Research Institutes overseen by the BMELV

Source: © J.Charles Cuvelier - Fotolia.com

They produce scientific opinions on matters concerning food, farming, forestry, fisheries and consumer protection, and serve society as a whole by broadening the knowledge base in these subjects. These federal research institutes operate independently and make the results of their work available to the general public. They are an integral part of Germany’s scientific community.

The BFIs were reorganised in 2008 in line with the ministry’s strategy towards future-focused departmental research. The aim was to align the institutes to the decisionmaking needs of the ministry, both in terms of their research focus and their structures. In response to recommendations made by the German Scientific Council, research excellence is to be enhanced and secured for the longer term. The BFIs have thus been given greater independence as regards their budgets, organisation and staffing. Consolidating specific research areas and forming locational clusters achieves synergies to allow implementation of consolidation decisions made by the German Bundestag to be linked with improvements in research quality. Alongside their research and advisory duties, each of the federal research institutes performs tasks assigned by law – for example under legislation on plant protection, biotechnology, protection against infection, animal disease, chemicals, radiation and agricultural statistics. This work is finely meshed with their various research activities to ensure that the advice the government receives reflects available knowledge.

The federal research institutes are public-law institutions without separate legal personality and federal agencies within the remit of the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV). The Julius Kühn Institute (JKI) is responsible for cultivated plants (crops), the Friedrich Loeffler Institute for animal health and the Max Rubner Institute for nutrition and food. The fourth in the group, the Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute, covers rural development, forestry and fisheries.

In addition to the four federal research institutes, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) conducts research into matters connected with its activities. The BfR is a legally independent public-law institution and focuses on consumer health and protection. It cooperates closely with the four BFIs. BMELV also funds the German Biomass Research Centre (DBFZ), whose research work is primarily aimed at increasing the share of bioenergy in Germany’s energy supply. Along with DBFZ, the six institutes belonging to the Leibniz Science Association (Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, or WGL) help supply BMELV with the science-based knowledge it needs for decisionmaking. The Leibniz Association operates as a legally independent, financially autonomous body and is jointly funded by BMELV and the 16 German Länder (states). BMELV has representatives on the governing bodies of WGL member institutes and liaises closely with them at working level. Where they are either unable to or cannot adequately tackle research questions to provide results for use in policy consultation, BMELV may commission research work from external sources. There are also funding programmes for research, development and demonstration projects in the biomass, organic farming and innovation sectors.

Conducting active research work of nationally and internationally recognised quality is vital to the credibility both of departmental research and international cooperation activities. Trust-based cooperation with BMELV and its research department is of utmost importance and is equally as essential as cooperation between the institutes themselves. The research focus of the BFIs must correspond to the remit and policy areas covered by the ministry. A research management system ensures that BMELV’s need for science-based decisionmaking assistance is met in a timely, reliable and efficient manner through use of the research work performed by its research institutes and by external sources. The ministry’s research needs are set out in the BMELV Research Plan which lists the main goals and objectives and also the key responsibilities of departmental research. The BFIs and BfR use the plan to work out detailed research programmes.These contain the various research activities required (projects and ongoing tasks). The programmes are coordinated between the research institutes and then approved by the ministry.

Interdisciplinary research activities conducted within the BMELV remit are coordinated by the Senate of the Federal Research Institutes (BFI Senate). The BFI Senate acts as an interface within departmental research at BMELV and also between the departmental research institutes and BMELV. The ministry involves the Senate in its research planning and coordination. Senate business is managed by the Senate’s presiding body, which also represents BFI research interests in dealings with other research institutes and BMELV. To coordinate and address cross-institute topics, the Senate establishes interdisciplinary working groups who are assigned specific research tasks, usually with a limited project lifecycle. The Senate working groups thus form a link in the research network.

Departmental research institutes also compete for thirdparty financed research projects. Because BfR and the BFIs advise the federal ministry and perform statutory responsibilities, they are barred from accepting third-party contracts that could endanger their independence and neutrality. The research and advisory services performed by the BFIs and BfR are regularly evaluated in line with a specially designed process which is geared to assessing departmental research.