The German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW) carries out application-oriented empirical research in the field of higher education and the science system. It sees itself as a partner and service-provider for the world of science and scientific policy. Its research is theory-based and practice-related. The DZHW contributes its research findings to academic discourse; it is part of the scientific community. The data and analyses produced by the DZHW also support policy-makers, higher education institutions and educational management in shaping higher education in Germany and Europe. It provides important information for comprehensive, sustainable, evidence-based higher educational and educational policy.
The DZHW's four Research Areas cover the following tasks and research fields: the centre's mission is to carry out research projects and collect data in higher education research and science studies in accordance with scientific quality standards. Its profile is defined by its long-term studies, unique in Germany, of those qualified to study at university, first-year students, students and university graduates; it also covers scientific examination of the internationalisation processes in the German higher education system, life-long learning and the steering and funding of higher education institutions. This spectrum is expanded to include analyses and information about the German and international higher education and scientific system, focusing in particular on bibliometrics. The Centre also provides research-based services for higher education and science policy on this basis. Another of the DZHW's tasks is to provide research infrastructure: a research data centre for German higher education research and science studies has been created in the DZHW, making the Centre's data and that of other data-collecting institutions available to researchers.
The DZHW collaborates closely with Leibniz Universität Hannover on the Master's programme Science and Society, educating young scientists for higher education research and science studies, as well as with Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Universität Kassel. In addition to its main office in Hannover, the DZHW has branches in Leipzig and in Berlin.
