On 25 September 2025, we celebrated EVALAG's 25th anniversary with numerous invited guests at the Frauenbad in Heidelberg. During the ceremony, the two foundation directors Dr Aletta Hinsken and Dr Sibylle Jakubowicz took the guests on a journey from EVALAG's beginnings, through the developments of recent years, to its current profile. The main stages of this journey are summarised below.
Where EVALAG comes from ...
EVALAG was established as a foundation under public law on 18 July 2000 by resolution of the Baden-Württemberg state government. The office began its work in mid-2001. In this early phase, EVALAG was primarily commissioned by the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts to carry out cross-university evaluations of study programmes at all universities in Baden-Württemberg.
Where EVALAG has developed ...
In 2007, EVALAG's tasks were fundamentally reorganised and the foundation's profile significantly expanded. From then on, in addition to evaluations on behalf of universities, the range of tasks also included developing quality assurance systems and advising universities and other academic institutions on quality development issues. As part of its other activities to promote science, the organisation also supported the Carl Zeiss Foundation in the allocation of funding. Since then, EVALAG has seen itself as a modern service organisation.
This change was accompanied by new appointments to the Foundation Council and Foundation Board. At the beginning of 2009, a second department was established with the aim of being able to carry out programme and System Accreditations. EVALAG was approved as an accreditation agency by resolution of the Accreditation Council on 1 October 2009. In the course of this, the Accreditation Commission was constituted and, in addition to accreditation itself, the counselling services for accreditation were also established. Since then, EVALAG has also been active as an accreditation agency.
Where EVALAG stands today - and what course has been set for the future ...
Since 2022, EVALAG has been in an intensive phase of organisational modernisation. This includes processes, internal workflows and the organisational structure as well as the company's external image. Business processes have been largely digitalised and a new working culture has been established with mobile working and consciously designed presence phases for organisational development. For the first time in EVALAG's history, a tandem solution was also introduced at Executive Board level with the foundation's chairwomen. A new corporate design and the revised website also underline the modernisation process.
Against this background and with a wide range of services, EVALAG is setting the course for continued success as a reliable service organisation for universities and science. EVALAG is also a competent partner for the certification of scientific further education institutions and further education programmes as well as validation procedures. You can also find out more about the individual service areas on our website.