Data Protection at the BSS
Dear scientist,
Data protection is important to us!
Below you will find all the information on data protection in relation to the BSS.
You can also download the privacy policy here.
- Designation of the processing activity
What is the "Berlin Science Survey"?
The BSS is a regular scientific observation of the Berlin research landscape with a view to identifying changes in research culture and practices. For this purpose, the experiences and opinions of scientists in the Berlin research landscape are surveyed at regular intervals. The research results critically accompany the measures of the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) and contribute important knowledge to science research. You can find reasons to participate here.
Who conducts the BSS?
The BSS is conducted by the Robert K. Merton Center for Science Studies (RMZ) as part of the BUA-funded project "Berlin Research Landscape", which is funded by Objective 3. The RMZ is an interdisciplinary center for the study of the Berlin metropolitan region and its research activities; it is located at the Humboldt University of Berlin.
How did you receive the invitation to participate in the survey?
You received this invitation because you are a scientist (professor, postdoc or PhD student) at one of the Berlin research institutions and your email address is stored in an email distribution list of your institution. The dean's office/steering committee of your institution has kindly supported our project by sending the invitation to the survey via this email distribution list. Staff from the project or the study did not have access to your email address at any point during this process.
Since the BSS is designed as a longitudinal study, you will have the opportunity to consent to being contacted again by us after the completion of this survey so that we can reach you for follow-up surveys and results feedback. To do this, you will be directed to a new page at the end of the survey by clicking on the appropriate link, where you can enter your contact information. This will be stored separately from your responses.
- Name and contact details of the party responsible
According to Art. 4 DSGVO, the party responsible is the Humboldt University of Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin. The party internally responsible for the study, i.e. the executing agency, is the RMZ, Invalidenstraße 110, in 10115 Berlin, represented by the director Prof. Martin Reinhart and the deputy director Prof. Vivien Petras. In addition, Dr. Jens Ambrasat is involved in the study as project leader and Dr. Denise Lüdtke as project collaborator.
Contact details of the executing scientists:
Ambrasat, jens.ambrasat@hu-berlin.de, tel. 030-2093-65882
Denise Lüdtke, denise.luedtke@hu-berlin.de, tel. 030-2093-65882
- Contact details of the data protection officer:
Gesine Hoffmann-Holland, datenschutz@uv.hu-berlin.de, tel. 030-2093-20020
Postal address:
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Behördliche Datenschutzbeauftragte
Unter den Linden 6
10099 Berlin
- Purposes and legal bases of the processing:
What happens to your data?
Data is collected exclusively for scientific purposes within the framework of the BUA-funded research project “Berlin Research Landscape”. The legal basis for this is your consent according to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO.
What data is collected, and how?
The survey is conducted using the online survey software Limesurvey provided by the Humboldt University of Berlin on the HU servers. The anonymous survey settings will be selected. Two different types of data will be collected during the survey: your content information (hereinafter referred to as survey data), as well as two technical details about the survey: the time you answered the questions and the duration of the survey. These two pieces of information are necessary for the smooth running of the survey, the subsequent data processing and the assurance of data quality (so-called paradata). Survey data include information on research practices, attitudes and opinions, as well as structural characteristics such as gender, department, status group, and annual information regarding the duration of membership in the current status group.
The results of the survey are anonymous and it is not possible to relate them to a specific person. If there is any possibility that a personal reference might result from the combinations of your answers, we will process the raw survey data in such a way that the personal reference is eliminated. A personal reference is not desired at any time and will be removed immediately. Any personal reference is excluded in the presentation of the results.
Since the BSS is a longitudinal study, we ask you to consent to being contacted by us again after completion of this survey. When doing so, we may invite you for follow-up surveys or contact you for feedback on results. To do this, you will be directed to a new page at the end of the survey by clicking on the appropriate link, where you can enter your contact information. The contact data (= full name and email address) will be stored separately from your survey data and paradata.
Your contact data will only be used by the RMZ project team to be able to reach you. This data will be kept strictly confidential and will not be passed on to third parties – even access to the data by the Limesurvey administration is not possible. Should you wish to inform us of a change in your address data, please contact the “Berlin Research Landscape” project team. The contact data will be stored until the end of the project at the latest, but can of course be deleted at any time before that, should you so wish.
The RMZ project team analyses your survey data for the purposes of science research. In publications, results are only presented in aggregated form, so that no conclusions can be drawn about individuals. For the purpose of archiving and subsequent use by other scientists and students, the data is anonymized and processed as Scientific Use Files (SUF).
- Recipients or categories of recipients of the personal data
The recipient of the data is exclusively the project team at the RMZ. No personal data will be passed on to third parties.
- Duration of storage of personal data:
If you have consented to the storage of your contact data, your contact data will be deleted upon completion of the "Berlin Research Landscape" project. You can, of course, request the deletion of this data at any time. To do so, simply send an e-mail to:
rmz-berlinsciencesurvey@hu-berlin.de
- Rights of data subjects, revocation notices, right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.
With regard to your personal data, you may assert the following rights against the authority responsible for data collection at any time:
- Right to acquire information about your stored data in accordance with Art. 15 DSGVO: If a person’s personal data is processed, the person has, in principle, a right to be informed about this data.
- Right to rectify your data according to Art. 16 of the DSGVO: Under this right, individuals may request the immediate rectification of inaccurate or incomplete data processed about him or her.
- Right to restrict the purposes for which the data is used under Art. 18 of the GDPR: Individuals have the right to request that the authority responsible restrict processing.
- Right to erasure under Art. 17 GDPR: Individuals have the right to require the responsible authority to delete personal data concerning him or her without undue delay.
- Right to withdraw your consent with effect for the future under Art. 7 DSGVO: Individuals have the right to withdraw consent at any time.
In addition, you have a right to complain to a member state supervisory authority. The competent supervisory authority for the Humboldt University of Berlin is the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, Friedrichstraße 219, 10969 Berlin, mailbox@datenschutz-berlin.de. In addition, you have the right to contact the Data Protection Officer of the Humboldt University of Berlin Gesine Hoffmann-Holland, tel: +49 (30) 2093-20022, email: datenschutz@uv.hu-berlin.de and raise your concerns.
If you wish to exercise any of the rights mentioned above, or for information about the research project, please feel free to contact the scientific staff at the following email address:
rmz-berlinsciencesurvey@hu-berlin.de
Your Berlin Science Survey Team!