No. 115/2023

7.7 7.4 6.8 8.3 8.1 8.0 8.0 8.6 6.8 8.3 7.6 Working hours Researchers’ professional prospects Dual career opportunities Research funding (project financing opportunities) Infrastructure and facilities International focus / Internationality Childcare provision Germany’s position regarding climate protection and resource conservation Promotion of junior researchers Quality of research Quality of teaching at universities / higher education institutions How do you rate Germany as a research location in comparison with your own country? (0 = very negative, 10 = very positive) 0 10 2.8 2.8 3.2 1.2 0.8 2.7 4.2 3.8 -1.3 bureaucratic unbureaucratic democratic progressive hospitable gender equitable sense of humour open tolerant science-friendly undemocratic reactionary inhospitable gender discriminatory no sense of humour reserved intolerant science-hostile Which of these concepts do you associate with Germany? (-5 = negative, +5 = positive) -5 +5 BACKGROUND In an online survey at the end of their research stay, which on average lasts 18 months, the Foundation’s sponsorship recipients evaluate various aspects according to predefined scales and are also free to add comments. All responses are anonymised prior to evaluation; qualitative content analysis is used to evaluate the comments. More than 94 percent of sponsorship recipients participated in the survey. The outcomes thus reflect the Humboldt fellows’ comprehensive, representative image of Germany. Coming from USA, the level of bureau- cracy was unex- pectedly high. While Humboldt Foun- dation staff made things easy, other interactions (includ- ing international office, local city reg- istration require- ments and VISA for my family) were often very stressful. USA, m The main bottle- necks during the stay in Germany were associated with adjusting to the culture, language and procedures. But these small issues were sorted near to the end of the fellowship owing to the language fellow- ship support from the Foundation. After a few months of stay, it was also easy to acclimatise to the culture and procedural systems. India, m