Research Map: Institutional Research Priorities of German Universities

The German Rectors' Conference (HRK) publishes a bilingual Research Map (Forschungslandkarte) that details the key research priorities of higher education institutions. The Research Map allows you to search for the research areas that are of strategic institutional importance for each institution. The research areas can be searched by subject area and by region.

The HRK's Research Map presents the key research priorities of German higher education institutions in layman's terms and in a standardised format. Although individually responsible for the information they provide, the various institutions jointly make use of the content based Research Map to present information about the research priorities that define their institutional profiles.

The key research priorities complement the broad range of research conducted in the respective higher education institution, in conjunction with teaching and learning. The key research priorities generally are of an interdisciplinary character and address major challenges facing society.

The institutions combine the Research Map with an invitation to contact them in order to make use of their expertise and to explore possibilities for collaboration.

The HRK employs the Research Map as an instrument to support the marketing and internationalisation strategies of its members. The Research Map is also a welcome addition to the information provided in the Funding Atlas (Förderatlas) published by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG).

The HRK´s Research Map • covers all disciplines • does not imply any rankings or ratings • is neutral with regard to sources of funding • contains links to the institutions' websites • is based on information from the institutions themselves • is continually updated • is available in English and German (with the possibility of toggling between them).

For each research priority, the following information is entered: • name of research area• short description (300 characters max.) • content classification under 14 subject areas covering all disciplines • technical / academic key terms.

The map search offers four search options: by region, by any combination of the 14 subject areas, by thematic key term and by general keyword.

The advanced search is performed by entering a sequence of characters in the search dialogue.