Germany in the ERA: Progress and challenges according to the Scoreboard and Dashboard 2024
2 May 2025
Positive developments
- At EU level, clear progress towards achieving the ERA targets can be seen overall.
- Sweden, Belgium, Austria and Germany record R&D expenditure of over 3% of GDP – the highest proportions within the EU-27.
- Academic freedom is enshrined in the constitutions of several Member States, including Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Estonia.
- With 1,616 project participations and 21 coordinated Horizon 2020 partnerships, Germany is above the EU average for EU research cooperation – only France is further ahead in terms of coordination. At €3.46 billion, Germany received the highest EU research funding.
- The highest growth rates for foreign doctoral students within the EU-27 can be found in Slovenia, followed by Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, Greece and Hungary.
- Together with the Czech Republic and Romania, Germany is one of the countries with the highest growth in open access publications. France and Germany lead in European and international co-patent applications.
Challenges
- There is still a need for sustainable, long-term public investment in research.
- A decline in private-sector investment in research and development, including in Germany, is seen as a cause for concern. There is still room for improvement in cooperation between research institutions and industry.
- A decline in private sector investment in research and development, including in Germany, is seen as a cause for concern. There is still room for improvement in cooperation between research institutions and industry.
- In Germany, Malta, the Netherlands and Austria, the proportion of women among doctoral students in STEM subjects is well below the EU average at under 35%.
