"Knowledge-driven research as the foundation for international competitiveness" / Paper identifies key areas for action and policy recommendations 

Just a few days after the federal elections, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) has published an impulse paper outlining what it considers to be the most important research policy decisions for the upcoming legislative term. Under the title "Erkenntnisgeleitete Forschung als Fundament für die internationale Wettbewerbsfähigkeit Deutschlands" (Knowledge-driven research as the foundation for Germany’s international competitiveness), the country’s largest research funding organisation and central self-governing organisation for science and the humanities in Germany identifies a total of ten areas for action, providing a series of concrete recommendations for each one. With a new national government now about to be formed, the paper has been submitted to political decision-makers and made publicly available.

In the introduction, the paper states: "In a world shaped by rapid change and complex challenges, science and research are crucial. Without bold, long-term investments in education and research, our innovative capacity and future viability are at risk. For this reason, a stable and well-resourced research system must be a high political priority for the next federal government." The DFG believes that everything must be done to build on the achievements enabled by the major research agreements drawn up between the federal government and the states in the past, and that these must now also be supplemented with new strategies. A significant contribution to this could be a vision shared by all stakeholders – federal and state governments, research organisations and universities – for the research system of the next decade, with an emphasis on universities as central pillars of the system. In light of current crises, it is also essential to further strengthen freedom of research, which is enshrined in Germany's Basic Law. 

The common goal of the ten impulses set out in the paper is to make knowledge-driven research more competitive, thereby enabling it to maximise its impact on Germany’s global standing. With this in mind, the paper initially calls for the removal of existing barriers and the creation of additional room for manoeuvre. On the issue of reducing bureaucracy, the incoming federal government is urged to focus much more on science and the humanities than has been the case in the past. From the DFG’s perspective, future regulations should be subject to mandatory review in order to assess the extent to which they support innovation, while experimental spaces should be created in highly dynamic areas. Meanwhile, further over-compliance with EU directives ("gold-plating") should be avoided in the German research system. 

According to the DFG, the further development of the Excellence Strategy is key to the international competitiveness of German research, and it should remain in place as a particularly flexible, attractive and research-driven funding instrument for universities. Adequate funding is required for this purpose, including the introduction of an inflation adjustment system, higher maximum funding amounts per project, and annual adjustments to funding to reflect increased personnel costs. 

Several of the DFG’s impulses focus on the far-reaching processes of upheaval in science and the humanities and their infrastructures, in particular in the context of digitisation. From the DFG’s perspective, there is an urgent need for research data legislation that improves access to and use of research data, as well as the continuation and further development of the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI). Research into artificial intelligence (AI) should be boosted, as should the research infrastructures at universities – with a particular emphasis on major research instrumentation.

A series of additional impulses aim to strengthen the innovative capacity of research in the life sciences. In university medicine, tailored programmes are to be developed for all professional groups active in clinical practice and research, while ideal positions should be developed for clinician scientists along with hubs for transferring scientific findings into clinical practice so as to accelerate both medical progress and the improvement of healthcare in Germany. Another urgent task is the establishment of reliable framework conditions for the responsible use of animal testing in research. In addition to a reduction of red tape in this area, the impulse paper calls for greater legal and procedural certainty as well as the nationwide alignment of approval procedures. Finally, the potential of plant and agricultural research for food security should be better utilised by creating legal frameworks for the use of new breeding techniques in the European Union (EU), fostering joint research initiatives between research and practice, and promoting more sustainable funding and more transparent communication with consumers and other stakeholders.

In two final impulses, the DFG broadens its perspective to the international level. During the negotiations scheduled for 2025 at European level, the new federal government is called upon to advocate a significant increase in EU funding for research and innovation in the upcoming multiannual financial framework (2028–2034) and the continuation of an independent research framework programme (FP 10). Additionally, active efforts are to be made to shape the European Research Area Act planned by the EU Commission in a way which supports the interests of German research.

At the global level, the DFG sees urgent tasks in balancing the conflicting interests of freedom of research and research security: in its view, the new legislative term should see the establishment of a cross-departmental strategy for science diplomacy and the joint creation of a resilient security architecture by the federal government, the federal states and the research community. Furthermore, freedom of research and its principles must be strengthened globally and within the EU especially since these are of fundamental importance for the excellence and innovative strength of the German research system.

Further Information

To the impulse paper

Presenting each of the DFG's ten impulses for the new legislative term on one page, the full text of the impulse paper "Erkenntnisgeleitete Forschung als Fundament für die internationale Wettbewerbsfähigkeit Deutschlands“ (Knowledge-driven research as the foundation for Germany's international competitiveness), which is available in German only, can be found on the DFG’s website.