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Home > About us > BfS departmental research well on its way
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Federal Office for Radiation Protection's (BfS) departmental research well on its way
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Council of Science and Humanities evaluates structural and organisational developments of past years
The German Council of Science and Humanities ("Science Council") published its report "Implementation of the recommendations based on the Council’s earlier evaluation of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), Salzgitter" on 15 November 2010. Through the statement and the decision of the Council, the BfS is strengthened in its opinion that it is on the right way regarding the advancement of its research efforts. Basically, the Science Council has positively evaluated the structural and organisational developments of the past years.
Background
The research of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) is departmental research. It develops the basis and decision-making aids for proper work and the execution of current and future tasks of the BfS and of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). Thus, departmental research goes beyond the classic research concept and comprises the transfer of research results to the regulatory and administrative practice as a decision-making aid for politics and administration.
Modernisation and further development of the BfS departmental research
Within the scope of evaluating the federal departmental research, the Science Council also evaluated the BfS in 2005/06 and published the result of this evaluation in May 2006 in a statement pertaining to the politics of science. In doing so, the Science Council did not evaluate the task fulfilment of the entire Federal Office for Radiation Protection, but only its research activities. The period under consideration in the evaluation was 2002 to 2004 and included recommendations for the further development of departmental research.
The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) informed the Science Council in May 2009 on how the BfS had implemented its recommendations.
The modernisation and implementation measures taken by the BfS were based on- the recommendations of the Science Council’s statement on the evaluation of the BfS,
- the results and suggestions of a group of experts accompanying the modernisation of the BfS that had been established by the managements of the BMU and the BfS following the evaluation of the BfS and
- the federal government’s “concept of modern departmental research”.
The Science Council’s statement „Implementation of the recommendations based on the Council’s earlier evaluation of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), Salzgitter“ is composed of three parts:
A. Summary of the Science Council’s recommendations
B. Report on the implementation of the Science Council’s recommendations
C. Statement and decision
The BfS regrets that the Science Council’s evaluations from 2006 are replicated in Part A of the current statement without giving any further explanation or evidence, thus appearing as matters of fact, although most of them have been refuted by the BfS and by the expert group established by the BMU and BfS. These objections are not addressed in the report.
The Science Council’s report illustrates once more that their science policy recommendation is based on the science system’s competition model. Institutions in charge of departmental research, such as the BfS and many others, are authorities entrusted with the implementation of laws and provisions acting within the scope of the department principle. The Science Council’s recommendations, therefore, should be evaluated providing for both science policy aspects and further considerations. Special emphasis has to be placed on ensuring the institutions’ ability to appropriately fulfil their tasks not only in the field of research and development but also on the administrative level. This goal also corresponds to the initial task assigned to the Science Council by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research based on a decision of the German Bundestag saying, among others, that „allowance shall be made for the characteristics of departmental research, that is, in particular the multiplicity of tasks and purposes assigned to the individual institutions in the interaction of research, political consulting and technical tasks notably focussing on implementation.” Moreover, a number of the Science Council’s basic recommendations appear to be contradictory. For instance, an increase in the institutions’ own research quota is recommended on the one hand (for example complaints are expressed about the BfS management underestimating the necessity to conduct own research), whilst academic research institutions should be assigned as much projects as possible (“extramural”) on the other hand.
Elsewhere, a marked increase of the proportion of fixed-term employment contracts is postulated on the one hand, whereas working on long-term tasks is considered to be a strong point of departmental research institutions on the other hand, which would, however, be weakened by frequent change of persons in charge.
The implementation accomplished by the BfS up to now is briefly addressed in the following:
Establishment of a co-ordinating section
With the establishment of a co-ordinating section (staff section “Co-ordination of research and international co-operation”), the BfS has acted on a keynote of the Science Council and the group of experts and taken into account the heterogeneity of research activities.
Research programme
The BfS research programme describes the research issues in the fields of radiation protection, nuclear waste management and nuclear safety that have to be answered and investigated in the medium term. With its research programme, the BfS implements the concept of the federal government’s modern departmental research and recommendations of the Science Council.
Flexible advisory tools secure scientific quality
Instead of an interdisciplinary advisory board with members of several authorities, the BfS has used flexible advisory tools which can be more easily adjusted to its heterogeneous spectrum of topics and the variety of questions. They serve scientific quality assurance and the support of further networking with the science system. To benefit from external professional expertise, the BfS uses tools such as project-specific accompanying boards, symposia and expert hearings. Competent and comprehensive advice given by a permanent Scientific Advisory Council of ordinary membership appears to be unrealisable on the grounds of the multiplicity of issues worked on by the BfS and their interdisciplinary character. Moreover, the Scientific Advisory Council’s members would as a matter of principle be precluded from participating in BfS tenders, and the BfS, therefore, would generally forego the possibility to enlist these experts as contractors – most notably in a professional field with a very small circle of recognized experts. Furthermore, the German Commission on Radiological Protection (Strahlenschutzkommission, SSK), Reactor Safety Commission (Reaktor-Sicherheitskommission, RSK) and Nuclear Waste Management Commission (Entsorgungskommission, ESK) set up by the BMU with regard to the BfS fields of work are advisory bodies with high-ranking members who would not be available for a BfS Scientific Advisory Council.
The BfS co-operates nationally and internationally
In the past years, the BfS has clearly increased its networking at the national and international level.
- In the field of radiation protection, the research co-operation with German and foreign universities and scientific institutions has been intensified considerably.
- The BfS is currently taking part in 13 projects supported by the European Union.
- Regarding the BfS’s own research, especially the works on the in-depth analysis of the Wismut cohort and the corresponding database of biosamples are to be mentioned.
- Within the scope of new research co-operation (such as the Kompetenzverbund Strahlenforschung, DoReMi, EPI-CT and the biodosimetry networks with WHO, MULTIBIODOSE and RENEB), BfS irradiation devices and laboratories are used by both the BfS and its partners.
- Of high importance to the task execution of the BfS in all fields of activity is the networking at the international level by participating in boards and working groups of international organisations, such as UNSCEAR, IAEA, OECD/NEA, EU, WHO, CTBTO, EURADOS, ISO, ICRP and ICNIRP. Furthermore, the BfS is a WHO collaborating centre for ionising and non-ionising radiation and health.
In the fields of nuclear safety and nuclear waste management, the BfS co-operates well, in particular on account of its participation in working groups of the multinational organisations IAEA, OECD/NEA and EU. It is also involved actively in regulatory advancements and exchanges information on a permanent basis with the competent supervisory and licensing authorities of neighbouring countries.
Transparent information of the technically interested public
Results from such departmental research projects (final reports) that are accompanied by the BfS are available in a separate scientific BfS series on the BfS homepage where they can be downloaded in full-text.
Internal co-operation and participation in university teaching
Interdisciplinary project groups on various batteries of questions strengthen internal co-operation. It has been made easier for BfS staff members to perform teaching assignments at universities. Series of technical seminars enhance the competence of the BfS and its staff.
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