DFG supports research: 1.9 million euros for political science!

DFG supports research: 1.9 million euros for political science!

The political science specialist information service Pollux is receiving significant support in a new funding phase. As the University of Bremen reports, the service is being funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) with 1.9 million euros in the fourth funding phase, which runs from 2025 to 2028. This underlines Pollux's continued importance for political science research and its contribution to the information infrastructure in Germany.

Pollux, which has been operated by the Bremen State and University Library (SuUB) and the GESIS - Leibniz Institute for Social Sciences since 2016, enables scientists to quickly access special literature and relevant research results. Since 2022, the Qualiservice research data center at the University of Bremen has been involved as a third project partner, which further strengthens the expertise and collaboration in the project.

Focus of the new funding phase

The fourth funding phase provides for several focal points. This includes the expansion of the Pollux research portal, which now includes over 13 million documents. In addition, the analysis tool “PoliCorp”, which is specifically designed for working with structured political text data, is being further developed.

Another important aspect is the expansion of open science activities, especially in the area of ​​open access. The focus is on strengthening research data management for qualitative political science data. In this context, Professor Betina Hollstein from Qualiservice emphasizes the importance of creating opportunities for reuse of this data.

Maria Elisabeth Müller, director of SuUB Bremen, is positive about the successful collaboration between the partners in the project. In the fourth phase, an optimization of internal work processes and quality assurance measures are also planned. Public relations will also be a key component to further increase the visibility of the service in the professional community.

Promoting research data infrastructure

With its specialist information services, the DFG is pursuing an important approach to improving the research data infrastructure in Germany. Dr. Daphné Kerremans emphasizes the need for conscious handling of research data in order to ensure traceability and quality assurance of research results. Under the “Guidelines for Handling Research Data,” which were adopted in September 2015, the DFG expects researchers to explain in their applications how they work with their data.

Research data that forms the basis of a publication must also be archived for at least ten years. The DFG promotes access to such infrastructures through various programs, including specific applications to establish data repositories and through the RISources portal.

Overall, the renewed funding of the Pollux specialist information service shows how important a well-developed information and research data infrastructure is for the scientific community. Appropriate licensing and management of research data not only promotes the quality of research, but also the transfer of knowledge within the discipline and beyond.

For further information about the DFG funding programs and their guidelines, see the DFG website and the corresponding research data portals.

Further details about funding opportunities can be found on the DFG website: DFG funding offers and the guidelines Research Licenses.