The Scientists Survey is a nationally representative trend study and sees itself as a long-term barometer for science. It is a fundamental tool for researching working and research conditions at German universities and higher education institutions with the right to award doctorates. It is of particular importance for all those involved in the science system - the researchers themselves, university committees, and stakeholders in national and international higher education and science policy.
Scientists throughout Germany are invited to participate in the survey. More than 11,000 people took part in the last survey.
The Scientists Survey is designed and conducted every three years as a multi-topic survey. For this purpose, publicly available address data of professors and research assistants are researched on the websites of the universities. We cooperate with research groups within and outside the DZHW in the preparation of the main topics. The first three Scientists surveys were conducted in 2010, 2016 and 2019. The most recent survey was conducted in 2023.
The current survey took place in the winter semester 2023 from January to March. The fourth Scientists Survey is a broad-based multi-topic survey on working and research conditions in science. Beyond the core questions, various main topics are integrated.
In order not to place an undue burden on individual respondents, the questionnaire is systematically modularized. Thus, respondents are presented with only one focus topic at a time. This makes it possible to reduce the very complex survey program to a completion time of 20 to 25 minutes.
The central results of the survey were published in a report barometer for the scientific community in February 2024. The results prepared for this purpose are presented exclusively in aggregated form and will not allow any conclusions to be drawn about individual respondents. In addition, specialist publications on selected topics of the survey will be produced in the coming years.
