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ePaper created 2014-12-22, 09:34:33 | version 1.34.00
SCIENTIFIC PERFORMANCE Research performance In addition to international collaborations, networks in Germany, especially those involving universities, are ex- tremely important for the Helmholtz centres. Together with the number of joint appointments, participation in both the programmes of the German Research Foundation and the Excellence Initiative (generally with universities) shows the extent to which these networks have been implemented. International exchange The Helmholtz Association’s research facilities are open to scientists from around the world. For this reason – and also because of the scientific appeal of the Helmholtz centres – the number of foreign researchers has risen steadily. The Helmholtz Association has thus been success- ful in expanding international academic exchanges and strengthening its international character. User platforms National collaboration Along with scientific performance, an important issue for the Helmholtz Association is the extent to which it has fulfilled its mission to provide researchers with access to its unique research facilities. In 2013, availability de- creased somewhat over the previous year because of maintenance work on one large-scale device. Publications are a key measure of scientific productivity. There has been a clear increase in the number of publica- tions by Helmholtz scientists. In 2013, 12,255 publications were published in ISI-indexed scientific journals and an additional 3,763 in peer-reviewed journals. The number of ISI-indexed publications has grown by eight per cent over the previous year and by a total of 46 per cent since 2009. ISI-indexed publications Joint appointments 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Joint appointments with universities, W2 and W3 staff 262 319 374 452 499 The table illustrates the success of the Helmholtz centres in the competitions held by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The count only includes projects in which the participating researchers noted their Helmholtz affiliation in their applications. In a number of cases, Helmholtz researchers who were appointed to positions jointly with universities applied for projects with other scientists within the scope of their university activities. If these projects are also included, the figures for 2013 increase to 94 collab- orative research centres, 55 priority programmes and 70 research units. German Research Foundation (DFG) 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Research centres 1 1 1 2 2 Collaborative research centres 59 61 64 68 67 Priority programmes 50 50 52 52 49 Research units 53 56 62 58 61 Participation in the Excellence Initiative Excellence clusters Graduate schools Institutional concepts 1st phase 13 15 3 2nd phase 19 17 8 A good measure of the quality of research findings is the number of times they are published in prestigious journals. The Nature Publishing Group compiles an international ranking of institutions on the basis of the number of pub- lications in Nature and the monthly Nature Research Jour- nals. Based on the number of articles its scientists pub- lished, the Helmholtz Association was ranked five in 2013. In addition to the ranking by number of articles, the Nature Publishing Index offers a corrected count that takes into account the degree of cross-institutional collaboration. In this case a publication written in cooperation with other institutions is assigned to the participating institutions on a pro rata basis. Because of the Helmholtz Association’s numerous collaborations, many publications by its scientists are thus weighted proportionately. In the corrected count of the Nature Publishing Index, the Helmholtz Association was ranked 13 in 2013, up from 19 in 2012 and above many other renowned institutions such as University College London (14) or the ETH Zurich (21). Type of use Actual value 2012 Actual value 2013* Availability 80.9% 79.6% Utilisation Internal Helmholtz scientists External scientists 32.6% 67.3% 33.4% 63.5% Helmholtz Association research facilities Nature Publishing Index 2013 *One hundred per cent utilisation was not achieved in 2013 due to the partial malfunction and reduced capacity of one large-scale device, which was therefore not available to the usual extent. The table shows average values for all large-scale devices at the Helmholtz Association. Explanation of measurement categories: Average availability: number of days per year when the device was available (without maintenance or downtime), given in per cent. Average utilisation: the share of the total available capacity that was actually used by scientists. The unit of capacity measurement is device-specific. Internal and external use added together total a maximum of 100 per cent. Rank Institution Articles 1 Harvard University, US 387 2 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France 297 3 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US 228 4 Max Planck Society, Germany 216 5 Helmholtz Association, Germany 201 6 National Institutes of Health (NIH), US 181 7 Stanford University, US 170 8 Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China 165 9 University of Cambridge, UK 151 10 University of Oxford, UK 136 Source: http://www.natureasia.com/en/publishing-index/global/ 8,000 9,000 10,000 11,000 12,000 13,000 2009 2013201220112010 40 20092010201120122013 262319374452499 20092010201120122013 Research centres 11122 5961646867 Priority programmes 5050525249 Research units 5356625861 1st phase 13153 2nd phase 19178 20092013201220112010