Quality is the Product is the Quality Information Management as a Closed-loop Process

1. DFG Quality is the Product is the Quality Information Management as a Closed-loop Process Jürgen Güdler and Holger Hahnen

2. Structure of the Presentation • Die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, German Research Foundation (DFG) • The concept of „product governed quality assurance“ • The Institutional Repository (IRD) of the DFG • IRD based products • Quality assurance at the DFG • Conclusion and pospects

3. Five key goals of the DFG • serve as central public funding organisation for promoting academic research in Germany • foster scientific excellence through competition • advise parliaments and public authorities on questions relating to science and research • support the advancement and education of young researchers • encourage international collaboration in science and the humanities

4. Construction Engineering and Architecture Computer Science, Electrical and System Engineering A Humanities DFG Funding covers all scientific disciplines 1% 7% 9% Material Science Social and 3% Behavioural Sciences Thermal and Process Engineering 6% • Research fields: • Soc.Sci.+Humanities 15% • Engineering Sciences 21% • Natural Sciences 26% • Life Sciences 38% Soc.Sc. & Humanities 4% Engineering Sciences Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 6% Biology 16% Geosciences 6% Life Sciences Natural Science Mathematics 3% Physics 10% Medicine Chemistry 20% Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine 7% 2% Based on: DFG funding 2002 to 2004: 3.683 Million Euro

5. Structure of the Presentation • Die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, German Research Foundation (DFG) • The concept of „product governed quality assurance“ • The Institutional Repository (IRD) of the DFG • IRD based products • Quality assurance at the DFG • Conclusion and pospects

6. „product governed quality assurance“ – a model Quality = Usage * Frequency • the quality of data increases with the number of products for which it is used • each product adresses a specific group of users with specific interests • each group „reacts“ in a specific way to any given product • every response triggers the quality assurance process Preconditions • use of a single data source for different information products • use of a centralised and structured quality assurance process

7. „product governed quality assurance“ – a model one data source different products different users one qa-team individual Letters applicants, reviewers management reports report users ElektrA IRD Feedback Quality assurance team funding ranking Ranking recipients GEPRIS GEPRIS users Research Explorer REx users quality assurance

8. ElektrA – the data source Facts and figures • DFG internal electronic proposal processing system • in use since 2005 (integration ofdata as from 1982) • used for all funding programmes • used by about 700 staff members • data source for all informationproducts published by the DFG • contains data on (continiously growing): • 500,000 proposals • 150,000 people • 30,000 national and international university and non university institutes

9. Structure of the Presentation • Die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, German Research Foundation (DFG) • The concept of „product governed quality assurance“ • The Institutional Repository (IRD) of the DFG • IRD based products • Quality assurance at the DFG • Conclusion and pospects

10. The Institutional Repository (IRD) of the DFG • The Idea of the IRD • in Germany a lot of actors are involved in the organisation and funding of research at universities and non-university institutions e.g. DFG, DAAD, German Rector´s conference (HRK), Alexander-von-Humboldt-Foundation (AvH) • Since the late 1990‘s there is a growing need for exchanging data on an institutional base between these organisations • DFG itself was in need of a standardised institutional classification of proposals and reviewers for statistical purposes (e.g. rankings) Result • introduction of a common key for institutional affiliations as a helpful tool

11. The Institutional Repository (IRD) of the DFG Content of the IRD: detailed information on institutes IRD • Name • Name engl. • Short-Name • Subject ID • Subject Name • Institutional ID • Part of • Federal State • Country • Inst.-Form • Inst.-Type • Postal Information • Street • Zip Code City • Phone • Fax • E-Mail • Internet • Parent Institution ID Institut für Stromrichtertechnik & Elektrische Antriebe Institute for Power Electronics & Electrical Drives ISEA 7100 Elektrotechnik 68345 Fakultät für Elektro- & Informationstechnik Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany University Institut Institut für Stromrichtertechnik & Elektrische Antriebe RWTH Aachen Jägerstr. 17/19 52066 Aachen 0241/80-6920 0241/67505 dedoncker@rwth-aachen.de http://www.isea.rwth-aachen.de 72545 german institutions in the IRD 1,500 350 Universities non univ. bodies 3,700 Faculties etc. Institutes 7,100 Sub-Institutes etc. 7,300

12. Structure of the Presentation • Die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, German Research Foundation (DFG) • The concept of „product governed quality assurance“ • The Institutional Repository (IRD) of the DFG • IRD based products • Quality assurance at the DFG • Conclusion and pospects

13. IRD based products • Introduction • all examples provided are based on the IRD • each product is tailor made to meet specific needs of every single target group • each product contains additional information to those provided by the IRD • each product contributes to the „product governed quality assurance“

14. IRD based products – individual letters • Characteristics • letters to applicants, reviewers, and members of the Statutory Bodies of the DFG • adresses used are based on the IRD • ease of use by selecting adresses via interface • central quality assurance • Contribution • active use of adresses when sending letters • about 30.000 proposals per year resulting in about 100.000 letters to people involved in the application process • 80% of all adresses held in the IRD are used at least once a year • letters with incorrect adresses are returned and quality process is triggered

15. IRD based products: University report • Characteristics • database driven report • sent to DFG´s member institutions every 6 months • gives information on all funding approvals by the DFG sorted by department and institute • Contribution • reflects the structure of the university • missing institutes can be detected easily bytarget audience • immediate feedback by the central contact person at the university

16. IRD based products – DFG Funding Ranking • Characteristics • most important statistical product of the DFG • published 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2006 • central indicator – DFG awards per institution • shows among others also thematic priorities within the EU´s Sixth Framework Programme • looks at the issue of regional cooperation within other universities • Contribution • compiles data from various sources of information (primarily funding organisations) • generates concordances to cross reference between various institutional systems • figures reported are of great value to the universities for planning and control purposes • high quality data is imperative

17. IRD based products – DFG Funding Ranking • Networks supported by DFG-programmes: research area biology

18. IRD based products – GEPRIS • Characteristics • information system on DFG-funded projects (relaunch mid-2006) • main feature: integration of the IRD • different search functions • shows all funded projects at a university, department, or institute • Contribution • three quality checks – • first during proposal processing • second by applicant before publishing • constant email-feedback by users and applicants

19. IRD based products – Research Explorer (research-explorer.dfg.de) • Characteristics • a new source of strcutured information on German research institutions • bilingual information product • joint project of DFG and DAAD • gives detailed information on more than 20,000 institutes at german universities and other research institutions • links to GEPRIS for information on funded projects • Contribution • Specific on-line form which allows users to report missing institutes to the DFG in a structured manner • established workflow for handling user-generated error reports

20. Structure of the Presentation • Die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, German Research Foundation (DFG) • The concept of „product governed quality assurance“ • The Institutional Repository (IRD) of the DFG • IRD based products • Quality assurance at the DFG • Conclusion and pospects

21. Quality assurance at the DFG Concept and practical use – bringing it all together • after showing the model of „products governed quality assurance“ and how the different products contribute to this model, we now have a look at the actual quality management process at the DFG • The quality management process at the DFG • each product shown calls for adifferent quality assurance procedure • some products generate standardised feedback by using forms, others rely on feedback by e-mail • each product has a different quality assurance process • the DFG has a central unit located at the Department of Information Management • this unit carries out all quality assurance processed for all the products mentioned

22. Quality assurance at the DFG Quality assurance procedure used in GEPRIS – an example

23. Structure of the Presentation • Die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, German Research Foundation (DFG) • The concept of „product governed quality assurance“ • The Institutional Repository (IRD) of the DFG • IRD based products • Quality assurance at the DFG • Conclusion and pospects

24. Conclusion and prospects • Further use of the IRD • give access to the IRD to partners wishing to use this high quality data for own products, e.g. to perform evaluations, analyse publications and citations with respect to a specific institution Enhancement of IRD based products • looking for new external partners, who can contribute high quality data, thus increasing the information on the research profiles of institutes covered • further linking between DFG informations products, as done with GEPRIS and Research Explorer. Futher add-ons could be the Funding Ranking or adding statistical information

25. Conclusion and prospects Conclusion • although adding partners requires more work to coordinate the various datasets, each addition is an investment in the overall quality of the underlying data • the diversity of the products with different quality assurance procedures contributes to the overall quality in a way a pure information system solely used for information purposes, would be never able to Quality is the product is the quality • according to this principle all of the products benefit from the various quality assurance procedures

26. DFG Thank you for your attention! Jürgen Güdler Holger Hahnen German Research Foundation Information Management juergen.guedler@dfg.de holger.hahnen@dfg.de