Political Staff and Organization

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is being headed by Federal Minister Dr. Annette Schavan. She will be supported in fulfilling her duties by the Parliamentary State Secreteraries Thomas Rachel and Andreas Storm and the Permanent State Secretaries Cornelia Quennet-Thielen and Prof. Dr. Frieder Meyer-Krahmer. The Federal Ministry, with over 900 members of staff, is divided into eight Directorates-General.

Ministerin und Staatssekretäre

• 

  Dr. Annette Schavan

  Federal minister

  Dr. Annette Schavan was appointed Federal Minister of Education and Research on 22 November 2005.
   more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/555.php)
• 

  Thomas Rachel

  Parliamentary State Secretary

  Parliamentary State Secretary Thomas Rachel deputizes for the Minister in policy matters, e.g. in debates in the German Bundestag or in the Bundesrat and when answering parliamentary questions.
   more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/559.php)
• 

  Andreas Storm

  Parliamentary State Secretary

  Parliamentary State Secretary Andreas Storm deputizes for the Minister in policy matters, e.g. in debates in the German Bundestag or in the Bundesrat or when answering parliamentary questions.
   more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/5627.php)
• 

  Cornelia Quennet-Thielen

  State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research

  State Secretary Quennet-Thielen is responsible for the Ministry's Central Services Directorate General; Institutions of Higher Education; Education and Research Policy Issues; as well as for the Directorates General for Vocational Training and Lifelong Learning; and for Life Sciences - Research for Health.
   more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/563.php)
• 

  Prof. Dr. Frieder Meyer-Krahmer

  State Secretary

  State Secretary Prof. Dr. Meyer-Krahmer is responsible for Research Organizations; European and International Cooperation in Education and Research; Innovation Strategies; Key Technologies - Research for Innovation; and Provision for the Future - Cultural, Basic and Sustainability Research.
   more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/565.php)

The Directorates-General

The BMBF is organized in eight Directorates-General, each of which is responsible for different tasks.

Directorate-General Z - Central Services

The Directorate-General for Central Services is responsible for the provision and management of personnel, equipment and financial resources and comprises the classical horizontal and service functions so that the BMBF can fulfil its tasks. These include in particular the fields of personnel, organization and infrastructure as well as budget, controlling and funding procedures.

Directorate-General 1 - Strategies and Policy Issues

This Directorate-General deals in particular with the political and strategic orientation of the ministry, with the Science Dialogue and with changing social conditions of the science system. Priorities in Directorate-General 1 are innovation support in interaction with research and industry, the promotion of equal opportunities in education and research, cooperation between the Federal Government and the Länder as well as the promotion of talent.

Directorate-General 2 - European and International Cooperation in Education and Research

Directorate-General 2 is responsible for the development and enhancement of international relations in education and research. These cover all areas from the European Union and Europe to enhancing worldwide bilateral relations, which are of growing importance for science and research, to representation in European bodies, such as Councils, and in multilateral bodies, such as the G8, OECD and UN structures. These tasks are supported by cooperation with the mediator organizations and a network of desk officers at German embassies in important partner countries and in Brussels.

Directorate-General 3 - Vocational Training and Lifelong Learning

This Directorate-General is subdivided into two Directorates.

Directorate 31 "Vocational Training" is responsible for all questions regarding training and training places. This includes the Vocational Training Act, the Vocational Training Promotion Act and the Upgrading Training Assistance Act. The development of new training occupations, the modernization of existing training occupations and the regulation of required qualifications in further training are a permanent task. The annual Report on Vocational Education documents the development of initial and continuing vocational training in Germany.

Directorate 32 deals with the areas of lifelong learning, educational research and continuing education. Horizontal topics, such as cultural education and new media in education are also developed further in this Directorate. The most extensive national school programme to establish all-day schools is located here just as the monitoring of international benchmarking studies (e.g. PISA) and the national education report issued jointly by the Federal Government and the Länder.

Directorate-General 4 - Science systems

Directorate-General 4 deals with all questions of the development of the German science system and its components - institutions of higher education, research institutions, academies, science infrastructure.

Directorate 41 "Institutions of Higher Education" comprises the central tasks of the BMBF in higher education policy. These include, in particular, research funding at institutions of higher education, e.g. DFG, initiative for excellence, promotion of young scientists and international exchanges as well as the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG) and continuing education at higher education institutions.

Directorate 42 deals with the administration and content of the large German research organizations, the Foundation for German Institutes Abroad and the Academies Programme. A central aspect of science policy is the coordination of science support with the Länder and the further development of the science system, inter alia supported through counselling by the Science Council.

Directorate-General 5 - Key technologies - Research for Innovation

All projects related to modern key technologies are located in Directorate-General 5. These technologies open up new market and employment opportunities; they enable sustainable business, change vocational requirements and influence our everyday life. Nanotechnologies, electronics, optical technologies or microsystems technology are among them just as modern software systems, the further development of the Internet or the development of security research. Future-oriented projects are also located in this Directorate-General, for example the development of digital libraries and new structures for net-based scientific work. Research at universities of applied sciences ensures that innovative research projects are rapidly implemented in industry; in this field too, Directorate-General 5 is making contributions.

Directorate-General 6 - Life Sciences - Research for Health

Man is at the centre of the tasks of Directorate-General 6. All central research areas of the life sciences are located here, from molecular aspects to health research and biotechnology to questions of nutrition or basic research for renewable resources. Of course, ethical and legal aspects also play an important role.

All these areas are promoted by targeted project funding on the one hand and dynamically developed further by institutionally funded research institutions of the HGF and WGL or the EMBL on the other.

Directorate-General 7 - Provision for the Future - Cultural, Basic and Sustainability Research

Directorate-General 7 deals with central issues of the provision for the future. It thus covers a broad range of topics from basic scientific research to environmental research and sustainability research to the humanities and the social and cultural sciences. This includes studies on the structure of matter on the smallest scale just as the question of the origins of the cosmos, of changes and risks within the Earth system and of the opportunities offered by sustainability concepts, as well as studies on cultural, economic and social developments and structures.

In addition to supporting these areas through project funding, the Directorate-General monitors in institutional terms the major national and international centres which operate large-scale research equipment for basic scientific research and nuclear fusion. The Directorate-General is also responsible for the institutional monitoring of the relevant research institutions which together represent a large part of the German research infrastructure and decisively determine our possibilities for international cooperation.

Elected Representations

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research has several elected representations which are responsible for the interests of staff at the Ministry.

Staff Council 
Equal Opportunities Commissioner
Disabled Staff Representative Council
Youth and Trainee Representative Council