Portal Brings Together Live Recordings, Video Diaries and Historic Films from the Research World

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is expanding its audiovisual information resources with the launch of its own media library. Known as "DFG in action", the library is now available at mediathek.dfg.de/en. It contains over 800 videos and audio files in German and English relating to DFG-funded research and the DFG itself. Materials range from historic “treasures” to interviews and live recordings, for example presentations from the series "exkurs – Einblicke in die Welt der Wissenschaft". There are also videos from the Terra Digitalis portal, DFG Science TV and the Excellence Initiative video portal. The most recent videos present the winners of the 2015 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize and were shown for the first time at this year's award ceremony on 3 March in Berlin.

This new resource is intended to provide a more accessible, user-friendly way for people to see and hear what the DFG does as Germany's largest research funding organisation. A full search function makes it easy to find what you are looking for. Users can search by various criteria, such as participating institutions, academic disciplines or topics. Content can also be conveniently integrated on the user's own website using an iFrame.

Most videos and audio files can be downloaded so users can watch or listen at their leisure. This service is aimed at teachers who want to incorporate videos into lessons as well as anyone who wants to watch or listen later offline. The site is based on the principle of responsive design for optimum compatibility with mobile devices. This means that the media library is clearly displayed and fully functional on tablets or smartphones.

The new media library will be continually added to with more videos about DFG-funded research, live recordings of DFG events and other content.