Topics in flux: ten editions of the German Research Funding Atlas

The Funding Atlas offers a comprehensive analysis of the development of universities, particularly with regard to third-party funding and international research contacts. In addition to the central rankings – which are most closely associated with the overarching theme of “competition” – each edition of the Funding Atlas has placed further emphasis on topics such as profile development, regional and national cooperation, as well as the internationalisation of research and its funding. Over time additional dimensions have been introduced such as the analysis of third-party funding providers, the profile development of universities, and regional and national collaborations.

Since the current Funding Atlas is the tenth in the series, we have taken this opportunity to dedicate a special section to the evolution of the reporting system. The focus has always been on rankings that illustrate the extent to which universities have secured third-party funding and how frequently they have hosted visits by leading international researchers. Such rankings contribute to the discussion on competition between universities, but other dimensions are taken into account as well: which third-party funding providers are at the forefront? Which subjects dominate the university’s profile? How much third-party funding is received per professorship? These aspects have been progressively supplemented in the Funding Atlas with separate analyses on topics such as the profile development of universities, regional and national cooperation and networks, and also the internationalisation of research and its funding. In the current Funding Atlas, a special section is dedicated to these additional areas.

Word clouds illustrate the change in the range of topics covered in the German research Funding Atlas series

For this data story, we adopt an alternative approach with regard to the thematic development of the series: we use the method of the word cloud – as once before in a previous edition. In 2018, a word cloud was used to illustrate the subject profiles of universities. In the present edition – based on three selected editions of the report series (the first volume from 1997, the 2015 version, and the current 2024 report) – the world cloud visualises which terms predominated in the text of each report (purely quantitatively). Frequently occurring terms are presented in large type and placed as centrally as possible, while less common terms are shown in smaller type and are mainly positioned at the margins. In this way, word clouds convey at a glance which topics were or are in vogue.

What insights do the three word clouds offer?

The first edition in 1997 focussed exclusively on the third-party funding activity of “Hochschulen” (universities):

This term clearly tops the frequency list, so it appears in a very large font in the word cloud, with “Professorenschaft” (professorship) appearing second most frequently. The fact that the main focus is on DFG third-party funding figures is clear – not only because the name of the organisation is prominently placed, but also due to terms such as “Sonderforschungsbereiche” (Collaborative Research Centres), “Graduiertenkollegs” (Research Training Groups) and “DFG-Bewilligungen” (DFG approvals).

High priority is attached to the Excellence Initiative in the 2015 edition

“Hochschulen” (Universities) and “DFG” are still highly prevalent terms in the DFG Funding Atlas in 2015. But since “Außeruniversitäre” (non-university) institutions are now also in focus, explicit mention is made of the neutral term “Forschungseinrichtungen” (research organisations), and the large non-university research organisations (MPG, FhG, WGL, HGF) also feature.

The change of name from “Funding Ranking” to “Funding Atlas” (in 2012) indicates that topics other than rankings were now increasingly being discussed, as can be seen in the term “Regionen”(regions). Since 2003, the basis for analysis has no longer been solely data on third-party funding provided by the DFG, but also data relating to the “Bund” (federal government) and – less prominently in the word cloud – data that provides information on the scope of “EU-Förderung” (EU funding), and here in particular the “ERC”. The fact that the question of the subject-specific nature of funding has played an important role practically throughout is shown by the prominence of the terms “fachliche” (subject-specific), “Fachgebiet” (research area), “Fachrichtung” (subject area) and “Wissenschaftsbereiche” (scientific disciplines), as well as the explicit naming of the latter (e.g. “Ingenieurwissenschaften” (engineering sciences)). Finally, the 2015 federal and state governments’ “Exzellenzinitiative” (Excellence Initiative”) also had an important role to play in 2015.

Questions of internationalism have gained in importance in the current issue

The pattern for 2024 is only marginally different from the previous edition. The term “Rang” (rank”) has become somewhat more frequent again, but the question of internationalism in particular has gained in importance (“internationale” (international), “Europa” (Europe), “EU-Förderung” (EU funding), “AvH”, “DAAD”, “Horizon (Europe)” and “ERC”). Nonetheless, “Regionen” (regions), “Förderprofile” (funding profiles) and non-university research institutions remain important topics.

Methodological notes

The starting point for the word clouds was the complete text of the editions consulted. So-called stop words were automatically removed from the word lists generated (der, die, das, an, in, von etc.), as were other words that carry limited meaning (jeweils, höchsten (each, highest)) and statistical terms (Tabelle, Abbildung (table, figure)). Place names were also removed. Furthermore, terms with the same root were grouped together (e.g. “einwerben”, “Einwerbung” (“acquire”, “acquisition”) etc. were grouped under “eingeworben” (acquired) – the most common spelling).