SaFe is part of a new DFG scholarship programme for research-strong UASs, which is intended to support the expansion of excellent research and enable the further development of the research profile. The research impulse, which is funded until 2029, aims to reflect on and realign the changing relationship between knowledge-led foundational research and applied research, as focussed on at UASs.

In the SaFe research impulse, empirical research is not only conducted across disciplines in six subprojects, but impulses are also provided to further develop the university's research infrastructure in an innovative way. The establishment of a social sciences methods laboratory and a research hub that networks the university's research activities will contribute to this in the long term. Through close collaboration with the university's doctoral centres and research centres, the SaFe-Impuls also strengthens the right to award doctoral degrees at Hessian universities of applied sciences and creates an appealing research environment.

Research teams in the areas of housing, health, nutrition, indigeneity, protest and biography work together in the research impulse under the leadership of eight professors and one postdoc.