Our Mission
The Berlin Forum for Research and Policy exists to make evidence count. Digital technologies are transforming how we work, organize, and take part in democratic life, creating new opportunities, but also new risks: from technology-facilitated violence to opaque platform power. Responding well takes more than good intentions. It takes rigorous research, honest dialogue, and institutions that are willing and able to act.
Our mission is to build a bridge between research and policy-making: we produce and translate evidence, convene the actors who can use it, and help turn insight into policies, procedures, and everyday practice.
Independent & Evidence-Led
We are independent and non-partisan. Our analyses follow the evidence. We are transparent about methods, assumptions, and the limits of what research can tell us, and we hold our own work to the same standards we recommend to others.
Rights-Based & Inclusive
Fundamental rights are our compass. We work to protect dignity, equality, and safe participation in public life, online and offline, with particular attention to those most exposed to harm. Inclusion is not an add-on: the people affected by the issues we study help shape our questions, our methods, and our recommendations.
Collaborative & Impact-driven
We don't stop at recommendations. We co-create solutions with the institutions that will use them, e.g., policymakers, public bodies, media, and civil society, and we track whether evidence actually changes practice. Partnership, not prescription, is how change becomes durable.