Emil Jürgen Zöllner (July 11, 1945 in Mährisch Neustadt) is a German medical professional and politician (SPD).

[2] After graduating in 1964, Zöllner studied medicine until 1969 in Freiburg im Breisgau and Mainz, completed his doctorate in 1970, and obtained his habilitation in 1975.

After another reorganization of the departments, in the Beck III cabinet from May 2001, Zöllner served as Minister for Science, Continuing Education, Research, and Culture in Rhineland-Palatinate.

[7] Also in 1997, he initiated an empirical shift in educational policy: as a minister and A-state coordinator in the KMK (Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany), Zöllner introduced the so-called "Konstanz Resolution" (October 24, 1997) to conduct cross-state comparative studies on the learning and performance levels of students.

This marked a turning point: Since then, Germany has regularly participated in international comparative studies such as PISA, TIMSS, and IGLU.