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Tips and Advice

Search methods

The Research Explorer (REx) offers three ways of finding German research institutes:

1. Geographical search
   The interactive map shows the locations of all of the research institutions listed in REx. It also provides an alphabetical list of the cities to the right of the map. The number of research institutions (main institutions) in each city is given on the right.
   1. Click any city on the map or on the list:
      The list of results contains the institutions that match your selection.
      Alternatively, you can click on the map to select a state:
      A map of the state with a list of the cities where main institutions are located is then displayed.
   2. Click on one of the institutions listed:
      This will take you to a page containing the details of that institution.
   3. There are two buttons at the bottom of the results page:
      1. Click "Search results" to return to the list of institutions (back to step 2).
      2. Click "New search" to return to the map and list of cities to search for another city (back to step 1).
2. Search Assistant
   If you want to find a research institution by subject, click on the "Search Assistant" button.
   
   This method of searching is based on the three-tier classification system of "subject groups, fields of teaching and research, research areas" adopted by the Federal Statistical Office. The top tier of the classification system consists of "subject groups", which are broken down into "fields of teaching and research". The "fields of teaching and research" are then broken down into "research areas".
   
   Each institute listed in the Research Explorer is classified according to one "research area".
   1. Start by selecting a "subject group" and then click "Continue":
      This will take you to a page listing the "research areas" belonging to this "subject group".
   2. Select one of the items listed in the box.
   3. You now have two options:
      1. "Start search":
         This will take you to a list of institutions that match the research area you selected.
      2. "Narrow search":
         Click on this button to refine the search criteria.
   4. The list of results contains the institutes found in alphabetical order. The institutes are grouped under the institution they belong to.
      1. Click on one of the institutes on the list:
         to view the details of the research institute you are interested in (go to step 5).
      2. Click "New search":
         Start again and search according to a different subject group (go back to step 1).
      3. Click "Narrow search":
         This takes you to a page where you can specify a subject area and/or city (step 3 b).
   5. There are two buttons at the bottom of the results page:
      1. "Search results" takes you back to the list of institutions (back to 4).
      2. "New search" takes you back to the list of subject groups (back to step 1).
3. Advanced search
   1. The advanced search sallows you to search according to keyword as well as by subject, type of institution or location.
      
      1. Enter your search criteria (see Search criteria) ) using the input box and the list boxes.
      2. Click "Search":
         The results of your search are listed.
         
         In general, when performing an advanced search using multiple criteria, the list of results contains all of the institutions that match all of your search criteria (Boolean AND).
      3. The list of results contains all of the institutes that match your search criteria grouped under the main institution they belong to.
         1. Click on one of the research institutions listed to view its details (step 4).
         2. Click the "New search" button to change your selection criteria (go back to step 1).
         3. Click "Narrow search" to return to the "Advanced Search" input screen with your previous search criteria selected (go back to step 1).
      4. There are two buttons at the bottom of the results page:
         1. Click "Search results" to return to the list of institutions (back to step 3).
         2. Click the "New search" button to change your selection criteria (go back to step 1).
   2. Description of the search criteria
      1. Name of institution
         Here you can enter a keyword to search for a text string in the name of an institution.
         
         You can enter any alphanumeric string as a search term.
         
         The search term is not case sensitive.
         
         The search term entered is automatically truncated, so that entering any part of a word as a search term will find all terms containing the string entered. The minimum search term length is 3 characters.
         
         The search term may not contain any spaces.
         
         Do not use any wildcards such as "*" or "?", regular expressions or other logical operators (Boolean search) or quotation marks to search for part of an institution's name.
      2. Subject group / Research area
         The selection by subject group / research area follows the classification of the top two tiers of the classification system described above (for further details, please refer to II - Search by subject). The research areas are categorised by subject group. Both tiers of the classification system are shown in the same list box:
         
         There are three ways of narrowing your search according to the classification system:
         1. Show all (default):
            This option does not restrict your search by subject.
         2. Subject group:
            Restricts your search to those institutions that are classified as belonging to the selected "subject group".
         3. Research area area (indicated by indenting and preceding each subject listed by a '-'):
            Lists all institutions that are classified under the selected "research area".
      3. Type of institution
         Each of the research institutions listed in the Research Explorer is classified as a certain type of institution. This attribute indicates whether an institution or institute listed is a university or a non-university research institution.
         1. Show all (default):
            This option does not restrict your search by type of institution.
         2. Type of institution:
            Restricts your search to those institutions that are classified as being of the selected type.
      4. Location
         Restricts your search to those institutions that are classified as being of the selected type.
         1. Show all (default):
            This option does not restrict your search by location.
         2. City:
            Restricts your search to those institutions that are classified as being in the selected city.

Structure of the result list and detailed view

1. List of results
   Regardless of which search method you choose, the results are always listed in the same way:
   1. Results for:
      Lists the search terms used to generate the list of results shown below.
   2. Research institutions found:
      Shows the total number of results, the number of pages of results listed, and the page you are currently on.
   3. List of results:
      Click on an item in the list (the name of a research institution) to view its details.
   4. Navigating through the results:
      Click on "Start", "End" or one of the numbers at the bottom of the list of results to go to any of the pages of results.
      
      The page you are currently on is shown in the box at the top as "Page n of m".
      
      If you conducted your search using either the "Search Assistant" or "Advanced Search" option, the results are grouped so that the departments or individual institutes are listed under the institution they belong to.
      
      The main institutions (universities and non-university institutions) are identified by the type of institution and location being given in brackets. All of the research institutions belonging to these main institutions matching your search criteria are listed in alphabetical order under the name of the institution they belong to.
2. Detail view
   The detail view of an institution provides the address and other contact details as well as a basic summary of the organisational structure of that institution. Regardless of which search method you choose, the detail view always has the same layout:
   1. Main institution
      This shows the name of the institution and any entities that are directly above it in the organisational structure. Click on the name of the institution to access the detail view.
      Note: This is not shown if you are viewing the details of a main institution.
   2. Institution details
      The details of the research institution you are currently viewing are displayed as follows:
      1. Contact details
         • Name of the institution (in magenta)
         • Postal address
         • Telephone number
         • Fax
         • Website
      1. Subject area
         Classification of the institution you are currently viewing according to the standard classification system (see II. "Search Assistant").
      2. Type of institution
         Specification of whether the institution you are currently viewing is classified as a university or a non-university research institution.
   3. Affiliated institutions
      This section contains a list of any institutions that belong to the institution you are currently viewing.
      If there are other entities lower in the organisational structure, this is indicated by a square icon containing a + to the left of the name.
      
       The institution shown has other entities below it in the organisational structure.
      To view the names of these entities, click on the icon to unfold the details displayed in a tree structure.
       This institution is at the bottom of the organisational structure.
       The list of other entities below this institution in the organisational structure is unfolded.
      
      Click on the name of an institution listed to view its details.
3. Corrections
   The correction form at the bottom of the page can be used to submit structured corrections to the RExplorer database. You may only submit corrections to the database if you are a member of the institution and are authorised to modify its details.