of gender-divergent perspectives in academic fields of work.