‘To support politics, where science serves the maintenance of power; to avoid disturbing the political environment, where this damages the maintenance of power.’ This was the answer given by Kurt Biedenkopf when asked what politics expects from science, and he meant it ‘not at all cynically’ (Biedenkopf 2006). With this, Biedenkopf, who was in his career not only a politician but also a scientist (law and economics) and scientific manager (including a period as high-school principal), aptly characterised the conflict of interests in which scientific advice to politics takes place.

Scientific advice to politics is a primary function of governmental research, but this is not its only function. Scientists from a wide range of fields are carrying out research in federal and state ministerial facilities to provide to their respective ministries new knowledge in their areas of expertise. Governmental research is, to the most part, applied and oriented towards developing measures, i.e. it is of a practical nature. Its findings are usually directed to providing a scientific basis for the advice given to politics. Many facilities are also trusted with sovereign duties including testing, authorisation, standardisation and risk assessment.

These responsibilities, which stem from the duty of the state to protect its citizens, are enshrined in various laws and regulations such as the Protection from Infection Law or the Equipment and Product Safety Act.