Senate Commission on Clinical Research
The Senate Commission on Clinical Research, which was most recently appointed in 2009 for a further mandate term until the end of 2011 and whose mandate has now expired, was tasked primarily with commenting on general issues of clinical research and, in particular, of implementing recommendations from the Clinical Research White Paper. Published in 1999, this white paper suggested numerous ways in which the DFG could contribute to further improving clinical research. In order to do this, the Commission made suggestions and drove their implementation.
The first step was taken in June 2000, when the Clinical Research Units were announced. In November 2003, the “Clinical Studies” programme was announced as part of a joint funding initiative with the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Taking into account further recommendations in the white paper, as well as those made by the German Council of Science and Humanities, the Senate Commission issued a statement entitled "Leistungsorientierte Mittelvergabe an den Medizinischen Fakultäten" (“The Performance-Based Allocation of Funding in Medical Faculties”) in June 2004. In this statement, the Commission explained how faculties can ensure that the funding received from state governments for research and teaching is allocated in a targeted manner to active and successful scientific working groups.
Another of the Commission’s main duties was to help identify, initiate and implement measures to combat the shortage of early-career researchers in clinical research. These included creating and intensifying framework conditions which will allow medical students to continue to perform research at university hospitals, in addition to carrying out patient care duties.
