DFG areas of activity
On behalf of science, the DFG also participates in legislative processes that deal with access and usability of data for scientific issues.
For many years now, the DFG has been committed to ensuring that research data is handled appropriately within each specific subject area. The guidelines on handling research data adopted by the DFG Senate in 2015 summarise the expectations of applicants and the ways in which the DFT supports the processes involved.
In the years 2017 to 2020, an extensive project was carried out to shed light on numerous aspects of the digital turn in science and the humanities: this repeatedly highlighted the enormous importance of research data and the various areas of activity involved.
As reflected in the re-issue of the “Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice” and the subject-specific recommendations contained in the third level of the Code of Conduct, the handling of research data also has a crucial role to play in terms of the quality of research. For further information, see the portal
In its strategy relating to the handling of research data, the DFG relies on subject-specific discourse and supports the academic communities in defining concrete, practical and realistic requirements. For an overview of existing subject-specific requirements that have already found their way into the work of the review boards, see:
The DFG also supports the establishment, development and consolidation of research data infrastructures: after all, without such infrastructures, proper handling and re-use of research data would not be possible.
The DFG’s efforts are embedded in various national and international partnerships with other research organisations. For example, the DFG is actively involved in working groups under the “Digital Information Priority Initiative” launched in 2008 by the Alliance of Science Organisations in Germany, and is represented on a Science Europe working group concerned with research data.