The Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) has been the central federal agency for civil protection in Germany since 2004. In the BBK, all sectors of civil security preparedness are combined in an interdisciplinary manner and thus into an effective protection system for the entire population. The BBK is a higher federal authority that is part of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Home Affairs (BMI) and performs tasks in civil protection and disaster relief. It is responsible for anchoring civil protection as the fourth pillar in the national security system, alongside the police, the Bundeswehr and the services. The Federal Republic of Germany thus has a central office for civil security that bundles all relevant tasks in one place. The federal government's responsibility for the protection of the civilian population is regulated under § 4 ZSKG. According to this, the BBK is assigned the administrative tasks of the federal government. The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance is responsible, in particular, for supporting the supreme federal authorities with technical competence in uniform civil defence planning, training disaster control leaders and instructors in the context of their civil protection duties, helping to warn the public, informing the public about civil protection, conducting technical and scientific research, and testing equipment and resources intended for civil protection.
The BBK strives to constantly further develop the civil protection of the Federal Republic of Germany in the most effective way possible. For this, it relies on research. The BBK conducts its own research within the scope of its competence and has a budget of approximately 2 million Euros for awarding research contracts and funding research projects. The BBK's research council decides on the strategic direction and focus of research at the BBK and the prioritization of research needs. Unit III.1 "Research and Foundations" acts as the office of the internal research council by advising it, preparing its meetings, compiling research needs from within the BBK and providing administrative support for research projects that have been awarded.
Unit III.1 (forschung[at]bbk.bund.de) is the first point of contact for all matters related to research, from the awarding of research projects to the acquisition of third-party funding for research in the BBK. Unit III.1 advises the departments e.g. on a suitable research program, a suitable project partner and on administrative issues.
The spectrum of research topics includes all topics of civil protection and covers the whole range of specialized units: Crisis management and IT procedures, alerting the population, psychosocial crisis management, crisis management exercises, risk management, self-protection and information of the population, protection of critical infrastructure, structural civil protection, CBRN protection, protection of health, medical services, vehicle technology, supplementary equipment of the federal states, education and training in civil protection, civil-military cooperation, supplementary civil protection training and international cooperation in civil protection.
