The BIPS has been established in 1981 under the name of "Bremen Institute for Prevention Research and Social Medicine", at that time as a research institute legally dependent on the Society for the Promotion of Scientific Research in the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (Verein zur Foerderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung in der Freien Hansestadt Bremen e.V.).
Since July 1998 one section of the institute has become a new scientific institution of the faculty for Human and Health Sciences of the University of Bremen. Both sections of the institute cooperated closely.
On January 1st, 2007 the non-university institute BIPS and the university institute BIPSE have joined to form a central research unit of the university.
On November 28th, 2008 the BIPS became an associated member of the Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz e.V. In the course of this transition the institute was outsourced from the University of Bremen by January 1st, 2012 and continues its work as the non-profit organisation "BIPS - Institute for Epidemiology and Prevention Research GmbH".
Currently 130 people (faculty and staff) are working in the institute (see People). Each head of department and the director are full professors at the University of Bremen.
Our research areas are (in alphabetical order)