In 2009, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) entrusted the DZHW with the task of preparing and presenting the data from the publication "Basic and Structural Data", which had previously been published by the BMBF in cooperation with the DZHW, with the use of an information system developed specifically for this purpose. As part of this project, the BMBF data portal has been built, maintained and updated by the DZHW in terms of content, functionality and technology.
Embedded in the BMBF's website at www.datenportal.bmbf.de, the data portal has been offering online access to statistical data from the BMBF's core areas - research, development and innovation (in close connection with the Federal Report on Research and Innovation - BuFi) and the education sector in combination with contextual structural data on population, labor market and macroeconomics - since 2011.
This involves preparing the data in such a way that it is as comprehensible as possible for non-experts, but still meets the requirements of scientific comprehensibility in order to ensure that the data can be processed accordingly. As such, this data is provided for decision-makers and researchers in the field of politics, administration, science and and the economy, but also for the interested public. It is therefore part of the federal government's Open Data Initiative for the research and education landscape in Germany. The number of visitors accessing the data portal is currently around 16,000 per month (approx. 3,000 visitors per week). A large proportion of the inquiries come from people working in the scientific field.
The required data are available as accessible HTML tables, as PDF tables for printing and in CSV and XLS format for further processing. All data are openly licensed as far as the sources allow. In addition, numerous data are prepared in the form of interactive or static graphics for improved visualization for users. All data can be easily researched by navigating through the thematic structure or using a keyword search.
The data in the portal are currently organized into four topic areas:
- General overviews and structural data: Here, visitors can find structural data to contextualize the data provided in the following subject areas. These include data for Germany or by federal state on population development, educational attainment/participation, employment and unemployment, as well as macroeconomic data such as gross domestic product and value added or public expenditure on education and research.
- Research and innovation: This topic area includes, in particular, data on expenditure on science, research and development, public funding of science, coporate expenditure on research and development and teaching, personnel employed in research and development as well as innovations and patents.
- Education: This area includes education finances, pre-primary education, schools, vocational training, higher education, continuing education and state funding in the education sector (BAföG, AFBG).
- International comparison: Figures from all of the above-mentioned areas are provided here as a guide to help classify Germany's position in an international comparison.
