The credibility of science and research remains high. However, sceptical voices can also be heard among the German population. This is shown by the 2024 Science Barometer, a representative survey conducted by the Science in Dialogue organisation (WiD), in which the GDNÄ is involved as a shareholder. After ten years of regular surveys, long-term trends are now becoming visible.

The level of trust that people in Germany have in science and research is stable. At 55 percent, more than half of those surveyed in the 2024 science barometer also stated that they had full or partial trust (2023: 56 percent). A significant change over the last ten years is reflected in the level of information: the proportion of respondents who feel they are not very or not at all informed about science and research has fallen from 35 per cent (2014) to 17 per cent (2024).

Trust in statements from scientists on the topics of climate change and renewable energies has increased significantly. While only 37 per cent of respondents believed the statements on man-made climate change in 2014, this figure will have risen to 59 per cent by 2024. And while 65 per cent of respondents today trust scientific statements on renewable energies, in 2014 it was only 44 per cent. Taking political views into account, the current survey comes to an interesting conclusion: 41 per cent of people who would vote for the AfD trust scientific statements on renewable energies, but only 15 per cent believe statements on climate change. Such differences are not observed for other parties (with the exception of the FDP).

© WID

Seit einigen Jahren bewegt sich die Glaubwürdigkeit der Wissenschaft auf stabilem Niveau.

For the first time, the 2024 science barometer also asked about attitudes towards scientific freedom. 45 per cent of people in Germany believe that scientific freedom in this country is either good or very good. An almost equally large proportion (39 per cent) believe that scientific freedom is a mixed bag.

The respondents see potential dangers in the influence of business and politics on science: two-thirds believe that the influence of business is rather large or much too large, while 57 per cent say the same about the influence of politics on science. Due to their strong dependency, researchers are not trustworthy – significantly more people agree with this statement in 2024 than in previous years (2022: 56 per cent, 2023: 54 per cent, 2024: 62 per cent). 60 per cent consider it likely that journalists will distort research results.

Two-thirds of respondents consider it important to involve citizens in deciding on new research topics (2017: 56 per cent). Interest in active participation is less pronounced: 43 per cent say they would like to participate in a scientific project and 40 per cent say they would like to discuss with scientists. The science barometer is a representative survey of the population that has been regularly conducted by the non-profit organisation Wissenschaft im Dialog (Science in Dialogue) since 2014 to determine attitudes towards science and research.