There is an ongoing discussion within the Association on how to provide impetus for the further development of the evaluation of the performance of academics.

Given the diversity of tasks in research and teaching, the performance of academics should be viewed in a multidimensional way. This is related to the increasing efforts of universities to open up to a wider public through "third mission" activities not exclusively related to teaching and research. The evaluation of the performance of academics should therefore take into account a range of outcomes beyond specialist publications, for example in the areas of

• Scholarly teaching, development and sharing of teaching materials (e.g. textbooks, open educational resources), support for students and researchers in the early stages of their careers
• Services in the self-administration of universities and for the research community (e.g. in academic societies, the DFG, the German Council of Science and Humanities, as editors of scientific journals, preparing expert reports, organising scientific meetings and conferences).
• Knowledge transfer to society (e.g. lectures at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce or for the interested public, science communication in (social) media)
• Policy advice and legislative commentary
• Research data management, development of open science, software and algorithms
• International cooperation in research and education

This list of other areas of science and science-related activities is neither exhaustive nor complete, but is subject to the dynamics of societal and (higher education) policy developments.