Level of collaborations in the Berlin research area - level of cooperation
The starting point for consideration was to look at the already existing level of cooperation in the Berlin research area. Figure 1 shows that the level of cooperation in Berlin is already quite high. Regarding research, 95% of those surveyed worked occasionally, 53% frequently, and 18% exclusively with others. Moreover, cooperation occurred not only in the area of academic research but also in other scientific activities such as product and technology development, science communication, and teaching (see Figure 1). Although the level of cooperation is highest in the area of research, the percentages of those who cooperated in other areas were also surprisingly high. Even in teaching, over 30% of the respondents reported that they "often" or even "exclusively" work with others. Conversely, only 20% performed teaching tasks "exclusively alone" (see Figure 1). The proportion of respondents who did not collaborate at all in research was particularly small, at 4.5%. It should be noted that these percentages only include respondents who are entrusted with the corresponding tasks as part of their work. Thus, over 62% stated that product or technology development is not part of their daily research routine. For teaching and science communication, the figures are just under 25% and 20%, respectively.
Figure 1 Cooperation level by research activity
In many areas of research, collaboration is not only advantageous but, in some cases, even necessary and indispensable. Therefore, it is not surprising that Berlin researchers also conducted their research activities predominantly collaboratively. Most of the respondents in the BSS were entrusted with research tasks; only 0.3% reported doing no research at all. In the following, we take a more in-depth look at the research collaborations.
If we look at the level of cooperation in research separately for status groups, we notice that research without cooperation partners was almost exclusively a phenomenon among predocs. Of these, 9.2% stated that they conduct research exclusively on their own (see Figure 2). One reason for this may be the requirement to demonstrate one's own scientific achievements in the context of a doctorate degree. Even among postdocs, the proportion of those working without any collaboration was almost negligibly small, at 1.8%. Virtually all the professors conducted research collaboratively (see Figure 2).
Figure 2 Level of cooperation in research, by status groups
The level of cooperation was also influenced by the research subject and the corresponding subject cultures. At the subject group level, the humanities researchers most frequently stated that they conducted research “exclusively on their own”, at 14.7% (see Figure 3). In all other subject groups, the proportion of researchers who do not collaborate at all was below 4% (see Figure 3).
Figure 3 Level of cooperation in research, by subject groups
With regard to gender differences, an interesting picture emerges: although slightly more male respondents reported conducting research exclusively on their own (4.4%), at the same time significantly more men reported conducting research frequently or very frequently with others (75.8% vs. 65.9%). The proportion of those who only occasionally conducted research with others, on the other hand, was much higher among women: 30.3 % compared to just under 20 % among male colleagues (see Figure 4).
Figure 4 Level of cooperation in research, by gender