Future perspectives for surgical research in Germany

During the last two decades, the complexity of surgical patient care has increased dramatically. Nonetheless, there is substantial need to improve the quality of surgical research in Germany. Herein, we present the current concepts of the German Society of Surgery, the Section of Surgical Research, the Study Center of the German Surgical Society, and the German Surgical Trial Network (CHIR-Net) and their perspectives to promote young surgeons for a career in academic surgery and to improve the quality of surgical research in experimental studies as well as in clinical trials. The concepts include also education, teaching, and mentoring in order to strengthen the research profile of surgical departments and surgical research institutes. We feel that realization of these concepts should guarantee the survival of the surgeon-scientist across all surgical subspecialties, increase the attractiveness of academic positions in surgery, and promote translational research from bench to bedside with a benefit for patient care.