The Professor of Economics is also Vice President Research at the University of Bremen. Data collection on research and development (R&D) in German industry is regularly carried out by the Wissenschaftsstatistik GmbH of the Stifterverband on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The research data is part of official statistics in Germany and the European Union and flows into other international reporting systems. For many years, these statistics have formed an important basis for the BMBF's research and innovation policy and are also used by scientists through the Research Data Center of Wissenschaftsstatistik GmbH.