Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN)

Research at the LIN is dedicated to the study of brain mechanisms of learning and memory and their pathophysiological dysfunction. The unique interdisciplinary approach comprises molecular biological, cellular and systems physiological as well as behavioural and cognitive aspects of brain processes.

The institute was founded in 1992. In 2011 it moved into the new institute building. It is structured into four departments, six research groups, and five special labs.

Main research topics are:

Interaction of attention, motivation, and learning in human behavior, both in healthy volunteers and in patients with dysfunctions in evaluation and motivation,
Stereotactic neurosurgery and Deep Brain Stimulation,
Systems physiology of acoustic pattern processing including language and learning plasticity in the auditory cortex,
Discovery of novel molecular components in CNS synapses, their topological organization, and functional interplay in neuronal signaling processes.

The Research Groups are headed by young scientists. Their research is complementary to the departments and devoted to mechanisms of visual attention and plasticity, to plasticity-related molecules and signaling pathways within neurons, to Systems Biology of learning in Drosophila, and to the pathophysiology and pharmacology of cerebral ischemia.

The special labs for Electron and Laser Scanning Microscopy, Molecular Biological Techniques, Neurogenetics, Primate Neurobiology and Non- Invasive Brain Imaging provide state-of-the-art technology and know-how for the research groups and departments and work on their own third party-funded scientific projects nonetheless.

The LIN is a cornerstone of the Magdeburg science campus „Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences“ (CBBS). LIN scientists are involved in four DFG-funded Collaborative Research Centres „Neurobiology of motivated Behaviour“ and „Molecular Organisation of Cellular Communication in the Immune System“, „A Companion Technology for Cognitive Technical Systems“ and „The Active Auditory System“.

The Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology launched its own PhD program comprising the „SynAGE Graduate Program“ and the Marie Curie Initial Training Network „N-Plast“.

Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi)

The Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) in Bamberg analyses educational processes from birth to old age. In order to promote longitudinal educational research in Germany, the LIfBi provides fundamental, nationally and internationally significant, research-based infrastructures for empirical educational research. One core of the institute is the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), which is based at the LIfBi and brings together the expertise of a Germany-wide, interdisciplinary network of excellence. In addition to the ReGES and BildungswegeFlucht refugee studies, the LIfBi is also in charge of other major projects such as the Data Literacy monitoring study. This is based on their own research and development work, in particular the well-founded development of instruments and methods for longitudinal educational studies, from which other research projects also benefit.

Important work and services:

LIfBi runs the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). The NEPS collects longitudinal data that are representative of Germany on the development of competencies, educational processes, educational decisions, and returns to education in formal, nonformal, and informal contexts throughout the whole life span.
NEPS data are made available to the national and international scientific community in the form of Scientific Use Files that can be accessed through various innovative ways using state-of-the-art technology. Interested data users are invited to attend regular user trainings.
NEPS data provide an empirical basis for research and offer a rich potential for analysis with regard to educational research and related disciplines (e.g., demography, educational science, economics, psychology, and sociology).
In addition to the standard documentation material for every single Scientific Use File, the NEPS Research Data Center offers a number of supplemental information and assisting tools for handling the NEPS data.
The Research Data Center LIfBi (RDC LIfBi) is primarily responsible for the user-friendly preparation of survey and test data of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) and its dissemination to the scientific community in the form of Scientific Use Files.
Third-party funded projects by LIfBi: LIfBi continually acquires new third-party funded projects.

IWM | Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien

Digital media are playing an increasingly important role in daily life. People nowadays readily use computers, Internet and mobile technologies at school, at work or in their leisure time. At the same time the information environments are becoming more and more complex. With this in mind, the Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM) in Tübingen investigates how digital media affects knowledge and communication processes and how they can be used in order to optimize these processes. The psychological basic and application oriented research of IWM’s scientists focuses mainly on five fields of practice:

Teaching and learning with digital media in schools
Teaching and learning with digital media in universities
Knowledge-related internet usage
Knowledge work with digital media
Knowledge transfer in museums and exhibitions

Together with cooperation partners from practice the IWM jointly realizes pilot projects for testing new learning scenarios. One example is the information portal e-teaching.org (in German only) for the application of digital media in university teaching. In the field of practice school the IWM has established a digital teaching lab TüDiLab (in German), where media based teaching processes can be analyzed. The research done at the IWM thus results in essential knowledge for scientific progress and gives answers to important societal questions. Additionally in 2023, the IWM opened a Future Innovation Space (FIS) (in German) where future digital possibilities for schools can be explored and experimented with. It consists of three components – alongside the TüDiLab, there is a Mixed Reality Lab and a Multi-Touch Lab.

Important work and offers:

The LEAD („Learning, Educational Achievement, and Life Course Development“) Graduate School & Research Network offers an integrated research and training program for doctoral students and post-doctoral researchers willing to do research in the fields of learning, educational achievement, and life course development. The IWM is actively involved in the supervision of PhD students in the LEAD program. Furthermore, several IWM lab heads are members of the steering committee of LEAD.
The Tübingen School of Education (TüSE) structures, pools and organizes the research of teacher education in Tübingen. It actively promotes new research activities and connects existing expertise. The IWM works closely together with TüSE and jointly created a new junior professorship for Teaching and Learning with Digital Media in cooperation with the University of Tübingen. Also associated with TüSE is the Tübingen Digital Teaching Lab (TüDiLab – in German), which is located at the IWM. The TüDiLab simulates a classroom equipped with up-to-date digital media and data collection instruments. The project has two aims: (1) practice-oriented professionalization of teachers related to their media competence in the context of the Tübingen School of Education, and (2) research on the effects of teaching with digital media.
Digitization in Teacher Education (TüDiLB) Center for Research and Transfer is a virtual network of the IWM and the University of Tübingen that bundles research and transfer activities in the field of digitization in teacher education in Tübingen. In addition, the network prepares and presents the latest research results on teaching and learning with digital media for teachers and other stakeholders involved in the various phases of teacher education.

Institute for Educational Quality Improvement (IQB)

The associated partner “Institute for Educational Quality Improvement (IQB)” is a research institute that supports the federal states of Germany in developing and monitoring the quality of primary and secondary education. As an academic institution of the German states, the IQB is an associated institute of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The educational standards, which have been introduced by the Standing Conference of the Ministries of Education and Cultural Affairs of the federal states of Germany (Kultusministerkonferenz, KMK), form the basis of their work. These educational standards describe competencies students are expected to have developed at a certain point in their school career. The mission of the IQB is to monitor regularly to which degree these goals are met by schools in Germany (educational monitoring). Furthermore, the IQB supports the German states in implementing the educational standards, which are expected to serve as a central orienting framework for all actors in the educational system (implementation). In addition, the IQB is a research institute that conducts research projects in several areas of empirical educational research.

Important work and services:

Educational Monitoring and Implementation:

Under the auspices of the IQB, experienced teachers develop large collections of test items designed to measure competencies aligned with the educational standards.
The IQB develops proficiency level models as tools for interpreting test scores. These models provide a more concrete description of what students with a given test score are able to do.
The IQB conducts National Assessment Studies (Ländervergleiche) in order to determine the extent to which educational standards are being met in the 16 German federal states.
The IQB coordinates the development of items for state-wide comparison tests. These tests provide teachers with information on the strengths and weaknesses of their students with regard to the educational standards and are expected to promote the implementation of competence-oriented teaching.
In collaboration with experts in subject-matter education, the IQB publishes collections of annotated learning tasks which teachers may use in class.
The IQB coordinates the development of a pool of Abitur examination questions based on the educational standards.

Research – Some of the central research questions are:

How are students’ competencies structured and how can they be assessed?
Which factors influence educational success of children and adolescents?
How can methodological and statistical requirements of educational testing and large-scale assessments best be met?
Language skills are vital for school success. How can their development be measured and promoted?
To what extent and under which circumstances do teachers successfully adopt competence-oriented teaching methods?

Research Data Centre:

The Research Data Centre (FDZ) at IQB archives and documents data sets from national and international large-scale assessment studies and makes them accessible to researchers.

IPN – Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education

The Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (IPN) was established in 1966 as a research center for science education. As an institute of the Leibniz Association, the IPN has a nationwide function. It is also affiliated to the University of Kiel. The department heads at the IPN hold professorships at the University of Kiel.

The institute’s mission is to advance science and mathematics education through its research. Therefore, research deals with the full range of issues concerning teaching and learning in the sciences and in mathematics inside and outside schools. The institute comprises six departments: Educational Research, Educational Assessment and Measurement, Biology Education, Chemistry Education, Mathematics Education, and Physics Education. Approximately 170 people make up the IPN staff; about 130 work as researchers, including 60 doctoral students. About 50% of the staff work on projects funded by different research foundations or clients.

The IPN’s work ranges across the entire field of science, mathematics, and technology education. The IPN concentrates on long-term and nationwide research projects, which cannot be covered by universities.

The IPN research program focuses on following areas:

Aims and models of mathematics and science education
Prerequisites for teaching and learning mathematics and science
Implementation and Evaluation of Concepts for Subject-Specific Teaching and Learning Processes in Mathematics and Science
Promotion of Mathematics and Science through Competitions and Supplementary Learning Opportunities
Educational Assessment and Measurement

Besides its research activities, the IPN offers different transfer activities: Coordination of national and international student competitions in biology, chemistry, physics and environmental issues, programs for teacher education, and publications on science and mathematics education addressing teachers and scientists.

ifo Institute – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich

The ifo Institute is one of the leading economic research institutes in Europe and at the same time the one most often quoted in the German media. Ifo conducts international high-quality research and intensively promotes junior researchers in economics. Ifo is member of the Leibniz Association and it co-operates closely with the University of Munich (LMU) within the CESifo Group. The ifo Institute is a European think tank that forms a bridge between academic research and public discourse. It focuses on applied economic research with clear policy implications with a view to achieving greater stability, prosperity and cohesion for Europe and the world. As one of the centers of the ifo Institute, the ifo Center for the Economics of Education focuses on the investigation of determinants and consequences of education.

Important work and services:

The ifo Center for the Economics of Education works particularly in the following areas:

The center investigates current issues in the area of economics of education and makes the research results available to the community of researchers as well as to policy-makers and the general public.
The center’s research results contribute to policy advice and the economic-policy debate in Germany and Europe.
Based on international surveys conducted by the OECD like PISA and PIAAC, the center promotes the scientific investigation of student achievement and adult competencies in Germany and other countries.
By evaluating policies with (quasi-) experimental methods, the center aims to bring evidence-based policy advice into the political decision-making process.
The center provides the ifo Prussian Economic History Database (iPEHD), a database for micro-regional empirical research in economic history in particular in the areas of education and innovation.
The Economics & Business Data Center (EBDC) is a combined platform for empirical research in business administration and economics of the Ludwig–Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) and the ifo Institute. It aims to open up new fields for empirical research in business administration and economics. The EBDC provides innovative datasets on German companies, featuring both survey data collected by the ifo Institute and external balance sheet data.
The center is concerned with efficiency and equity in education. It examines the quasi-experimental evidence of school reforms in the federal states (EffEE).
The ifo Education Survey is an annual opinion survey of more than 4,000 respondents. The Education Survey was developed by the ifo Center for the Economics of Education as part of the SAW project “The Political Economy of Education Policy: Insights from an Opinion Survey”, which is funded by the Leibniz Association.

Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO)

The associated partner “Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO)” analyses economic, social, and political processes of change in the agricultural and food sector and in rural areas. The geographic focus covers the enlarging EU, transition regions of Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe, as well as Central and Eastern Asia.

Scope of work

Research: IAMO is an international institute that pursues basic and applied research in the field of agricultural economics. It analyses the political, external environment of agriculture and its scope of design, the agricultural and food sector markets, and the structural development of enterprises and living conditions in rural areas. As education, health, nutrition, and social security of the rural population are core elements of rural living conditions these topics are part of IAMO’s research profile. Results support design and evaluation of integrated rural development strategies which comprise education health, nutrition, and social policies. Moreover, it embraces the interdependencies of market processes, managerial decisions and policies on the socioeconomic situation and environment and rural areas.
Scientific exchange: The institute is distributing its research outcomes to the international academic community as well as to decision-makers in politics and business, international organisations and the broad public. It acts as a forum of exchange, thereby promoting the linking up of research at an international level, and dialogue between leaders from the academic world, politics and business. In view of the immense and new challenges ahead, science-based policy advice is becoming an increasingly important factor in the institute’s work.
Promotion of young researchers: Among the institute’s core tasks is also the qualification of academic scholars from Germany and abroad. A particular focus lies on the promotion of scientists from study regions. IAMO supports PhD and postdoctoral studies and hands out thesis topics for Master’s or Bachelor’s degrees. IAMO Graduate School provides PhD students with systematic support and training. Visiting stays at IAMO and research visits of IAMO doctoral candidates and postdocs at overseas research centres enhance profiling younger scientists.

Institute for Employment Research (IAB)

The Institute for Employment Research (IAB) is a special office of the Federal Employment Agency (BA). The IAB conducts research on the labour market in order to advise political actors at all levels.

The research of the IAB focuses on labour market policy, regional and international labour markets, macroeconomic labour market research, establishments in the labour market, and life chances and social inquality.

A large part of the institute‘s findings is based on own comprehensive surveys of establishments, individuals and households along with process data from the Federal Employment Agency. IAB is a leader in developing new methods of surveying, linking and processing data. External researchers as well have access to quality-assured sets of innovative micro data that have been prepared for scientific analysis through the Research Data Centre (FDZ) of the Federal Employment Agency at IAB.

Important Work and Services:

The IAB investigates current issues in the area of economics and sociology of education and makes the research results available to the community of researchers as well as to the general public.
Based on its research results, the IAB contributes to the decision and legislative procedures in the field of labour market policy.
With its own surveys as well as with the process data from the BA the IAB provides important datasets, which can be used as the basis for studies in a wide range of scientific disciplines.

Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology (HIB)

The Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology (HIB) is a research institute within the University of Tübingen. The institute focuses on individual, social and institutional determinants of learning and teaching processes. It takes an inter-disciplinary approach drawing from psychology, educational science and other disciplines. The Hector Research Institute is mainly funded by the Hector Foundation II. In addition, the state Baden-Württermberg funds the Tübingen Postdoctoral Academy for Research on Education (PACE).

Research at the institute can be grouped into the following six focus areas: (1) Educational Effectiveness, (2) Motivation, (3) Personality, (4) Potential Development and Giftedness, (5) Teaching Quality and Professional Competencies of Teachers as well as (6) Methodological Research. The institute played a leading role in the establishment of the LEAD Graduate School (Learning, Eduational Achievement and Life Course Development) which was funded by the Excellence Initiative via the German Research Foundation and has since developed into a flourishing research network.

Important work and services:

The Hector Research Institute is responsible for the multi-cohort longitudinal studies TOSCA, which examines educational biographies of high school students, and TRAIN, which analyses effect of learning environments in lower tracks in secondary education. With Professor Hasselhorn (DIPF) the institute also runs the scientific evaluation of the Hector Children’s Academies.
Regarding research on methods, the Hector Research Institute develops new statistical tools and strives to make them freely available as software (e.g. see here).
Within the National Education Panel Study (NEPS), the Hector Research Institute coordinates the focus area „From Upper Gymnasium Level and Transition to Higher Education, Vocational Training, or the Labor Market“ together with Professor Maaz (DIPF).

GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences

As the largest German infrastructure institute for the social sciences, GESIS – Leibniz-Institute for the Social Sciences, with its expertise and services, stands ready to support researchers on the basis of the newest scientific methods, high quality data and research information.

Research projects generally go through a process with several phases – the research data cycle. Therefore, the services offered by GESIS-Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences are structured along a four-phase research data cycle, as follows:

Plan studies & collect data
Finding & retrieving data
Prepare & analyze data
Archive & share

GESIS offers consulting and practice-oriented guidance for each phase.
In the first phase, for example, GESIS experts advise on the collection of survey data and digital behavioral data. Researchers are supported in the development of an adequate project design and the quality assurance of the implementation.
The second phase, Find & Retrieve Data, enables researchers to find the appropriate data for secondary analysis. For this purpose, more than 6500 national and international studies are available in the GESIS data archive.
The preparation of data is also an essential step on the way to their analysis. Therefore, in the third phase Prepare & Analyze Data, GESIS supports the modification, linking, and analysis of data.
In the fourth phase, Archive & Share, GESIS promotes scientific transparency in line with the FAIR principles: F(indable) A(ccessible) I(nteroperable) and R(e-usable).
At GESIS, researchers can find repositories and services to archive, register, and share their data and publications over the long term.

The services offered for the research process are based on our own continuous and interdisciplinary research in the four areas of Survey Methodology, Research Data Management, Current Societal Issues, and Applied Informatics, as well as within their intersections.

Data Archive for the Social Sciences (DAS)
The department Data Archive for the Social Sciences (DAS) is Germany’s central infrastructure for the registration, documentation and digital archiving of quantitative research data which can be used to analyze societal developments from a national, internationally comparative or historical perspective.

Research Data Center
The Research Data Centers (RDC) at GESIS offer a special service for a number of survey programs for which GESIS partially participate in the data collection or permanently take over the tasks of data processing, archiving and delivery

One of GESIS’ most important research areas is education research. GESIS is involved in significant German, European, and international projects: Within PIAAC, GESIS is part of the PIAAC Consortium, which is the board responsible for planning and controlling. GESIS is also responsible for the German project management. An enhancement is PIAAC-L, a project that is implemented together with LIfBi and SOEP. It is the first internationally comparable long-term study worldwide for competencies in adulthood. Further selected GESIS projects within the area of educational research are:

CIDER – College for Interdisciplinary Education Research for the support of talented junior researchers in interdisciplinary context
Feasibility study for the Baden-Württemberg-Panel to generate progress data on the transfer from education at school and vocational training
CAMCES – Computer-Assisted Measurement and Coding of Educational Qualifications in surveys to make the internationally greatly varying survey tools for education comparable in survey data.