Since 1999, subject-related research evaluations have been carried out at universities in Lower Saxony under the auspices of the Scientific Commission of Lower Saxony. The evaluations are planned and coordinated by a steering group made up of representatives from the State University Conference, the Scientific Commission and the Ministry of Science and Culture.

The evaluations of research were and are intended to support the university in further developing its future research profile and in planning and defining research focuses. The results of the evaluation have played and will continue to play a key role in the Ministry's decisions on which priorities and target-oriented appointment procedures to invest in over the next few years.

In the meantime, the Scientific Commission has completed a cycle throughout Lower Saxony in which more or less all subjects and individual interdisciplinary scientific areas were evaluated (an overview of the procedures carried out and expert reports on the individual evaluations can be found here). In recent years, the Scientific Commission has increasingly carried out structural analyses, e.g. in energy research. Some of these structural analyses related to the entire north-west German region.