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Project duration: since 01.01.2009

NEPS - National Educational Panel Study

The National Education Panel Study analyzes educational processes in Germany. The IFS is responsible for the fourth phase (the transition from lower to upper secondary school) of NEPS.

Project description

Hellblauer und dunkelblauer Schriftzug des Projektnamens NEPS Nationales Bildungspanel

The aim of NEPS is to collect data on long-term educational processes and skills development across the life span in Germany, and to and study changes across the life span and across cohorts. NEPS collects high quality data from representative samples (starting cohorts) of newborns, preschoolers, school children from the 5th and 9th grades, freshmen students and adults. The collected data is processed in a user-friendly design and made available to the scientific public.

The IFS is responsible for the fourth phase (the transition from lower to upper secondary school) of NEPS. This stage maps the crucial transition from elementary school into the general education system, vocational, or higher secondary schools, or direct entry into the job market.

NEPS plots a life course of eight educational stages, distinguished by their integration into a theoretical framework based select key concepts: (1) skills development throughout life, (2) educational processes in specific learning contexts and environments, (3) social inequality and its effects on an educational career, (4) educational achievement of people with a migration background, and (5) returns to education. Additionally motivational variables and personality characteristics are examined.

These dimensions represent the central pillars of NEPS and are followed in each start cohort throughout the lifespan. NEPS categorizes eight educational stages: Stage 1: birth to early childhood care; Stage 2: kindergarten to elementary school; Stage 3: elementary to lower secondary school; Stage 4: lower to upper secondary school; Stage 5: Upper Secondary School to higher education, vocational training, labor market; Stage 6: vocational training to the labor market; Stage 7: higher education to the labor market; Stage 8: adult education and lifelong learning.

Lead researcher at IFS

Project management

Project team

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Location & approach

The most convenient highway exits are on the B 1/A 40 (Dortmund-Barop) (closer to the North Campus) and on the A45 (Dortmund-Eichlinghofen). The university is signposted at both exits. In the local road network you will find signs to Campus Nord, where the Campus Treff is also located. From Emil-Figge-Strasse, entrance no. 18 and from Vogelspothsweg entrance no. 23 lead to parking spaces near the venue.

From Dortmund main station, take the S-Bahn "S1" in the direction of Solingen on track 7 to the stop "Dortmund-Universität" (price level A). The S-Bahn runs every 15 minutes during peak hours on weekdays and takes about 6 minutes. From Düsseldorf, the S-Bahn runs every 30 minutes. Directly at the S-Bahn station you will find the CDI building, which houses the Center for Research on Education and School Development.

One of the university's landmarks is the H-Bahn, which has two terminuses on the North Campus. One is located directly above the S-Bahn station and is easily accessible from it by elevators. The other is located in the center of Campus North at the bridge between the University Library and the Mensa, right next to the Audimax. The H-Bahn runs from here to the South Campus and the Eichlinghofen district.

Dortmund has an airport connected with some destinations in Central Europe. There are regular flights, for example, to Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, Katowice, Krakow, Leipzig-Halle, London, Munich, Nuremberg, Paris, Poznan, Stuttgart, Vienna and Zurich. For the approximately 20 kilometers from the Dortmund airport to the campus, you can take the bus to the main train station and from there the S-Bahn. Faster is usually the use of a cab. Far more international flight connections are offered by the Rhine-Ruhr Airport in Düsseldorf, about 60 kilometers away, which can be reached directly by S-Bahn from the university station.