The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant and ongoing impact on much research activity, both in Germany and worldwide since 2020. 

Since 2021, a DFG Senate working group has been addressing the opportunities and challenges resulting from the coronavirus pandemic as well as the impact it has had on research activity, individual career paths and funding action. It is chaired by the Vice-Presidents Professor Dr. Julika Griem and Professor Dr. Britta Siegmund. The Senate Working Group is scheduled to run until mid-2023.

What are the goals of the Senate Working Group?

• Identify critical effects of the coronavirus pandemic on research activity, career paths and funding action, as well as potential opportunities arising from coping strategies in the pandemic.
• Develop recommendations for action and issue statements on dealing with the effects of the pandemic on the research system, with a particular focus on DFG funding.
• Identify measures and requirements for funding action in response to the impact of the pandemic.

Other DFG activities: the pandemic as a research topic

Complementing the Senate Working Group “Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Research Activity, Individual Career Paths and Funding Action”, the DFG’s Interdisciplinary Commission for Pandemic Research deals with pandemic-related research topics.

• Interdisciplinary Commission for Pandemic Research