Good Scientific Practice and Quality Assurance

The scientific and scientific-technical staff of LZI hold a secret ballot to elect an ombudsperson who serves as a point of contact to report discrepancies, suspicions, and matters of dispute to, and who investigates allegations of scientific misconduct based on LZI’s internal guidelines. The ombudsperson, who is required to hold a university degree, is elected for a four year term of office, with the possibility of re-election. The ombudsperson provides advice confidentially on issues of good scientific practice and on questions regarding possible scientific misconduct. They attempt to mediate in cases of conflict. The ombudsperson reports annually to the management of LZI about their activities. All personal information is anonymized in the process. If you have a complaint that you could not resolve directly with Dagstuhl’s Staff, please contact the ombudsperson using ombud@dagstuhl.de.

If appropriate and necessary, the ombudsperson for the LZI will forward an allegation concerning the scientific work of an external researcher to the ombudsperson of their home institution. If the ombudsperson decides that the allegations require further investigation, the case can be passed to the central ombudsperson of the Leibniz Association. If necessary the Leibniz Ombuds Committee can be contacted in writing directly at ombudsgremium@leibniz-gemeinschaft.de or Leibniz-Ombudsgremium, Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, Chausseestraße 111, 10115 Berlin.

The Industrial Curatory Board provides exchange of information with research departments and development laboratories in industry. It has the task of securing the acceptance of LZI by government authorities and industry and, being a promotional organization, expanding Schloss Dagstuhl’s economic base. The Industrial Curatory Board holds its regular annual meeting at Schloss Dagstuhl in conjunction with the meeting of the Scientific Advisory Board. The members of the Industrial Curatory Board are appointed by the Supervisory Board for a term of four years and can serve a second term. The current composition of the Industrial Curatory Board is listed on the LZI's website, see https://www.dagstuhl.de/institute/committees/details/icb.

At regular intervals, but at the latest every seven years, the LZI is evaluated by the Senate of the Leibniz Association. The evaluation focuses on an independent assessment of how the institute has developed in the intervening years, in terms of content and structure, as well as on the persuasiveness of its plans for the future. Based on the results of the evaluation, the federal and state governments verify whether the institutions united within the Leibniz Association are still in fulfillment of the requirements for joint funding. The principles of the evaluation process are explained on the webpage of the Leibniz Association in detail, see https://www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de/en/about-us/evaluation/the-evaluation-procedure.html.