German Research Foundation

The DFG is the central self-governing organization of science in Germany. Its task is to provide financial support for research projects which focus on higher education. Since a single funding ratio was determined in 2002, 58% of the funds provided by the DFG come from the Federal Government and 42% from the Länder.

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Mission:

The main task of the DFG is to provide financial support for research projects; these funds go primarily into higher education. Other tasks of the DFG as stipulated in its articles of association are the promotion of cooperation between researchers, support for young scientists, the provision of advice to parliaments and authorities in scientific issues and the promotion of relations between research and science abroad.

The following instruments and procedures are available to the DFG to fulfil its tasks:

• Individual funding under the standard procedure - Funding of research projects submitted by individual researchers; maximum period of funding: one to three years, extension is possible;
• Priority procedures - Financing and coordination of projects of several researchers at different locations on a specific topic or a project; maximum period of funding: six years as a rule;
• Researcher teams - medium-term collaborations of only a few scientists for joint work on particularly innovative, often interdisciplinary research projects;
• Special research areas - long-term but not permanent research institutions at one or - less often - several institutions of higher education, often in cooperation with  non-university research institutions, in which scientists cooperate within the framework of interdisciplinary research programmes; Transfer Areas are an option for cooperation between scientists and users and thus for a rapid transfer of innovative ideas from basic research into practice; Cultural Science Research Schools are to contribute to overcoming the boundaries between subjects and to supporting international cooperation;
• Research centres - An important element in the strategic and thematic planning of an institution of higher education. Funding is granted to institutions of higher education which want to use a research centre to establish a strong focus based on existing structures;
• Postgraduate research groups - longer-term institutions at institutions of higher education to promote young scientists;
• Support facilities of research - central facilities of research which are open to all scientists;
• Humanistic centres - supplementary support with project funds for six institutions in the humanities originating from institutes of the Academy of Sciences of the former GDR;
• Support of young scientists under special programmes - Additional possibilities of funding qualified young scientists exist under the Emmy Noether Programme and the Heisenberg Programme. The Heinz Maier Leibniz Price to promote young scientists has been awarded annually for 20 years, since 1997 jointly by the Federal Minister of Education and Research and the President of the German Research Association;
• Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Programme - under this programme, a prize is awarded for outstanding scientific achievements;
• Communicator Price - personal prize for scientists who have made outstanding, successful efforts to familiarize the public with their results.

Establishment:

The German Research Association was first established in 1920 as Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft; it was re-established in 1949 and, after a merger with the Research Council (1951), renamed German Research Association DFG.

Members:

Its members are 69 institutions of higher education, 15 non-university research establishments, 7 academies and 3 industrial associations.

Financing:

Depending on the programmes, the financing shares of the Federal Government and the Länder varied until 2001. They are 50:50 for general research funding, 75:25 for special research areas and the Leibniz Programme. For the postgraduate research schools, they were 63:35 (until 1998) and are now 50:50 (since 1999).

Based on the framework agreement for research funding in the version of 11 April 2001 and the implementing agreement on joint funding of the DFG, the Federal Government and the Länder have provided funding from 2002 onwards under a single financing ratio of 58% (Federal Government) to 42% (Länder). This ratio is based on the shares so far between the Federal Government and the Länder in DFG funding and includes the so-called standard procedure including priority areas, the postgraduate research schools, the Emmy Noether Programme, cutting-edge research as well as the equipment of institutions of higher education with large-scale equipment.

The following funds were available to the DFG between 1998 to 2004 (in million €):

1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
(actual)	(actual)	(actual)	(actual)	(actual)	(actual)	(actual)
1076.88	1154.09	1160.6	1205.47	1261.4	1299.1	1309.2

Structure:

The DFG is the central self-governing organization of science in Germany.

Its central scientific decision-making body is the Senate, with 39 scientific members from all disciplines. The Senate passes, inter alia, annually the DFG priority programmes and decides on the medium-term expenditure and financial planning (prospects of research and its funding). The Main Committee of the DFG decides on the financial support for research, in particular by deciding on individual applications. It consists of 19 scientific members, eight representatives each of the Federal Government and the Länder and two representatives of the Donors' Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany. Decisions on the special research areas and the postgraduate research groups are taken by individual Grants Committees, composed of with members of the Senate Committees for the special research areas and for the postgraduate research groups as well as representatives of the Federal Government and the Länder.