topic Education

Educational Research

An empirically founded educational research is necessary for the development of the education system. The Federal Government will support the Länder in their reform of the education system through a stronger commitment into educational research.

BMBF supports empirical educational research

1. institutionally through the German Research Association (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG), Bundesinstitut für Berufliche Bildung (BIBB), Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (MPG) and some institutes of the Leibniz Science Association (WGL),
2. through research in government departments and
3. through improvements of general conditions (such as support of young scientists, improved scientific IT infrastructure, support of international exchange and networking), and after the reform of Germany's federal system
4. through grants in projects and programmes on the basis of Art. 91b Abs. 2 (new) as well as Art. 91b Abs. 1 (new) of the Basic Law in coordination with the Länder.

In summer 2007 BMBF will present a framework concept, that strategically associates different options for action to strengthen empirical educational research in Germany structurally and in the long term as well as to promote its internationality and multidisciplinarity.

Beyond that, BMBF works for the establishment of a national educational panel, borne by science, to create a significant data base for educational reports on a mid-term to long-term scale, oriented on a coverage of "education in the course of life" on the one hand and on the other, to contribute to the improvement of the structural framework  for empirical educational research in Germany.