Bf3R Commission

First convened in 2017, the Bf3R Commission advises the German Centre for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R) in its scientific tasks. The goal of the work of Bf3R is to restrict tests with animals to the absolutely essential minimum and guarantee laboratory animals the best possible protection.

Bf3R was founded in 2015 and is an integral part of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment. The Centre for Documentation and Evaluation of Alternative Methods to Animal Experiments (ZEBET) was integrated into Bf3R. Bf3R conducts its own research. Because of this realignment, the Bf3R Commission was newly appointed as the successor to the ZEBET Commission.

The experts on the commission have the task of providing Bf3R with expert professional advice on its scientific activities. The results of the commission’s consultancy work are directed at the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and have a purely advisory nature. They are intended to support the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in the pursuit of its goals.

The members of the Bf3R Commission are appointed on the basis of their special expertise and not because they belong to a certain institution. A BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment-internal appointments commission consisting of five scientific employees makes a selection and ranking of applicants purely on the basis of their qualifications and professional experience. There then follows further scrutiny by two independent, external specialists.

The Bf3R Commission is made up of scientists who are appointed as experts in one of the five areas of competence of Bf3R:

1. Centre for Documentation and Evaluation of Alternative Methods to Animal Experiments (ZEBET)
2. Reduction of severity and improvement of animal welfare
3. Alternative methods in toxicology
4. National Commission for the Protection of Animals Used for Scientific Purposes
5. Coordination of research on alternative methods