Function

The Wissenschaftsrat (German Council of Science and Humanities) is an advisory body to the Federal Government and the state (Länder) governments. Its function is to draw up recommendations on the development of science, of research and of the university sector as well as to contribute to the safeguarding of the international competitiveness of German science and humanities in the national and European system. These recommendations involve considerations concerning quantitative and financial effects and the implementation of such considerations; they must be in line with the requirements of social, cultural and economic life.

The Wissenschaftsrat issues statements, recommendations and prepares reports which primarily concern the two major fields of science policy, namely

• the scientific institutions (universities, universities of applied sciences and non-university research institutions), in particular their structure and performance, development and financing, and
• general questions relating to the system of higher education, selected structural aspects of research and teaching as well as the strategic planning and assessment of specific fields and disciplines.

 
Organisation, structure and methods

The Wissenschaftsrat (German Council of Science and Humanities) facilitates a continuous dialogue between the scientific community and policy-makers on the above-mentioned topics, since it has in its ranks scientists and representatives of public life working as fully-fledged partners with representatives of the Federal Government and the Länder governments. It is an advisory body for political decision-makers and an instrument of cooperative federalism designed to promote scientific work in Germany. The Wissenschaftsrat thus serves as a mediating body not only between scientists and policymakers, but also, as a consequence of the federal structure of Germany, between the Federal Government and the Länder governments.

The Wissenschaftsrat is co-funded by the Federal Government and the governments of the 16 Länder. It consists of two commissions, the Scientific Commission and the Administrative Commission, which meet in the Plenary Assembly to take decisions, in particular for the adoption of recommendations and reports.

The Scientific Commission has 32 members. They are appointed by the Federal President, with 24 scientists being jointly proposed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft or DFG (German Research Foundation), the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (MPG), the German Rectors' Conference (HRK), the Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren or HGF (Helmholtz Association of National Research Centres), the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft (FhG), the Leibniz Association (WGL) and another eight persons of high public standing jointly proposed by the Federal Government and the Länder governments.

The Administrative Commission has 22 members, with the representatives of the 16 Länder having one vote each, and the six representatives of the Federal Government a total of 16 votes. The Plenary Assembly thus has 54 members eligible to cast a total of 64 votes. The decisions of the Wissenschaftsrat are taken in the Plenary Assembly and have to be adopted by a two-thirds majority; consequently, there is a strong incentive to seek solutions by consensus.

The role of the eminent scientists appointed to the Wissenschaftsrat is neither to represent the interests of a specific field or discipline nor those of a specific institution or organisation. They are expected to combine scientific excellence with competence and experience in science policy.

Every year the Plenary Assembly adopts an annual programme of work. Committees and working groups, on which members of both Commissions sit, are set up to work on the individual projects. In the committees and working groups, which as a rule are assisted by external experts from Germany and abroad, draft documents are elaborated which are then adopted by the Plenary Assembly of the Wissenschaftsrat.

The Wissenschaftsrat is headed by a chairperson, who is elected for one year and may be re-elected provided that he or she remains a member of the Wissenschaftsrat. The chairperson also acts as a representative and spokesperson for the Wissenschaftsrat. The Commissions and the Plenary Assembly generally meet four times a year. The Wissenschaftsrat's recommendations and reports are published and can be obtained from its Secretariat or downloaded from this website (in German).

The Plenary Assembly, both Commissions and the committees and working groups are supported by the Secretariat of the Wissenschaftsrat, which has a staff of about 70 and is headed by the Secretary General of the Wissenschaftsrat. The Wissenschaftsrat has its seat in Berlin. The Secretariat is located in Cologne at:

 
History

The Wissenschaftsrat (German Council of Science and Humanities) was founded on 5 September 1957 by the Federal Government and the Länder governments. It is the oldest advisory body for science policy in Europe. In the words of the first Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Konrad Adenauer, at the signing of the Administrative Agreement on the establishment of a Wissenschaftsrat, it was "the first time that an institution has been created on German territory which is intended to provide an overview of scientific work in the Federal Republic of Germany and put forward proposals to the Federal Government and Länder governments with regard to the advancement of science." Ever since the mid-1950s, there had been calls for the establishment of a Wissenschaftsrat from leading scientists and politicians, such as the President of the DFG, Gerhard Hess, and Federal President Theodor Heuss, who appointed scientists and personalities from public life to the Wissenschaftsrat and chaired the constituent meeting on 6 March 1958.

The Council's history, from its beginnings in the late 1950s, can be viewed in terms of at least three phases of science policy development; the Wissenschaftsrat itself was instrumental in determining each of these phases:

• In the 1960s and 1970s, the focus was on the expansion of the system of science, in particular of higher education.

• This was followed by a period of political reforms in science and higher education - accompanied by a reduction in funding.

• In the phase of the German Unification, the Wissenschaftsrat laid the foundation for the development of high-quality scientific institutions in East Germany. It assessed the majority of the extra-university establishments of the GDR and elaborated numerous recommendations for the future structure of higher education in the east.

At the beginning of the 21st century, research, technology and scientific education and training are not only universally considered to be important in their own right, but also indispensable for the national economy as well as for industry and employment. Altogether, the number of students at German universities has increased eight-fold over the last four decades; likewise, the number of professorships has also grown considerably. In addition, a differentiated sector with countless extra-university research institutions has come into existence. At the same time, the scientific community is confronted with a number of demands:

• Increasing the efficiency of research and teaching (at a time of stagnating funds), not least by implementing lasting reforms to institutional structures;

• Strengthening international competitiveness against the backdrop of globalisation of knowledge generation and transfer;

• Optimising the innovative drive of the science system by improving cooperation between publicly-financed research and the private sector, and by intensifying international cooperation.