Reports and other publications

The DZHW Scientists Survey 2023 is an online survey of full-time academic and artistic staff at German universities and equivalent institutions of higher education with the right to award doctorates. It is repeated at regular intervals as a trend study to explore the working and research conditions at German universities and equivalent institutions of higher education. The DZHW Scientists Survey 2023 was conducted from January to March 2023. The respondents therefore take a retrospective look at their working and research conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic and their current post-pandemic situation. The previous Scientists Surveys took place in 2010, 2016 and 2019/2020. [...] Full Abstract: https://doi.org/10.21249/DZHW:scs2023:1.0.0

This article undertakes a comprehensive examination of student well-being, taking into account both individual and study-related conditions and distinguishing between requirements and resources. Two data sources from the EUROSTUDENT 8 project are used: the aggregated data and the microdata. The aggregated data includes information from 22 countries within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), while the microdata includes information from 11 countries within the EHEA.

The Data and Methods Report is part of the documentation of the EUROSTUDENT 8 micro data (doi: 10.21249/DZHW:es8:1.0.0).

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the digitalisation of higher education, presenting both opportunities and challenges. It acted as a universal catalyst for digitalization. This (forced) boost of digitalisation creates both: Possibilities for increased inclusion of underrepresented student groups in higher education on the one hand, and challenges with regards to an inflexible overreliance on digital formats for other student groups on the other hand. This report examines the interplay between institutional services, student needs, and study modes, aiming to understand their impact on satisfaction and success in higher education.

Nacaps, the National Academics Panel Study, is a new longitudinal study of doctoral candidates and doctorate holders in Germany funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The project aims at providing nationwide cross-sectional and longitudinal data on doctoral candidates and doctorate holders in Germany regarding their study conditions as well as their career trajectories within and outside of academia. The Nacaps study series apply a panel design to multiple cohorts. Nacaps 2018 is the first cohort in this series of studies. In 2019, all doctoral candidates registered at 53 higher education institutions [...] Full Abstract: https://doi.org/10.21249/DZHW:nac2018:2.0.0

This flyer on the prof*panel, the DZHW professors survey, provides an overview of the possible paths to a full professorship (tenured). This is supplemented by insights into the educational background depending on the type of professorship in our panel.

Reusing research data is an important part of research practice in the social and economic sciences. To find suitable data, researchers need functional search options. However, a comprehensive search for data is hampered by inconsistent or missing semantic indexing because different survey programs use their own terminology for documentation. In most cases, there is no link between the measured theoretical concepts and the variables. From the user's perspective, the fragmentation of data documentation hampers data retrieval and thus limits the research potential of existing data. The challenge, therefore, lies in the concept-oriented indexing of data. [...] Full Abstract: https://zenodo.org/records/11047523

"The Student Survey in Germany" (2021) is a newly designed study that integrates three previously separate student surveys (Beuße et al., 2022): the Social Survey (Middendorff et al., 2017; Middendorff & Wallis, 2023), the Student Survey (Multrus et al., 2017; Multrus, 2021) and the survey "best - Studying with impairments" (Poskowsky et al., 2018; Unger et al., 2012). The study is designed as a cross-sectional survey with a long-term character. The new, integrated student survey thus continues the long tradition of the Social Survey and the Student Survey as important cross-sectional long-term observation studies for describing and analysing higher education and the student [...] Full Abstract: https://doi.org/10.21249/DZHW:sid2021:1.0.0

he project "VORAUS: Further developing established quality assurance formats: Which VORreservations and consensuses does a partially randomised SELECTION of research projects encounter in the scientific field?" was funded by the BMBF from April 2019 to March 2022. The study investigated reservations and consensus in the scientific field regarding partial randomisation. On this basis, it was clarified what is currently considered appropriate in science. Prior to a quantitative survey on the topic, the data from which is also available as a data package (DOI: https://doi.org/10.21249/DZHW:vorausquanti:1.0.0), problem-centred interviews were conducted with [...] Full Abstract: https://doi.org/10.21249/DZHW:vorausquali:1.0.0

Research funding systems are not isolated systems - but embedded in a larger scientific system with an enormous influence on the system. This paper aims to analyze the allocation of competitive research funding from different perspectives: How reliable are decision processes for funding? What are the economic costs of competitive funding? How does competition for funds affect doing risky research? How do competitive funding environments affect scientists themselves, and which ethical issues must be considered? We attempt to identify gaps in our knowledge and propose recommendations for policymakers and funding agencies, including empirical experiments of decision processes and collection of data on these processes.

The Scientists Survey was initiated in 2010. It is intended as a long-term barometer for science. Because the 2023 edition was the fourth wave, many topics, such as attitudes and opinions on science policy for example, can be examined over time in trends analyses. Additionally, the timing of the surveys waves has enabled a particular set of research questions: while the current cohort was surveyed directly at the end of the pandemic, the preceding wave took place directly before the start of the first extensive restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This "historical coincidence" gives insights into the way researchers worked in the time before, during and after the pandemic.