"Chemical research at German universities and research institutes is outstanding and comes off very well in an international comparison". These were the words used by Professor Dr. Wolfram Koch, Chief Executive of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh = society of German chemists) to summarize the results of a pilot study on research ratings carried out by the scientific council. He was speaking at a press conference in Berlin on 18 December 2007 to mark publication of the study.  

There existed, continued Koch, a wide base of good to very good research which served as the foundation for cutting-edge research on the highest level. The very good, sometime excellent chemical research in Germany, was also an important prerequisite for the global success of the German chemical industry. This was another reason why the results of the pilot study were an important argument for maintaining and raising the quality of research by providing the relevant institutes with the funds they actually needed. However, the research rating, he went on, had also shown that there was still potential for improvement in some areas. The performance of the German chemical sector could be enhanced even more by analysing this potential and finding ways to strengthen it. The GDCh, he said, was prepared to develop suitable instruments in collaboration with the research institutes. At the institutes where the possibilities of improvement have been shown, the pilot study should be seen as a signal to make a new start in a positive sense. Where necessary, stated Koch, it should serve as an impetus for profiling this sector, one of the measures suggested in the study.

The pilot study is intended to supply a basis for making a decision as to whether the research rating procedure can be introduced and standardized for all specialist disciplines, after being individually adapted for the specific specialist discipline in question.  

Initially only covering the areas of chemistry and sociology, it cannot yet be used as a basis for far reaching decisions on future financial or other forms of support. In the opinion of the GDCh, therefore, a comparison with other (scientific) disciplines is therefore essential and still has to be made. The GDCh was co-initiator of the research rating and had expressed itself in favour of including the chemical industry in the pilot study.  

The GDCh expects the research rating to result in a gain in the awareness of the universities in respect of their current situation. The intention is that their strengths and development perspectives should become visible and perceived more clearly. It should also become clear that a further increase in the quality of research in Germany would serve the interests of the chemical community and that the public should be told what is being done with their money at universities. The pilot study can be viewed from 18 December onwards at http://www.forschungsrating.de/.

Source: kompetenznetze.de