Share of positive ratings of selected aspects of the German science system, by German and international academics and researchers, in 2023

The science system in Germany has been facing major challenges for several years. Academics and researchers’ views on its current state are thus of considerable interest. The results show that international researchers generally regard the science landscape in Germany in a more favourable light than their German colleagues: international academics and researchers are, in some cases, much more disposed to rate all aspects of the science system positively (“good” and “very good”) than German academics and researchers.
On the whole, both German and international academics and researchers hold the autonomy and freedom of research of the German science system in (very) high esteem, along with the social relevance of research, its innovative capacity and the cohesion of the scientific community. Nonetheless, certain aspects are only considered positive by a minority. This critical view is solely found among German researchers, however. These aspects are the balance between research and teaching (only 44% favourable responses), the appreciation in society at large (43%) and the assessment of performance equity in the scientific system (32%). This is in contrast with the perceptions of international academics and researchers, more than half of whom rate the above aspects positively.