The project concerns the way that research associa tions and universities in Germany try to influence policy. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods will be used, first of all a full sample survey among all German universities.

Science and universities are of fundamental importance for our democratic society. However, in the institutions themselves, in the public and in politics there are sometimes different views on the tasks and achievements of research and teaching. Excellence initiatives and the Higher Education Pact, permanent underfunding and a stronger performance orientation, among other things through rankings, are putting the scientific institutions under pressure. Universities and non-university research institutions have reacted to the developments of recent years by, among other things, significantly expanding their own public relations work.

But is communication via the media sufficient to draw attention to his interests and to enforce them? The Federal Association of Higher Education Communication calls on scientific institutions to communicate much more directly with politicians, in short: to lobby. But what exactly does this lobbying look like? Who are the actors? What are the central interests? What goals do the universities pursue? How successful are they? What ethical standards apply? Last but not least, the dissertation deals with the question of what effects lobbying by science institutions has on the university landscape and on society as a whole. Finally, the study should provide recommendations for action for the institutions as well as impulses for the social debate.

Even though lobbying is frequently and extensively discussed and written about in the media and in public, and is usually the subject of fierce criticism, the targeted influence of various social groups on politics in Germany has been insufficiently researched theoretically and, in particular, empirically, and there is not much up-to-date scientific literature available. Since the concept of lobbying in Germany is mostly negatively connotated, the authors tend to speak of communication of interests, political communication or political consulting. The terms are often used in a confused and arbitrary manner. In communication science, lobbying is located as a sub-area of public affairs, which in turn is defined as a sub-area of public relations. While the latter have now been relatively well researched both theoretically and empirically, public affairs has so far only been inadequately described. Most of the statements on public affairs refer primarily to the economy and cannot be readily applied to science and its organizations.

Since lobbying in communication science is regarded as Public Affairs and thus as a subdivision of Public Relations (PR), the work planned here draws in particular on theoretical approaches from PR research. The social function of PR and thus also of lobbying as well as the communicative relationships between the different social groups, i.e. here between science and politics, can be described with the help of system-theoretical approaches. The work planned here approaches the performance of lobbying for organizations as well as the tasks of the actors driving lobbying in a similar way to PR research on approaches based on the theory of organization and action.

The research question, i.e. how universities and non-university research institutions represent their interests towards politics, is to be answered by means of a three-stage survey.

The results of the preliminary study serve as the basis for a subsequent full survey using a standardised online questionnaire. The survey will be conducted among the communication officers of about 350 universities in Germany who are members of the German Rectors' Conference or the Association of Private Universities as well as the four large non-university research institutions: Max Planck Society, Fraunhofer Society, Helmholtz Association and Leibniz Association with a total of around 270 institutes.