Organizing Questions
- Which organization(s) are significant sources of research funding?
- What does the normal science funding/policy decision-making process look like?
- Which patient advocacy groups, if any, are active in the area?
- Are there existing national/regional organizations that work towards improving research funding/policy?
- How do scientists currently contribute to the existing funding/policymaking/advocacy process, if at all?
- When are science funding/policy decisions made?
- What kinds of opportunities exist for scientists to interact with funders and policymakers?
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Which organization(s) are significant sources of research funding?
- National
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - https://www.dfg.de/index.jsp
- Volkswagenstiftung (VW-Stiftung) - https://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/de
- Bundesministerium Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) -https://www.bmbf.de/bmbf/de/home/home_node.html
- Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FhG) - https://www.fraunhofer.de/en.html
- Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft (HGF) - https://www.helmholtz.de/en/
- Leibniz-Gemeinschaft (WGL) - https://www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de/en/
- Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG) - https://www.mpg.de/en
- Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) - https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/
- Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) - https://www.daad.de/de/
- Further funding opportunities can be found here:
- For overview, see:
- European Union (EU) level grants are awarded also by the European Research Council (ERC) or through the ERA-net program.
- ERC - https://erc.europa.eu/homepage
- ERA-NET - https://www.neuron-eranet.eu/
- Local
- Ministries of the different States (Länder)
- Local grants by the Universities or the non-university Research Centers
- Private
- Gabriele Lederle Stiftung - https://www.lederle-stiftung.info/
- Deutsches Stiftungszentrum - https://www.deutsches-stiftungszentrum.de/stiftungen
- Non-government organizations (NGOs)
- Stifterverband - https://www.stifterverband.org/english
- Industry
- Industry grants are awarded by the corporations themselves (contract research).
- National
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What does the normal science funding/policy decision-making process look like?
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Which group/committee/person within the funding/policy organization makes the decisions?
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What are the criteria the funding/policy organization(s) use to make their decisions?
- Varies considerably between the different organizations (typically peer-review).
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Which patient advocacy groups, if any, are active in the area?
- Deutscher Blinden und Sehbehindertenverband - https://www.dbsv.org/
- Pro-Retina - https://www.pro-retina.de
- Verband für Sehbehinderten-Pädagogik - https://www.vbs.eu/de/startseite/
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Are there existing national/regional organizations that work towards improving research funding/policy?
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How do scientists currently contribute to the existing funding/policymaking/advocacy process, if at all?
- Varies, but typically scientists are involved in program design and peer-review.
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When are science funding/policy decisions made?
- Varies between the different organizations (typically peer-review). Major research initiatives are typically made at the EU-level by the European Research Council (ERC).
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What kinds of opportunities exist for scientists to interact with funders and policymakers?
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Can scientists invite decision makers to their lab/institution to see their work firsthand?
- This is not typical and happens mostly in program projects that have different sub-projects.
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Do the funding/policy organizations hold open meetings or solicit comments from the public that researchers can participate in?
- Varies considerably, but it can happen in different funding organizations such as VW-Stiftung and BMBF-calls.
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Contributor
- Bernhard A. Sabel, PhD, University of Magdeburg