25 Years of ZEW – Navigating Between Scylla and Charybdis

Former ZEW President Professor Wolfgang Franz concluded the 25th anniversary ceremony of the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim with a closing speech. Therein he recalled important moments in ZEW's history and forged a connection between these moments and the current and future challenges the institute will have to overcome.

Navigating between Scylla and Charybdis, two sea monsters in Homer's Odyssey, is an enormous challenge. "ZEW has mastered this challenge in the past 25 years, providing high-quality economic policy advice while avoiding shipwreck on the rocks of scientific mediocrity," said Professor Wolfgang Franz at the beginning of his speech. The fact that ZEW's journey has been successful is not least thanks to the great commitment of the ZEW staff, both in the past and today.<o:p></o:p>

In its early days, ZEW had to face similar challenges. By its unique approach to research, combined with a dynamic organisational structure, the newly founded ZEW provided fresh impetus for competition among economic research institutes in Germany. "With Professor Heinz König, ZEW was fortunate to find an outstanding candidate as its first scientific director. Together with the first ZEW Director of Business and Administration, Ernst-O. Schulze, he ushered in more modern and international standards than those common for German economic research institutes at that time," explained Franz, who was ZEW President from 1997 to 2013. During his time as ZEW President, König succeeded both in raising the quality level for scientific research and in shifting the institute towards a more international orientation. This gave ZEW an competitive edge in this long-established market. The coming generation must retain the institute's strong position in competition and continue to successfully adapt to new framework conditions.<o:p></o:p>

Continuity, experience and a great institutional memory for future sustainability<o:p></o:p>

"Research institutes are not university-based research departments, nor are they commercial consulting firms," emphasised Franz. For Germany’s economic research institutes, a key challenge is staying committed to the highest scientific standards while also providing policy advice with a high degree of practical relevance. Measures such as the introduction of the qualification funding programme are therefore crucial for both academia as well as economic policy-makers.<o:p></o:p>

ZEW's journey is not over yet. "What ZEW needs is continuity, experience and a great institutional memory in order to remain sustainable," urges Franz. "One has to constantly reinvent oneself, as there is a clear danger of sinking into the comfortable routine of always answering the same research questions." In order to secure future success, ZEW must stay committed to flexibly changing the institute's strategic direction in order to address fruitful new lines of research. Particularly with regard to its recently established research groups, ZEW is well positioned and ready to forge new paths", said the former ZEW President.<o:p></o:p>

The event concluded with the Director of Business and Administration Thomas Kohl thanking the long-standing friends of ZEW, the staff, members of the institute's committees, research associates and the Sponsors' Association as well as both the government of Baden-Württemberg and the federal government on behalf of the Board of Directors. As he thanked his former colleagues, the ZEW alumni, Kohl also took the opportunity to point out something particularly special about the commemorative publication put together for ZEW's anniversary. The greater part of the publication consists of 25 individual contributions written by ZEW alumni, namely people who feel strongly connected to ZEW and have fond memories of the institute. In their individual testimonies they vividly describe what makes ZEW so special to this day, as well as their hopes for the future of "their" institute.<o:p></o:p>