The current survey focuses on the effects of changed incentive systems, growing transfer requirements, and new control logics on research practices, motivation, and perceived research quality. Berlin Science Survey is aimed at researchers from universities, non-university research institutions, and colleges in the Berlin research area and pursues a consistently discipline-differentiating approach. The study thus highlights how differently disciplines respond to political, institutional, and organizational conditions - a perspective that has often been neglected in debates on higher education and research policy.

The results provide Berlin University Alliance with a robust empirical basis for reflecting on and further developing strategic measures to strengthen research quality, cooperation, and transfer. At the same time, the survey supports university management, research management, and policymakers in aligning control instruments in a more tailored and discipline-sensitive manner.

With the current survey, Berlin Science Survey delves deeper into questions of knowledge transfer, incentive structures, and changing research cultures. The results will be evaluated and published in the coming months. They will be incorporated into both the scientific work of the RMZ and the strategic development of the Berlin University Alliance. Further rounds of surveys are planned in order to observe key developments in Berlin's research landscape over the long term and to support a learning, evidence-based science policy.

Researchers working in Berlin have already been invited to participate by email. Researchers who have not received an invitation but would like to participate can contact the Berlin Science Survey team: rmz-berlinsciencesurvey@hu-berlin.de. Researchers from all disciplines and career stages are expressly invited to participate.

The Berlin Science Survey has been conducted regularly since 2022 and has established itself as a key trend study on cultural change in Berlin's research landscape. A total of 2,767 researchers participated in the largest survey round to date in 2024. Among other things, the results show that cooperation and research quality in Berlin's research community are rated positively and that the Berlin University Alliance is perceived as a driver of transformation: around 60 percent of respondents see the alliance of excellence as a driver of internationalization, while 67.4 percent rate its commitment to open science positively. At the same time, the data reveal clear subject-specific differences, for example in dealing with transfer requirements, performance evaluations, and time resources. The stable participation across several survey waves underscores the relevance of the survey for researchers and for strategic decision-making processes.

Berlin University Alliance

Berlin University Alliance – the alliance of excellence between Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin – is positioning Berlin as one of the world’s leading knowledge and innovation hubs for integrated collaboration across disciplines and sectors of society. Together, this ecosystem contributes to the sustainable success of major transformations. Berlin University Alliance is funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) and the State of Berlin as part of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments.

Further information

• on Berlin Science Survey: https://www.berlinsciencesurvey.de/de/

Media contact

• Suhana Reddy, Head of Communications, Berlin University Alliance, email: suhana.reddy@berlin-university-alliance.de 

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