Lower Saxony's €5.8M research hub to revolutionize education policy with science
New Center for Empirical Educational Research Aims to Strengthen Practical Application
Lüneburg. The state of Lower Saxony, together with the Volkswagen Foundation, is providing €5.8 million to establish a Center for Empirical Educational Research in Lüneburg. The goal is to base future education policy decisions more firmly on scientifically gathered data and to systematically improve the transfer of research findings into schools and public administration.
Lower Saxony is consolidating its activities in empirical educational research under a new institutional framework. The Center for Empirical Educational Research (ZEB), based in Lüneburg, will be jointly operated by Leuphana University of Lüneburg and Leibniz University Hannover. Funding of approximately €5.8 million over six years will come from the zukunft.niedersachsen program of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture, as well as the Volkswagen Foundation.
In addition, the program is allocating around €4.1 million for complementary initiatives under a "Research Alliance for Intervention, Implementation, and Transfer Research." Alongside Leibniz University Hannover, the alliance includes Braunschweig University of Technology and the University of Hildesheim.
"Quality education is the key to tomorrow's prosperity. But what defines good education?" asked Lower Saxony's Minister of Science, Falko Mohrs (SPD), at the ZEB's launch. "I am delighted that, with the establishment of the ZEB, we are putting empirical educational research in Lower Saxony on an even broader footing—addressing precisely these pressing questions of today and tomorrow with scientific rigor, innovation, and a focus on the real-world experiences of students."
Education Minister Julia Willie Hamburg (Green Party) also sees the center as a response to the growing demands on the school system. "The challenges facing our schools are immense—and they continue to grow. Managing diversity, ensuring basic competencies, addressing the skilled labor shortage, promoting inclusion, integration, and digitalization are all issues gaining ever greater importance," she explained.
The center positions itself as an interface between educational research, policy, and administration. Its mission is to consolidate expertise, connect key stakeholders, and provide evidence-based foundations for political decision-making.
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