The HISBUS panel is an instrument for carrying out nationwide online surveys of students in Germany. The HISBUS panel is what is known as an online access panel, including up to 30,000 students who are asked to give information up to four times a year on current issues in the field of study and higher education institutions (HEI). The online study findings are made available promptly in a range of formats. In recent years, surveys carried out through the HISBUS panel have covered issues from various areas of student life (e.g. accommodation situation, use of university canteens, ways of improving study performance, student happiness and satisfaction) as well as relating to academic aspects and their HEIs (digitalization of higher education teaching, study and career prospects, transition from bachelor's to master's programmes, international mobility). Clients include the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the German National Association for Student Affairs (DSW), the German Rectors' Conference (HRK), the Stifterverband, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG).
Setting up the online-access HISBUS panel began in 2000, in the early days of using the internet for social science research and the adaptation of research tools and methods for the online survey medium. The students who take part in HISBUS surveys are exclusively approached - under methodological control - through the DZHW’s survey series. In the early days up to 2005, the DZHW collaborated with ZUMA Mannheim (now GESIS) to develop a process that ensures that the HISBUS survey findings are representative throughout Germany; this process is adapted to suit changing demands. The HISBUS panel was funded up to the end of 2013 by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). You can find more information on the project's website (www.hisbus.de).
