Terms A-Z

Departmental research refers to research and development (R&D) activities carried out by the Federal Government and the Länder ... to prepare, support or implement policy decisions and that are inseparably linked to the performance of public tasks. At the federal level, departmental research is conducted by federal institutions with R&D responsibilities, through continuous cooperation with selected R&D institutions, and by commissioning R&D projects to research-performing individuals and institutions (extramural research). Responsibility for departmental research and for determining departmental R&D needs lies with the individual federal ministries in accordance with the departmental principle.

Since 2007 the Länder step-by-step have reduced the number of school years necessary to get the Abitur from 13 to 12 (G8), ... with the exception of Rhineland-Palatinate. Between 2011 and 2013 this affects Lower Saxony, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. In order to maintain comparability to the previous years, concerned data are adjusted to this (for example at quota calculations).