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Berlin universities unite forces for academic integrity!
On April 15, 2025, 14 Berlin universities founded an ombudsman's office for academic practice, led by the FU Berlin.
Berlin universities unite forces for academic integrity!
On April 15, 2025, 14 Berlin universities founded a joint ombudsman office for good scientific practice. This institution acts as an independent, cross-university contact point that is dedicated to ensuring long-term trust in science and strengthening cooperation on matters of scientific integrity. A cooperation agreement, which forms the basis of this ombudsman office, was signed in the same month. The Free University of Berlin will operate this ombudsman office until October 2027, with the office being handed over to another university every two years. The Coordination Office for Scientific Integrity at Freie Universität is responsible for operations.
This institution has clear core tasks, as set out in Section 5a Paragraph 3 of the Berlin Higher Education Act (BerlHG). This includes the development of cross-university guidelines on good scientific practice and the implementation of quality evaluations of individual universities upon request. In addition, the ombudsman's office will investigate individual suspected cases of scientific misconduct. It is important to note that responsibility for revoking academic degrees remains with individual universities.
Contractors and universities
The ombudsman office is supported by several important academic institutions in Berlin. The contractual partners are:
- Freie Universität Berlin
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
- Technische Universität Berlin
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
- Universität der Künste Berlin
- Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin
- Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin
- Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch Berlin
- Berliner Hochschule für Technik
- Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin
- Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin
- Alice-Salomon-Hochschule Berlin
- Katholische Hochschule für Sozialwesen Berlin
- Evangelische Hochschule Berlin
In addition, an ombuds commission has been set up at the Institute for Quality Development in Schools Berlin (IQB), which deals with the implementation of rules of good scientific practice. This commission provides information about the rules, raises awareness among academic staff and mediates in cases of conflict that do not involve serious violations. Typical cases of action include, for example, questions about authorship and time delays in feedback from co-authors.
Support for scientists
The Ombudsman Board for Scientific Integrity in Germany, set up by OWID e.V., supports scientists in a wide range of matters relating to good scientific practice and scientific integrity. An office based in Berlin offers support in consultations and conflict mediation. The consultations are based on the 19 guidelines of the DFG code “Guidelines for ensuring good scientific practice” from 2019.
Scientists can contact both the national ombudsman body and local ombudspersons. Inquiries will be treated neutrally, fairly and confidentially.
Overall, the initiatives in Berlin show how important it is to promote transparency and integrity in science. The establishment of the Ombudsman's Office and the work of the Ombuds Commission at the IQB will create an effective system that addresses questions and challenges relating to scientific practice.