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German Research Foundation

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German Research Foundation
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
AbbreviationDFG
PredecessorNotgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft
Formation1951;73 years ago(1951)
PurposeScience funding in Germany
HeadquartersBonn,Germany
President
Katja Becker
Main organ
General Assembly
AffiliationsInternational Science Council
Budget(2019)
€3.3 billion
Websitedfg.de

TheGerman Research Foundation(German:Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft[ˈdɔʏtʃəˈfɔʁʃʊŋsɡəˌmaɪnʃaft];abbr.DFG[ˌdeːʔɛfˈɡeː]) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in theFederal Republic of Germany.In 2019, the DFG had a funding budget of €3.3 billion.[1]

Function[edit]

Site of DFG inBonn, Germany
Aresearch proposalfor a project the DFG decided to fund

The DFG supports research inscience,engineering,and thehumanitiesthrough a variety of grant programmes, researchprizes,and by funding infrastructure.[2]The self-governed organization is based inBonnand financed by the German states and thefederal government of Germany.[3]As of 2017the organization consists of approximately 100research universitiesand otherresearch institutions.[4]

The DFG endows various research prizes, including theLeibniz Prize.[5][6]The Polish-German science awardCopernicusis offered jointly with theFoundation for Polish Science.

According to a 2017 article inThe Guardian,the DFG has announced it will publish its research in onlineopen-access journals.[7]

Background[edit]

In 1937, theNotgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft(NG) ( "Emergency Association of German Science" ) was renamed theDeutsche Gemeinschaft zur Erhaltung und Förderung der Forschung( "German Foundation for the Preservation and Promotion of Research" ), for short known as theDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft(DFG). Even before the election of theNational Socialist German Workers' Party(Nazi party) to power in 1933, projects funded by the NG had worked diligently on Nazi-aligned research, especially German ethnographic research in Eastern Europe that would lay the foundations for the Hitlerite "Lebensraum"andexterminationpolicies; during the National Socialist period, the NG leadership showed itself ready and willing to adapt to the "new era" by gearing its funding practices towards issues related toGerman rearmamentandautarky,essentially aligning its goals with those of the new regime.[8]By the end ofWorld War IIin Germany, in 1945, the DFG was no longer active. In 1949, after formation of theFederal Republic,it was re-founded as the NG and again from 1951 as the DFG.[9][10][11]

Structure[edit]

The legal status of the DFG is that of an association under private law. As such, the DFG can only act through its statutory bodies, in particular through its executive board and the General Assembly.[12]

The DFG is a member of theInternational Council for Scienceand has numerous counterparts around the globe such as theNational Natural Science Foundation of China,theNational Science Foundation(US) and theRoyal Society(UK).[13]

The DFG has several representative offices in Asia, North America and Europe and also maintains theSino-German Center for Research Promotion,which was jointly founded by the DFG and theNational Natural Science Foundation of China.[14]On 9 June 2012, DFG launched a centre inHyderabad,to expand its presence inIndia.The German-based research foundation andIndia'sDepartment of Science and Technologyare together working on 40 bilateral research projects in science and engineering.[15]The German Research Foundation is a member ofScience Europe.

Heisenberg Programme[edit]

The Heisenberg Programme of the DFG is aimed at young outstanding scientists who meet all the requirements for appointment to a permanent professorship. The programme was named after the German physicistWerner Heisenberg,who received theNobel Prize in Physicsat the age of 31. The funding programme aims to enable scientists to prepare for a scientific leadership position and to work on further research topics during this time. The maximum funding period is five years. Normally, thehabilitationis a prerequisite for applying for admission to the programme. However, services similar to habilitation are also included in the selection.[16]

The program consists of the following variants:[17][18][19]

  • TheHeisenberg Scholarship
  • TheHeisenberg positionis a DFG-funded temporary research assistant position at a university.
  • TheHeisenberg professorshipa DFG-funded professorship with the aim of establishing a new research area within a scientific focus of the university.
  • TheHeisenberg temporary substitute position for cliniciansis intended for clinically working scientists who can take some time off for research.

Notable fundings and cooperations[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Zahlen und Fakten 2019(PDF).German Research Foundation. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 27 November 2021.Retrieved7 January2021.
  2. ^"Mission statement of the DFG".DFG. Archived fromthe originalon 18 August 2017.Retrieved18 August2017.
  3. ^"Facts and Figures".DFG.Retrieved18 August2017.
  4. ^"General Assembly – Member".dfg.de.Retrieved3 February2017.
  5. ^"DFG-Website" Prizewinners "".DFG.Retrieved18 August2017.
  6. ^"Funding information on prizes of the DFG".DFG.Retrieved18 August2017.
  7. ^Buranyi, Stephen (27 June 2017)."Is the staggeringly profitable business of scientific publishing bad for science?".The Guardian.
  8. ^"DFG, German Research Foundation – an organisation conforms".Archived fromthe originalon 15 October 2018.Retrieved15 October2018.
  9. ^Hentschel, 1996, Appendix A
  10. ^Heilbron, 2000, pp. 90–92.
  11. ^"On the history of the DFG".Retrieved18 August2017.
  12. ^"Organisation of the DFG".DFG. Archived fromthe originalon 18 August 2017.Retrieved18 August2017.
  13. ^"On DFG's international Cooperation".DFG.Retrieved18 August2017.
  14. ^"The DFG abroad".DFG.Retrieved18 August2017.
  15. ^"German research foundation DFG opens centre in Hyderabad".9 June 2012.
  16. ^"DFG – Pressemitteilung Nr. 86, 2005 – Heisenberg-Professur sichert nachhaltig Karrierewege".2 June 2008. Archived fromthe originalon 2 June 2008.Retrieved29 November2019.
  17. ^"Heisenberg Programme".DFG.Archivedfrom the original on 14 August 2018.Retrieved29 November2019.
  18. ^Pott."Einzelförderung".uni-siegen.de.Archived fromthe originalon 21 September 2020.Retrieved29 November2019.
  19. ^"DFG, German Research Foundation – Changes to the Emmy Noether and Heisenberg Programmes".dfg.de.Retrieved29 November2019.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Heilbron, J. L.The Dilemmas of an Upright Man: Max Planck and the Fortunes of German Science(Harvard, 2000)ISBN0-674-00439-6
  • Hentschel, Klaus(ed.), Hentschel, Ann M. (transl.).Physics and National Socialism: An Anthology of Primary Sources(Birkhäuser, 1996)ISBN978-3034898652
  • Perspektiven der Forschung und Ihrer Förderung. 2007–2011.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (ed.); Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2008,ISBN978-3-527-32064-6.
  • Anne Cottebrune:Der planbare Mensch. Die DFG und die menschliche Vererbungswissenschaft, 1920–1970(=Studien zur Geschichte der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft2). Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 2008,ISBN978-3-515-09099-5.
  • Notker Hammerstein:Die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in der Weimarer Republik und im Dritten Reich. Wissenschaftspolitik in Republik und Diktatur 1920–1945.Beck, München 1999,ISBN3-406-44826-7.
  • Thomas Nipperdey,Ludwig Schmugge:50 jahre forschungsförderung in deutschland: Ein Abriss der Geschichte der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft. 1920–1970.[Anlässl. ihres 50jährigen Bestehens], Bad Godesberg: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft 1970

External links[edit]

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