Science In Germany Research Articles

Anna Semper (1826–1909) and the female scientist in modern Germany

This article uses the work of Anna Semper (1826–1909) to explore the possibilities for understanding women’s contributions to the development of science in Germany from the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. By examining the publications of her husband, the naturalist Carl Semper (1832–1893), as well as those of other scholars, traces of the ways that she produced scientific knowledge begin to emerge. Because the Sempers’ work took place in the context of the Philippines and Palau, two different Spanish colonies, and formed the basis of Carl’s professional career, this article also analyzes Anna’s role in the creation of an explicitly colonial science.

Knowing what to do and how to do it: High transparency and careful curation of data and metadata

Knowing what to do and how to do it: High transparency and careful curation of data and metadata

Communication and Social Interaction across Cultures: The Case of a German and Ghanaian Educational Exchange Program

Using a constructivist epistemology, this paper explores the cross-cultural learning experiences of exchange students from Hochschule Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences in Germany and the University for Development Studies in Ghana. The findings reveal differences in the students’ commitment to agreements, tasks and time; while the German students have a high commitment to time awareness -- reporting to lectures and other meetings on time -- their Ghanaian counterparts do not. We suggest that universities preparing students for educational exchange programs should actively embark on cross-cultural education and training, providing adequate information on the context and culture of the host country, targeting all stakeholders before, during and after the exchange program. This will enhance effective intercultural relations and social interaction, and minimize culture shock.

Regulations and practices of structured doctoral education in the life sciences in Germany.

Structured doctoral education is increasingly preferred compared to the individual model. Several science policy organisations give recommendations on how to structure doctoral education. However, there is little research on to what extent these recommendations find their way into practice. In our study, we first compared European and German recommendations on doctoral education with, second, the institutional regulations of structured doctoral programmes (N = 98) in the life sciences at twelve different German universities. Additionally, we third asked doctoral graduates (N = 1796) of these structured doctoral programmes and graduates of individual doctoral studies about their experience in doctoral education. Fourth, we contrasted the regulations of structured doctoral programmes with the reported experiences of their graduates. We found significant deviations of the reported practices of graduates from the regulations of their organisations, regarding the student admission, supervision and curricular activities of doctoral candidates. The efficacy of structured versus traditional doctoral education should be examined based on reported practice rather than on the respective written regulations.

Citizen Science in Germany as Research and Sustainability Education: Analysis of the Main Forms and Foci and Its Relation to the Sustainable Development Goals

Many citizen science projects are in the thematic area of species observation and natural environment monitoring but, in recent years, projects in other areas and disciplines have increasingly been using citizen science approaches. It is assumed that citizen science could potentially contribute to an increase in environmental awareness and to advancing knowledge about environmental change and sustainability issues. In this article, we present a review of 127 citizen science projects listed on the German platform, “Bürger schaffen Wissen”, with the aim of analysing whether the main focus of most projects is on the scientific results or on educational aspects and how citizen science projects are connected to the SDGs. The results show that many citizen science projects overlap with SDG 4 Quality Education. Of these projects, a larger proportion entail higher levels of involvement than those projects with a stronger focus on the scientific results, in which the participation of the citizen scientists is mainly standardised and at low levels. An even greater number of projects in the sample are linked to SDG 15 Life on Land and, thereby, are in line with the traditional focus of citizen science. Additionally, the analysis reveals that forms of education used in citizen science projects are much more diverse than those included in SDG 4.

Axiomatic Natural Philosophy and the Emergence of Biology as a Science

Ernst Mayr argued that the emergence of biology as a special science in the early nineteenth century was possible due to the demise of the mathematical model of science and its insistence on demonstrative knowledge. More recently, John Zammito has claimed that the rise of biology as a special science was due to a distinctive experimental, anti-metaphysical, anti-mathematical, and anti-rationalist strand of thought coming from outside of Germany. In this paper we argue that this narrative neglects the important role played by the mathematical and axiomatic model of science in the emergence of biology as a special science. We show that several major actors involved in the emergence of biology as a science in Germany were working with an axiomatic conception of science that goes back at least to Aristotle and was popular in mid-eighteenth-century German academic circles due to its endorsement by Christian Wolff. More specifically, we show that at least two major contributors to the emergence of biology in Germany—Caspar Friedrich Wolff and Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus—sought to provide a conception of the new science of life that satisfies the criteria of a traditional axiomatic ideal of science. Both C.F. Wolff and Treviranus took over strong commitments to the axiomatic model of science from major philosophers of their time, Christian Wolff and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, respectively. The ideal of biology as an axiomatic science with specific biological fundamental concepts and principles thus played a role in the emergence of biology as a special science.

Young G7 Meeting: Citizen Science in Germany

Young G7 Meeting: Citizen Science in Germany

ПРЕСА УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ЕМІГРАЦІЇ У ПОВОЄННІЙ НІМЕЧЧИНІ (1945–1948 рр.) ЯК ДЖЕРЕЛО ДО ВИВЧЕННЯ ІСТОРИКО-КУЛЬТУРНОЇ СПАДЩИНИ УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ДІАСПОРИ

The collection of periodicals of camps for displaced persons and the Ukrainian emigrant press are considered as a study source for investigation of historical and cultural heritage of the Ukrainian Diaspora. It is highlighted that despite challenging conditions after the Second World War, the Ukrainian emigrants cared not only about material needs, but also preserved national cultural heritage. It is argued that the process mentioned above took place in constant struggle with the Soviet repressive system, which aspired to bring back as many displaced persons as possible. However, deliberate Ukrainian intellectuals had different political views but were united by the Ukrainian national idea and created significant historical and cultural heritage after the Second World War, particularly in Germany, part of the heritage was described on the pages of periodicals of the Ukrainian Diaspora. Number and social composition of the Ukrainian emigrants after the Second World War in Germany and Austria is analyzed on the basis of the periodicals, particularly «The Bulletin of Information Help Service». Establishment of educational institutions, archives and libraries in 1945–1948 in Germany is described. Considerable attention is paid to analysis of periodical the «UFAS Chronicle», and investigation of activities of the museum-archive, scientific library and «The Society for the Protection of Ukrainian Heritage Abroad» of the Ukrainian Free Academy of Science in Germany is based on these materials. Significant attention should be drawn to activities of the Scientific and Research Institute of the Ukrainian Martyrology of the Ukrainian Political Prisoners League. Study of the Ukrainian Diaspora periodicals enables to formulate source study vision for students to understand participation of Diaspora in preservation of the heritage and ways of utilization in tourist activities.

Facts, Opinions, and Scientific Memes: Reflections of and Recommendations for the March for Science in Germany

Germany ranked second in number of March for Science participants. The current essay is based on a focus group discussion with six participants of a march in a German university town and elucidates their motives for attending, their perceptions of how politically active scientists should be, the goals they think the march should aim to achieve, and their recommendations for future marches. Motives in Germany differed slightly from those mentioned in the United States. Discussants placed importance on the difference between facts and opinions, which is translated into recommendations for issue‐specific future marches.

Bibliometric synthesis of educational productivity research: Benchmarking the visibility of German educational research

This paper investigates the fitness-for-purpose and soundness of bibliometric parameters for measuring and elucidating the performance of researchers in the field of education sciences in Germany and other European countries for the purpose of benchmarking. In order to take into account the specificities of the publication pattern of researchers in education sciences, bibliometric data are used as benchmarks. Specifically, the analysis is based on the data of Scopus and SCImago and exploits the contributions of educational researchers from Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and Scandinavian countries to leading international journals within the period 2010 to 2015–2016. The results demonstrate that the visibility of German education in international journals is not as bad as is often assumed. Nevertheless, substantial shortcomings are revealed. After discussing some factors responsible for these shortcomings, the article concludes with considerations on possible consequences to be drawn from the status quo of international visibility of German educational science.

Universities of applied sciences in Germany: the winners of “Bologna”?

The signing of the Bologna Declaration in 1999 by 29 European ministers of education ushered in a period of fundamental change for the German higher education system, sparking and advancing importa...

Durkheim, Germany, War, Europe

Among the classical authors of sociology, Émile Durkheim passed away the first on 15 November 1917. His conception of the war as well as his ideas of a possible way out of it, therefore, are far from the horizon of experience that characterized the last year of the conflict. His major war writing is a critical analysis of the intellectual sources of German militarism: L’Allemagne au-dessus de tout. Karsenti focuses on Durkheim’s examination of the “Über-Ideology”, which moulded German nationalism since unification in 1871, especially in the work of Heinrich von Treitschke. Durkheim’s book is a censorship of the enemy’s warfare. Yet, what is interesting to discover, according to Karsenti, is the particular perspective of Durkheim’s investigation. The writing is a critique of all tendencies to reduce international politics to an “Über”. Accordingly, for Durkheim, there is a possible way out of the war, yet it has to be read between the lines of his distinction between a “good and a bad tradition” of the moral sciences in Germany.

Renaissance der Verwaltungswissenschaft?

German Administrative Science seems to be in crisis. However, some development indicates a possible renaissance. The paper analyzes causes of the crisis and depicts requirements for a renaissance. Therefore, it highlights the historic developmentof the Administrative Science in Germany and discusses different integration levels of Administrative Science. These integration levels are described as potential future scenarios and are evaluated with regard to their sustainability. After examining the impact of New Administrative Law (“Neue Verwaltungsrechtswissenschaft”) on the renaissance of Administrative Science in Germany the paper argues for a concept of Administrative Science as an interdisciplinary project rather than a transdisciplinary science. It demonstrates the potential of this concept with regard to two examples (the reform of the asylum administration and the use of Artificial Intelligence by the administration). The paper ends with notes on the Administrative Science’s entitlement and reputation.

Learning by playing – using computer games to enhance ultrasound education

In ultrasound education, there is often a lack of hands-on experience due to the limited availability of experienced tutors, patients, volunteers, and ultrasound machines. Simulators can substitute training with real humans to some extent, but they are not widely used, mainly because of their costs. Playing a computer game might be a way to add to the training opportunities in ultrasound education. An example for such a game is the SonoGame that has been developed as part of a medical imaging research project with the help of computer science students from the Flensburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany. This simulation-based game requires only a standard computer and off-the-shelf gaming hardware, thus making it widely deployable.

Vier Bemerkungen „zur Lage der Wissenschaftsgeschichte in Deutschland“

AbstractFour Remarks Concerning “the Situation of the History of Science in Germany”. The following remarks contain four brief reflections, based on my experience in teaching the history of science: (1) on the limitations of any national perspective on the history of science, (2) on the subject and task of the history of science, (3) on the power and weakness of knowledge as topics for the history of science, and (4) on the possibilities of scientific imagination as a critical issue for the future development of our field.

Hermeneutische confrontaties

Abstract Hermeneutical confrontations. The scientific edition of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf by the Institut für Zeitgeschichte The reissue by the Institut für Zeitgeschichte (Munich/Berlin) of Mein Kampf caused a short but heated international debate. This new confrontation with Adolf Hitler’s text was a hermeneutical challenge for the publishers, a work in which so many historical layers of meaning, such as the original context or the hagiographical position between 1933 and 1945, were present. A conventional and neutral historical edition was an impossible goal. The scientific edition had to navigate between source criticism, textual criticism, and ideological criticism. The choice was made for a normative hermeneutic in which Hitler’s arguments were contradicted as much as possible, but combined with a profound source and text criticism. This ‘critical edition’ is a great achievement of contemporary historical science in Germany. It can also be seen as the conclusion of a long cycle of Vergangenheitsbewältigung in Germany.

Entkernung – Erwartungen und Befürchtungen zur Zukunft der Wissenschaftsgeschichte

AbstractLoss of the Inner Core: Expectations and Fears for the Future of the History of Science. In this paper, I discuss the current state of history of science in Germany, a combination of strong interest in the field from various neighboring fields (including cultural history, media history, history of art, visual studies) and increasing fragmentation. Powerful institutions such as the Max Planck Institute for History of Science rather encourage this tendency to lose the inner core of the field, a kind of fluidization or vaporization.

DECODING SUSTAINABILITY IN THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM. TEACHING STUDENTS HOW TO PROBLEMATIZE COMPLEX CONCEPTS

This paper approaches the concept of “sustainability” in the context of healthcare systems by applying the strategy of Decoding the Disciplines. The strategy of Decoding the Disciplines aims to make the implicit accesses behind central concepts of a discipline transparent by decoding them systematically. The concepts that are to be decoded are specific bottlenecks which are seen as necessary conditions for appropriate learning. This paper illustrates how the process was approached in a seminar with students majoring in Political Science in Germany, and suggests that this might have increased students’ learning and changed their way of applying sustainability. Being a single-case study, findings should be treated with caution. However, the goal of this explanatory study is to start a broader exchange among scholars, encouraging them to make their implicit and often hidden assumptions explicit to the community. The strategy of Decoding could then be a valuable tool for bridging the gap between disciplinary boundaries and transdisciplinary sustainability science.

Gender Inequity during the Ph.D.: Females in the Life Sciences Benefit Less from Their Integration into the Scientific Community

Female researchers remain underrepresented in higher academic ranks, even within female-dominated fields, such as the life sciences. The phenomenon is often attributed to women’s lower publication productivity. The current article explores gender differences with respect to integration into the scientific community, pursued tasks during the Ph.D. (e.g., teaching and research), and publication productivity in the life sciences. Moreover, it explores how these variables relate to the intention of pursuing an academic research career. Survey data with recent Ph.D. graduates from the life sciences in Germany (N = 736) were analyzed through descriptive and multivariate analysis. Females had fewer publications as lead author (1.4 vs. 1.9, p = 0.05). There were no differences in pursued tasks, perceived integration into the scientific community, and co-authorship. However, Ph.D. characteristics affected females and males differently. Only male Ph.D. graduates benefited from being integrated into their scientific community by an increase in lead author publications. In contrast to male Ph.D. graduates, women’s academic career intentions were significantly affected by their integration into the scientific community and co-authorship. Results suggest that women may benefit less from their integration into the scientific community and may ascribe more importance to networks for their career progress.

Metadata is key - the most important data after data

Metadata is key - the most important data after data