Membership in the non-profit Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

The association Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Informationsdienst Wissenschaft e. V., a non-profit organization founded for the promotion of arts and sciences as well as research, already in existence since 1999, was officially established in this form on 3rd June 2002 in Bochum by the chancellors of the Universities of Bayreuth, Bochum, Gießen and Karlsruhe, the Technical University of Clausthal and the Veterinary College of Hannover, together with representatives from the Donors' Association for Promoting Arts and Sciences in Germany and Research Centre Jülich. Since that date, this non-profit organization has been responsible for all tasks and dealings connected with the operations and activities of the previous organization, which had acted as a working group made up of the press offices of the Universities of Bayreuth, Bochum and Clausthal plus the Computer Center of Clausthal.

Its managing board and governing body consists of the following representatives from member institutions of idw:

• Dr. Markus Zanner - chancellor of the University of Bayreuth
• Dr. Michael Breitbach - chancellor of the Justus Liebig University, Gießen
• Marco Finetti - director of the PR-section of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation)
• Dr. Josef König - press relations officer of the Ruhr University Bochum
• Gerhard Möller - chancellor of the Ruhr University Bochum
• Dr.-Ing. Ines Schwarz - vice president of the Clausthal University of Technology
• Dr. Frank Stäudner- head of communication and public relations of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (Donors' Association for Promoting Arts and Sciences)

  Charter and Articles of Association of idw e.V.
  General Terms of Use of idw

Application and procedure of acceptance for membership, being a member institution

You are cordially invited to find out more about a possible membership association for your institution in Informationsdienst Wissenschaft e. V. by contacting the idw team - either by email to service@idw-online.de or a telephone call to one of the following service-number: (0921) 34 899 89 70. Our staff will send you further information and particulars immediately, introduce the organization idw to you in greater detail, and answer any further questions you may have.

The following procedure has shown itself to be the most efficient: You send the idw team detailed information about your institution (best would be by email to service@idw-online.de) so that we are able to see whether your institution satisfies our membership criteria. Then we will have a talk on the telephone with each other. To be able to work with our idw system, your press spokesman or spokeswoman will receive access identification and a password, and by means of these his or her personal access to the idw system. This requires only a short telephone call with a staff member of the idw team, during which you will also be instructed how to use our idw system.

After this, you need only to sign a membership agreement for your institution or have such agreement signed by the appropriate signatory within your institution.

Institutions that are unable to become members of a non-profit organization can conclude an agreement of use with Informationsdienst Wissenschaft e. V. which allows them to make use of idw services without an official membership.

Criteria for membership in Informationsdienst Wissenschaft e. V.

The prequisites for membership of an institution seeking association with Informationsdienst Wissenschaft e. V. are as follows:
a) It must be active in, i.e. work in the fields of scientific research, academic teaching, promotion and support of research, policies of education, arts and science, or in the transfer of knowhow, research and technology.
b) It must have and operate its own independent press and public relations office in regard to these areas of work mentioned above.

The exact text of our Informationsdienst Wissenschaft e. V. charter and articles of association can be seen here.

Duties and obligations of membership in Informationsdienst Wissenschaft e. V.

The idw associated member agrees to place in the idw database only press releases and pictures which bear the name of the respective responsible person in the sense of existing press law.

The idw member institution also agrees to adhere to the following:
a) not to publish and thus distribute any unlawful contents via idw
b) only to publish and thus distribute such information via idw that are in direct reference to research, study and teaching, promotion of research, policies relating to science and scholarship, knowhow and technology transfer and/or its own events, etc.
c) only to use the classifications as given by the idw system in a correct manner when distributing information
d) not to use idw for advertising and/or commercial contents which do not first and foremost serve the purpose of information and research
e) only to forward inquiries made via the Expert Finder service to experts from idw associated member institutions, to the best of its knowledge and scruples of conscience.

The exact text of the General Terms of Use of Informationsdienst Wissenschaft e. V. can be seen here.

Membership dues and usage fees

The annual dues for membership in Informationsdienst Wissenschaft e. V. differ according to the type and category of institution and are scaled as follows:

• universities (excepting colleges of art and music): EUR 600
• other institutions of higher learning, such as colleges, polytechnics, colleges of education, art and music colleges, etc.: EUR 450
• research institutes: EUR 500
• firms, business companies, profit-earning enterprises: EUR 700
• other institutions: EUR 500

All associated member institutions receive an annual invoice for their membership dues.

Trial period and termination of membership

At the start, every new member institution can try out and get to know the platform idw during the course of a trial period, lasting from the starting date of membership until the end of the following month. This trial period is free of charge. The staff members responsible for press and public relations work within the institution and identified by name at the registration of their institution have all the rights accorded to press spokesmen/women by the idw system. In accordance with our charter and articles of association (§5, No. 2), membership can be terminated at any time and without the necessity of giving reasons for such termination. After the trial period, termination of membership is possible only at the end of the business year (31st December). Notification of desired termination must be done in written form and addressed to the Managing Board. Notice must be given two months in advance of the end of the year, i.e. by 31st October at the latest.

History of idw

Since 2002, idw has existed as a registered non-profit organization. Its associated members include hundreds of institutions of higher learning, research institutes, foundations, academies, research enterprises, professional associations as well as many other scientific and scholarly institutions, primarily in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

idw was originally founded in 1995 as a cooperative project of the press offices of the University of Bayreuth, the University of the Ruhr in Bochum, and the Technical University of Clausthal in cooperation with Clausthal's Computer Center. Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Initiative for a Dialogue of Arts and Sciences (WID), and the Donors' Association for Promoting Arts and Sciences gave their financial support to the establishment and development of the project.

Do you have any questions? The idw-Team will be glad to give you further information!