The German Data Forum (RatSWD) has made available on its website a collection of current research projects on the impact of the war against Ukraine on German society as well as studies on migration and flight in this context. The collection is intended to provide researchers and the general public with an overview of current initiatives and to promote mutual networking.
With the website "Best-Practice Research Ethics", the Council for Social and Economic Data (RatSWD) provides a new service for users from research, studies and teaching. The website "Best-Practice Research Ethics" is a cross-disciplinary offer on the topic of research ethics in the research process with a focus on social science research, which meets the high demand for information in this area.
The Council for Social and Economic Data (RatSWD) published its position paper "Cornerstones for a Research Data Act". In it, the RatSWD primarily calls for improved access for the scientific community to register and administrative data as well as the safeguarding of the confidentiality of research data.
The German Data Forum (RatSWD) believes that the coalition agreement of the new government sets new and positive accents. Digitisation is to be promoted across all ministries and a deepened cooperation between politics and science is aimed for. The goal of drafting a research data law and making data in general more accessible to science is particularly welcomed. The German Data Forum will closely accompany and support the implementation of the projects.
For the 20th legislative period of the German Bundestag, the German Data Forum (Rat für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsdaten, RatSWD) calls for better access to (research) data for scientific and research purpose. It does so by defining seven specific fields of action in its recent position paper "Strengthening data-based research in Germany". Profound research data is indispensable for politics, since evidence-based decisions can only be made on the basis of scientific findings.
At its 59th meeting on 11./12.03.2021, the German Data Forum (RatSWD) set the framework for deeper cooperation in direct exchange with representatives of academic associations. With a stronger involvement of the academic associations, the German Data Forum (RatSWD) directly brings the perspectives of data users into KonsortSWD.
For empirical social and economic research, the confiscation of research data represents an unacceptable threat to the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of research, and is in contradiction to central, ethical research principles. The German Data Forum (RatSWD) therefore calls for the establishment of a legal basis to ensure the confidentiality of research data. This is in response to a pending case in which research data was confiscated from a forensic psychologist by Bavarian investigative authorities in 2020.
The German Data Forum (RatSWD) welcomes the strong focus on research in the Data Strategy of the German Federal Government. The potential of the scientific use of data for evidence-based policy advice is emphasised, and register modernisation is a crucial part of this strategy. Nevertheless, research clauses are absent in the Register Modernisation Act passed by the German Bundestag. A stronger attention to science in the upcoming and future modernisation of registers creates opportunities for pioneering socially relevant research. The German Data Forum (RatSWD) therefore calls for the research clauses proposed in the data strategy to be implemented in future legislative initiatives.
In its 7th appointment period, the German Data Forum (RatSWD) will specifically address issues of empirical research in politics and legislation, new challenges in data collection, and will advocate for a change in data culture. Recommendations should be developed regarding research ethics, research data management, and the scientific use of unstructured data and register data. The German Data Forum (RatSWD) will closely involve the research community in all activities. The strategic agenda 2020-2023 was adopted at the 58th meeting of the German Data Forum (RatSWD) on 10.12.2020.
In 2019, 55,270 researchers used date from the German Data Forum (RatSWD) and its accredited research data centres (RDC), and thus published around 2,360 scientific articles. The usage figures highlight the importance of transparent access to research data. The network of 38 RDCs will ensure low-threshold access to research in the future. Since 1. October they have helped set up the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI). The RDCs are part of the consortium for social, behavioural, educational, and economic sciences (KonsortSWD) and are actively involved in the development of user-oriented services.
The German Data Forum (RatSWD) has been appointed for its 7th appointment period (2020-2023) by the head of Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Ulrich Schüller. At the constituent meeting on 16/17.07.2020, members of the German Data Forum (RatSWD) elected Prof. Dr. Monika Jungbauer-Gans (DZHW and University of Hannover) as chairperson, and Prof. Dr. Kerstin Schneider (University of Wuppertal) as her deputy. The 7th appointment period is characterised, among other things, by the development phase of the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI), which the German Data Forum (RatSWD) provides with its expertise. For this purpose, the members exchanged views with the director of the NFDI, Prof. Dr. York Sure-Vetter.
The German Data Forum (RatSWD) has fundamentally revised its Data Protection Guide and adapted it to the new European legal framework. The guideline provides a brief overview of the data protection principles and their implications for social, behavioural, and economic research practices. With this publication, the German Data Forum (RatSWD) is pursuing the goal of strengthening data protection skills when planning research projects and handling sensitive, personal data. The Data Protection Guide is openly accessible on the German Data Forum (RatSWD) website.