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Back to the Future: Germany - A Country of Research
Old Values, New Values
“Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Those words were written in 1899 by a certain Charles H. Duell, commissioner in the U.S. Patent Office. Now, more than 100 years later, more is being discovered than ever before. The idea that science and research are the foundations of our future has currency far beyond politicians’ speeches, it is a widely held view. It especially applies to a country like Germany, which is poor in natural resources. Modern society is nothing less than a scientific society.
Science, research and teaching are obvious components of public life all over Germany: in its more than 300 universities, or in that veritable Nobel Prize factory, the Max Planck Society, and its many hundreds of research centers. There is also the the Fraunhofer Society, and the list goes on and on, all the way to private industry. You name it, from the molecular measurements of nanotechnology to large-scale research, it’s all there.
And of course, one can’t forget individual citizens, those on their own scientific missions who have been behind such breakthroughs as glow-in-the-dark lipstick and the electric toilet brush. Between the northern city of Hamburg and Munich down south, there are some 100,000 amateur researchers busy in their workshops and home labs.
From the Printing Press to MP3 - Science made in Germany
There is a long tradition of outstanding research in Germany: Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press; Heinrich Hertz proved the existence of electromagnetic waves; Paul Ehrlich developed chemotherapy; Albert Einstein authored the theory of relativity, and a young German man named Karlheinz Brandenburg came up with “the hottest thing in cyberspace,” the MP3 digital music format.
The heyday of German science lasted all the way from the 19th century until the roaring 20s of the next. Then, the internation language of science was German. Planck, Bunsen, Otto, Einstein...the list of renowned scientists of the time is long. But then came Hitler and his Nazi Party and German science along with the country as a whole experienced the darkest days of its history. Some German researchers took part in the mass murder of European Jews. Other leading scientists - among them Erwin Schrödinger and Max Born - were forced into exile. During the Nazi era, Germany experienced a massive bloodletting from which many areas of German research are slowly recovering, since after the war, many Jewish scientists never came back to, as Albert Einstein called it, that “country of mass murderers.”
The next turning point came in 1990, when the two postwar German states become one. Suddenly the newly reunified country was faced with two completely different scientic systems. In the west, a pluralistic, federal one – in the east, a centralised system. The merging of these disparate systems meant a profound structural change for those in the former East Germany. However, it was a structural change that brought great possibilities with it. German author Hermann Hesse once wrote, “All beginnings possess magic.” Those words have held true in the eastern part of the country, where new institutes and research centers have gone up over the past decade. Even today, a sense of excitement and new possibilities is palpable.
"A Society with Narrowminded Research"? - Negligence in the Nineties
Today in Germany money is invested into research like never before. Around 45 billion euro is put into research and development every year; most of that money comes from private industry - around two thirds. Nevertheless, some believe that Germany is losing its place among the leading nations of the world when it comes to science. In the 1990s, the expenditure for research and education actually declined. The leading position that Germany held in the 70s and beginning of the 80s was squandered, and that was reflected in the emigration of German scientists abroad. In the last three years, a handful of German-born scientists have received the Nobel Prize—yet all of them work in the United States. It is also reflected in the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get foreign researchers to come to Germany, and their reasons for staying away are predictable: Germany wasn’t international enough, wasn’t performance driven, wasn’t interdisciplinary enough, and was too bureaucratic, teamwork wasn’t stressed. This kind of bad news made many voice concern about a “society with narrowminded research.” The German research community started talking about the country’s “provincial mentality” and that there was a real threat of losing the race for the future. These fears weren’t unjustified. In Japan research spending increased in the 1990s from just under US$500 to over US$700 per capita; in the USA those numbers went from US$600 to US$800. In Germany, spending stayed constant at US$500 per capita. Even Germany’s European neighbors had gained the upper hand, particularly Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Finland.
Looking towards the Future - Bright Prospects
However, that trend has stopped and more has been invested in research. In 2002, research expeditures costed US$580 per person. Even despite dwindling public resources, the budget of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research has actually gone up by more than 20 per cent. And probably even more important, people have begun to think differently.
In every good marriage there are at least a few really good fights. That also goes for the marriage of science and politics, especially due to the presence of one very powerful paramour—industry. In spite of that, all parties are basically in agreement that Germany has found the right path to the future. The country has survived the “globalisation hangover” it suffered in the fields of science and research. The German research landscape is undergoing reform, its universities are becoming international. "Networks of Competence", where science, education, and economics work together: The initiative, “kompetenznetze.de” is an instrument for international locational marketing due to the presentation of the most competent networks in Germany, and an attractive research source and communication platform for those seeking information and partners in Germany.
Germany is becoming more and more attractive to the world’s best and the brightest. But that doesn’t just mean that more money is pouring in: a new immigration law in the works will make it easier for foreign researchers to conduct their research and work in Germany—together with their families. The plan is to make Germany into an “idea factory,” one in which prosperity and security are guaranteed. The former German Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker said it best, “Today’s new technology is tomorrow’s bread and butter.”
Further Information
Information about the concerted programme 'International marketing for Germany as an educational and research centre'. www.hi-potentials.de
Federal Ministry for Education and Science www.bmbf.de
'kompetenznetze.de' - The guide for innovation, investment and education. www.kompetenznetze.de
'Research in Germany' is aimed specifically at foreign scientists and offers an overview of the research being carried out in Germany as well as links to non-university organisations. www.research-in-Germany.de/...
'Wissenschaft im Dialog' is an initiative of the Foundation for German Science, the large research organisations and the Federal Ministry for Education and Research. www.wissenschaft-im-dialog.de
