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The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the
Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
. In 2019, the DFG had a funding budget of €3.3 billion.


Function

The DFG supports research in
science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
,
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
, and the
humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
through a variety of grant programmes, research
prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.
s, and by funding infrastructure. The self-governed organization is based in
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...
and financed by the German states and the
federal government of Germany The Federal Cabinet or Federal Government (german: link=no, Bundeskabinett or ') is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany. It consists of the Federal Chancellor and cabinet ministers. The fundamentals of the cabinet's org ...
. As of 2017, the organization consists of approximately 100
research universities A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational know ...
and other
research institution A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often im ...
s. The DFG endows various research prizes, including the
Leibniz Prize The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (german: link=no, Förderpreis für deutsche Wissenschaftler im Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz-Programm der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft), in short Leibniz Prize, is awarded by the German Research Foundation to ...
. The Polish-German science award
Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulated ...
is offered jointly with the
Foundation for Polish Science The Foundation For Polish Science ( pl, Fundacja na rzecz Nauki Polskiej, FNP) is an independent, non-profit making organisation which aim at improving the opportunities for doing research in Poland. Established in 1990, registered in 1991, the ...
. According to a 2017 article in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', the DFG has announced it will publish its research in online
open-access journals Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre op ...
.


Background

In 1937, the ''
Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft The ''Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft'' (Emergency Association of German Science) or NG was founded on 30 October 1920 on the initiative of leading members of the ''Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften'' (Prussian Academy of Sciences, ...
'' (NG) ("Emergency Association of German Science") was renamed the ''Deutsche Gemeinschaft zur Erhaltung und Förderung der Forschung'' ("German Foundation for the Preservation and Promotion of Research"), for short known as the ''Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft'' (DFG). Even before the election of the
National Socialist German Workers' Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
(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 (, ''living space'') is a German concept of settler colonialism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' became a geopolitical goal of Imperi ...
" and
extermination Extermination or exterminate may refer to: * Pest control, elimination of insects or vermin * Genocide, extermination—in whole or in part—of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group * Homicide or murder in general * "Exterminate!", t ...
policies; 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 to
German rearmament German rearmament (''Aufrüstung'', ) was a policy and practice of rearmament carried out in Germany during the interwar period (1918–1939), in violation of the Treaty of Versailles which required German disarmament after WWI to prevent Germa ...
and
autarky Autarky is the characteristic of self-sufficiency, usually applied to societies, communities, states, and their economic systems. Autarky as an ideal or method has been embraced by a wide range of political ideologies and movements, especially ...
, essentially aligning its goals with the those of the new regime. By the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in Germany, in 1945, the DFG was no longer active. In 1949, after formation of the
Federal Republic A federal republic is a federation of states with a republican form of government. At its core, the literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means: "a country that is governed by elected representatives ...
, it was re-founded as the NG and again from 1951 as the DFG.


Structure

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. The DFG is a member of the
International Council for Science The International Council for Science (ICSU, after its former name, International Council of Scientific Unions) was an international non-governmental organization devoted to international cooperation in the advancement of science. Its members ...
and has numerous counterparts around the globe such as the
National Natural Science Foundation of China The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC; ) is an organization directly affiliated to China's State Council for the management of the National Natural Science Fund. History NSFC was founded in February 1986 by theoretical chemist Tan ...
, the
National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
(USA) and the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
(UK). The DFG has several representative offices in Asia, North America and Europe and also maintains the
Sino-German Center for Research Promotion The Sino-German Center for Research Promotion (SGC) is a research funding institution based in Beijing, established by the German Research Foundation and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). The NSFC is the most important ...
, which was jointly founded by the DFG and the
National Natural Science Foundation of China The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC; ) is an organization directly affiliated to China's State Council for the management of the National Natural Science Fund. History NSFC was founded in February 1986 by theoretical chemist Tan ...
. On 9 June 2012, DFG launched a centre in
Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
, to expand its presence in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. The German-based research foundation and
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
's Department of Science and Technology are together working on 40 bilateral research projects in science and engineering. The German Research Foundation is a member of
Science Europe Science Europe is an association of major research funding organisations (RFOs) and research performing organisations (RPOs). It was established in October 2011 and is based in Brussels. The association facilitates co-operation among its members ...
.


Heisenberg Programme

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 physicist
Werner Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a breakthrough paper. In the subsequent series ...
, who received the
Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
at 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, the
habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...
is a prerequisite for applying for admission to the programme. However, services similar to habilitation are also included in the selection. The program consists of the following variants: * The ''Heisenberg Scholarship'' * The ''Heisenberg position'' is a DFG-funded temporary research assistant position at a university. * The ''Heisenberg professorship'' a DFG-funded professorship with the aim of establishing a new research area within a scientific focus of the university. * The ''Heisenberg temporary substitute position for clinicians'' is intended for clinically working scientists who can take some time off for research.


Notable fundings and cooperations

*
German National Library of Economics The National Library of Economics (ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics) is the world's largest research infrastructure for economic literature, online as well as offline. The ZBW is a member of the Leibniz Association and has been ...
*
German National Library of Medicine German National Library of Medicine (german: Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Medizin), abbreviated ZB MED - Information Centre for Life Sciences in Cologne, together with the Bonn site, is the central specialist library for medicine, public health ...
*
German National Library of Science and Technology The German National Library of Science and Technology (german: Technische Informationsbibliothek), abbreviated TIB, is the national library of the Federal Republic of Germany for all fields of engineering, technology, and the natural sciences. I ...
* Greenpilot *
Virtual Library of Musicology The Virtual Library of Musicology or ViFaMusik (german: Virtuelle Fachbibliothek Musikwissenschaft) was funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) to provide sources and materials for music and musicology. The proje ...


See also

*
Open access in Germany Open access to scholarly communication in Germany has evolved rapidly since the early 2000s. Publishers Beilstein-Institut, Copernicus Publications, De Gruyter, Knowledge Unlatched, Leibniz Institute for Psychology Information, ScienceOpen, Spring ...
* National Research Foundation (disambiguation)


Notes


Bibliography

* Heilbron, J. L. ''The Dilemmas of an Upright Man: Max Planck and the Fortunes of German Science'' (Harvard, 2000) *
Hentschel, Klaus Klaus Hentschel (born 4 April 1961) is a German physicist, historian of science and Professor and head of the History of Science and Technology section in the History Department of the University of Stuttgart. He is known for his contributions in ...
(ed.), Hentschel, Ann M. (transl.). ''Physics and National Socialism: An Anthology of Primary Sources'' (Birkhäuser, 1996) * ''Perspektiven der Forschung und Ihrer Förderung. 2007–2011.'' Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (ed.); Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2008, . * Anne Cottebrune: ''Der planbare Mensch. Die DFG und die menschliche Vererbungswissenschaft, 1920–1970'' (= ''Studien zur Geschichte der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft'' 2). Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 2008, . *
Notker Hammerstein Notker Hammerstein (born 3 October 1930) is a German historian. His research interests are mainly in the field of and history of science as well as the history of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Life Born in Offenbach am Main, Ham ...
: ''Die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in der Weimarer Republik und im Dritten Reich. Wissenschaftspolitik in Republik und Diktatur 1920–1945.'' Beck, München 1999, . *
Thomas Nipperdey Thomas Nipperdey (27 October 1927, Cologne – 14 June 1992, Munich) was a German historian best known for his monumental and exhaustive studies of Germany from 1800 to 1918. As a critical follower of Leopold von Ranke's famous ideal of writing "h ...
, Ludwig Schmugge: ''50 jahre forschungsförderung in deutschland: Ein Abriss der Geschichte der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft. 1920–1970.'' nlässl. ihres 50jährigen Bestehens Bad Godesberg: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft 1970


External links

*
DFG Science TV YouTube channel
{{Authority control Organisations based in Bonn Scientific organisations based in Germany Government agencies established in 1951 1951 establishments in West Germany Research and development organizations Research and development in Germany Members of the International Council for Science Research funding agencies Members of the International Science Council