Guidelines

Excellence and Relevance

In order to further develop the education system and to improve educational processes, excellent and relevant research is required. The funded research follows high scientific quality standards, builds on the current state of research and is visible both nationally and internationally. In addition, it provides potential and impetus for concrete improvements in the education system. We ensure excellent research through established competitive procedures, which take into account a projects’ potential for innovation as well as its theoretical and empirical foundation in the current state of research. Funded activities should not only be scientifically convincing, but also have practical relevance to ensure successful mutual transfer between all stakeholders. Research in the Framework Programme should initiate, promote and disseminate innovations that contribute to improving the entire education system. 

Transferability and Impact 

For project results to contribute to the improvement of the education system, they need a strong orientation on transferability and impact: the research findings should be relevant and usable for stakeholders in the education system.

Transferable knowledge for educational practice cannot be generated by researchers alone. Therefore, the target groups should be adequately involved in the planning of research projects as well as in implementation and transfer activities. We understand transfer as a dialogue-basedprocess that requires mutual willingness to learn and processes to enable that. Transfer also means that researchers recognise and consider practitioners’ questions and needs, as well as their practical knowledge. This also elicits development and transformative processes in research. Therefore, co-construction and participation are two principles that characterise many research projects funded in the Framework Programme. Research findings are contextualised and made available to the target groups, tailored to their respective needs in educational practice, administration and policy. Educational practitioners are particularly interested in findings on how teaching and learning processes can be designed, developed and supported in the best possible way. For education policy and administration, research findings can provide a knowledge base for evidence-based decisions. This is why customised science communication is an integral part of the funding measures. The projects’ transfer activities are dependent on their research objectives, the current state of research and general framework conditions, and can include a variety of approaches. From the dissemination of findings to their utilisation in the field: it is crucial that transfer activities translate research into impact. To ensure that existing findings are better implemented, transfer and implementation are themselves subject to research in the

Framework Programme. In addition to research on transfer and implementation, this also includes accompanying research and impact analyses.

Secondary Use of Research Data

The ongoing cultural shift towards sharing and reusing research data in educational research will be further promoted in the Framework Programme. The existing data infrastructure in educational research has been significantly strengthened in recent years, particularly through the expansion of the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI). Researchers can use extensive and growing data pools for their scientific work. Comprehensive datasets with high potential for secondary use are generated through data infrastructures such as the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), but also by research groups and projects. This potential needs to be further unlocked in order to also relieve educational institutions of the burden of continuously taking part in surveys.

Research data generated in the funded projects must meet the FAIR principles: findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability. Increasing digitisation brings about not only new types of data, but can also widen potential for research and new possibilities for data acquisition and analysis.

Building Bridges

With its activities in the Framework Programme, the BMBFSFJ aims to build bridges in two ways: Flanking activities and cooperation formats bring together different groups from educational research, practice, administration, and policy in order to facilitate and support knowledge exchange between these groups. Furthermore, support structures initiate new approaches to ensure sustainable transfer between research, practice and administration in the future. Therefore, involving multiplicators plays an important role in the Framework Programme. In addition, existing support structures outside the Framework Programme are also included - for instance the regional development agencies for municipal education management or the competence network lernen:digital.

Structural Development 

The Framework Programme will continue to contribute to the structural development of empirical educational research in Germany. This applies in particular to the funding of early career researchers and support of international cooperation in educational research. The Framework Programme supports researchers at all stages of their careers. Targeted measures help to promote early scientific independence and provide scope for innovative ideas and approaches in research and co-operation. To this end, our funding also emphasises interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary work as well as transferability and impact.

European and international networking and co-operation in empirical educational research offers the opportunity to learn from other countries and educational systems. Thinking outside the box and comparing research results internationally can contribute to the further development of our education system. For this reason, the BMBFSFJ also supports the establishment of European and non-European contacts and collaborations as well as the development and expansion of networks.