Planning projects and writing publications account for much of the research activity, as does reviewing and evaluating scientific publications and projects. The head of a work unit has a particular responsibility to provide researchers with the necessary skills and experience at an early stage. They must also ensure that an early career researcher’s independent work contributions are visible and appreciated. Particular attention should be paid to striking an appropriate balance between substantial, comprehensive publications and those that are realistic in an early career phase in terms of scope and complexity. In order to ensure that valid research results are developed during the training phase, experimentation and analysis require close guidance when it comes to controls, statistical analyses and image processing. An early introduction to ethical and legal issues is especially important during this phase. Here, a quality management system can be helpful in organising the appropriate process support.

It is essential that the work unit creates a culture in which an open approach to errors and ignorance can develop or be maintained as well as a self-critical attitude. This also includes raising awareness of potential conflicts of interest. Such a culture is a key prerequisite for the prevention of research misconduct.

One particular aspect in the life sciences is research conducted by clinically active researchers. Those engaged in both patient care and research are particularly well placed to enable an effective transfer between the two. For this reason, it is the responsibility of management in these areas to give medical doctors the time to pursue research activities in addition to their clinical duties. The recommendation here is to make use of established (advanced) clinician-scientist programmes(externer Link) so as to provide the necessary freedom for research.