Green Light for Future Funding
Braunschweig Institute for International Textbook Research receives further funding – Senate praises the Georg Eckert Institute’s valuable research and successful development.
During its meeting in Berlin on 11 July 2017, the Senate of the Leibniz Association recommended funding the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research for a further seven-year period. Founded in 1975, the Braunschweig institute earned a very positive second evaluation, convincing the panel with its close integration of research, research infrastructure, and knowledge transfer.
All Leibniz institutes undergo regular evaluations by the Leibniz Association. In October 2016, a panel of independent, internationally renowned experts visited the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research in Braunschweig for this purpose. Over two days, the evaluation commission surveyed the Institute to gain a personal impression of its activities and structures. Based on this visit and a report submitted by the GEI, the Senate of the Leibniz Association formulated a recommendation to academic policy-makers with very positive consequences for the Institute: It gave the go-ahead for the Joint Science Conference (GWK) of the Federal Government and the Heads of Government of the Länder to approve comprehensive funding for the next seven years.
In the expert report released today, the Leibniz Senate concludes that the GEI demonstrated consistent and convincing development in terms of both its structure and the scope of its research. Following its last reorganisation in 2013, the GEI currently comprises five departments, with the Research Library and the Digital Information and Research Infrastructures (DIRI) department focusing on academic services and the remaining three departments devoted to research itself. The activities of all five departments received an evaluation of ‘very good’.
On the basis of its compelling, practice-oriented research findings, the GEI develops and provides high-quality forms of research infrastructure. The Institute’s library contains the most comprehensive collection worldwide of international textbooks in the areas of history, geography, social studies and politics, as well as the subjects of ethics and religion, which were added after the last evaluation. In this respect, the Senate was pleased to see the Institute’s involvement in important research networks and commitment to pursuing concrete plans for the future development of its infrastructural offerings. With its comprehensive information infrastructure, the GEI provides a foundation for national and international research on school-based educational media, while also reaching out to educational practitioners, representatives of education policy, and the broader public. GEI’s sought-after services in knowledge transfer and advisory to ministries, research institutions and textbook publishers received an especially positive evaluation. In addition to the Research Library and the GEI’s digital services, the Institute contributes to knowledge transfer through bilateral textbook commissions and publications and events targeted to specific audiences.
At the same time, the evaluation commission emphasised the GEI’s very limited spatial capacities and greeted the Institute’s construction plans. In addition to the main building, the GEI will expand the library and acquire and renovate an adjacent property, endowing the Institute with outstanding structural resources in the near future.
The Leibniz Senate recommended that the Federal Government and the Länder continue funding the GEI and conduct their next evaluation according to schedule, in seven years.
The Senate’s expert report is available on the website of the Leibniz Association: bit.ly/2ucPTPl
Background
The Georg Eckert Institute (GEI) conducts textbook-related research with a focus on cultural studies and history. In addition, the Institute provides research infrastructure for educational practice, education policy and scholarship on school-based educational media, as well as for the broader public. Many institutions seek out its knowledge transfer and advisory services. Following an initial positive evaluation by the Academic Council in 2009, the GEI began receiving joint funding from the Federal Government and the Länder as a member of the Leibniz Association from 1 January 2011, responsible above all for the provision of research infrastructure.
Press Contact
Georg Eckert Institute
for International Textbook Research
Catrin Schoneville
Press and Public Relations
Tel: +49 (0)531 / 59099 -504
Mobile: 0151 / 62842664
Email: schoneville(at)leibniz-gei.de
www.leibniz-gei.de
