The Federal Government and the Länder jointly fund the following large non-university research organizations, listed with percentage of funding agreed by both sides (Federal Government:Länder):
- Max Planck Society (MPG) (50:50)
- Helmholtz Association (HGF) (90:10)
- Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FhG) (90:10)
- Leibniz Association (WGL) (50:50)
Max Planck Society
The Max Planck Society (MPG) is a non-university research organization and operates its own institutes which conduct basic research in the natural sciences, humanities and social sciences.
The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science was founded in 1948 as a non-profit research organization registered in Berlin and as the successor organization to the Kaiser Wilhelm Society. The President and Administrative Headquarters of the MPG are located in Munich. The MPG is named after the physicist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics Max Planck (1858-1947).
The MPG operates 84 institutes and research units. The scientific attractiveness of the MPG is based on its understanding of research: Max Planck Institutes are built up around the world’s leading researchers. Once appointed, they themselves define their research topics and have free reign in recruiting their staff. This great amount of freedom is quality-controlled through a system of regular evaluations by independent international experts. The work of the MPG and its collaborations are designed to be interdisciplinary.
Numerous Nobel prize winners
The outstanding position of the MPG in the German research environment and in an international context is based on the internationally renowned research achievements of its scientific members. The great number of prestigious prizes awarded is evidence of this: more than 20 Nobel laureates have emerged since 1954.
Joint funding from the Federal Government and the Länder
A further reason for MPG’s success is its basic institutional funding. The Society takes advantage of the resulting scientific autonomy to identify areas in promising research fields, attract the best researchers worldwide and thus take a leading role in these research areas. The largest share of the MPG's budget is publicly financed. Institutional funding is provided by the Federal Government and the Länder, each contributing about half of this share.
Solutions to global challenges
Max Planck Society research findings contribute significantly to technological, economic and societal development and the solution of global challenges.
Innovative research fields
Max Planck Society funding strengthens knowledge-oriented basic research. The MPG places emphasis on research in new, innovative research fields.
Research that is beneficial for society
The research achievements serve the general public and are aimed at forming excellence as a productive complement to research which is done at universities, higher education institutions and other research establishments.
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FhG) supports non-university research and conducts application-oriented research in its own institutes, focussing on key technologies relevant for the future.
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft was founded in Munich in 1949 as a recognized non-profit research organization with the legal status of a registered association. It is named after the Munich scholar Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787-1826), who enjoyed success as a researcher, inventor and entrepreneur in equal measure.
The FhG plays a central role in the innovation process due to its focus on key technologies relevant for the future and the commercialization of research results in business and industry. It acts as a catalyst and driver of innovative developments and scientific excellence. Through inspiring ideas and sustainable scientific and technological solutions, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft provides stimulus for science and industry and plays a part in shaping our society and our future.
Fraunhofer Institutes
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft operates more than 70 institutes. The impact of their applied research reaches beyond the immediate benefit for their customers: the R&D work done by the Fraunhofer institutes contributes to the competitive strength of the region, of Germany and of Europe. They enhance the performance of businesses, increase the acceptance of modern technology in society and provide training for the next generation of scientific and technological staff we so urgently need. Fraunhofer offers its employees the chance to shape their own independent, goal-oriented research, thus facilitating professional and personal development that qualifies them for challenging positions in its institutes, at higher education institutions, in industry and society. The practical relevance of its training and the early contact to contractors opens up outstanding opportunities to students for entry-level positions and career advancement in private companies.
Joint funding from the Federal Government and the Länder
Another factor of success for the FhG is its basic institutional funding. The FhG uses the resulting scientific autonomy to carry out research on key technologies of relevance for the future and thus provide important impetus for the innovation process in Germany as well as Europe. One third of FhG’s budget is generated by contracts from industry and service provider companies; another third is contributed by state-financed research projects. The remaining third comes from the basic institutional funding provided by the Federal Government and the Länder, of which the Federal Government provides 90%, the Länder 10%.
Benefit for society
It is important that society benefits from research findings. Research findings play a critical part in solving global challenges.
Application-oriented research
Funding for Fraunhofer strengthens application-oriented research. The FhG focuses on research dedicated to key enabling technologies that are vital to our future.
Research as provider of impetus
Research outcome from the FhG is intended to be used by the economy and industry and thus to act as a provider of impetus for innovative developments. In this way, applied research strengthens regional competitiveness and that of Germany and Europe.
Helmholtz Association
The Helmholtz Association (HGF), which has an annual budget of about 6 billion euros and more than 46,000 employees, is Germany’s largest scientific organization. More than half of its budget is provided by the Federal Government and the Länder as institutional funding (90% Federal Government, 10% Länder); one third is sourced from third-party funds.
Helmholtz Centres
The Helmholtz Association is the umbrella organization for 18 legally independent research centres, the majority of which focus on natural sciences and technology as well as fields in biology and medicine. The Helmholtz Association’s mission is to address long-term challenges in science and society through strategic and programmatic cutting-edge research so as to preserve and improve the basis of human life. The Helmholtz centres thus make a significant contribution to securing vital resources over the long term and to building the technological basis for a competitively viable future. Researchers focus on highly complex systems which require a holistic and interdisciplinary approach as well as a critical mass of resources, for example when it comes to securing mobility and the energy supply, conservation of the environment, or finding solutions for the treatment of diseases.
Programme-oriented funding
Programme-oriented funding is the basis on which the Helmholtz Association distributes basic funding. The 18 Helmholtz centres consolidate their research activities in programmes that are classified into six research fields: energy, earth & environment, health, matter, information, and aeronautics, space and transport. Every programme is evaluated in a two-stage process by international experts at regular intervals.
The development, construction and operation of complex research infrastructures such as particle accelerators, research vessels or supercomputers is a major part of the HGF's mission. The unique Helmholtz research infrastructures are open to scientists from all over the world.
Leibniz Association
The Leibniz Association unites 96 independent institutions covering a unique range of topics. Its total budget is some 2.2 billion euros, roughly 1.4 billion euros of which is institutional funding that is co-funded by the Federal Government and the Länder on a 50/50 basis. About 800 million euros of the budget is financed by third parties or other sources.
In line with the motto "theoria cum praxi", the more than 20,000 staff at Leibniz institutes address important issues relevant to the future. Just as important as excellence in research is the ambition to transfer new findings into practice quickly. This concerns both scientific and technological progress made and the development of new treatments as well as the provision of evidence-based advice to society, decision-makers in politics and industry. In this way, a broad range of forward-looking issues such as education, climate or global food supply are addressed from different perspectives.
Leibniz institutes
The 96 Leibniz institutions are divided into five sections:
- Humanities and Educational Research (A)
- Economics, Social Sciences, Spatial Research (B)
- Life Sciences (C)
- Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Engineering (D)
- and Environmental Sciences (E)
Eight of the Leibniz institutions are also research museums. The profile of the Leibniz Association also includes facilities which essentially serve as infrastructures available to science and society. Both the research museums and the infrastructures are assigned to the sections.
A range of cooperative measures such as the Research Alliances, the ScienceCampi or the multidisciplinary Leibniz Labs represent targeted means to raise the synergistic potential of the Leibniz Association.
Regular evaluation
A characteristic of the Leibniz Association is a regular evaluation of its member institutions (usually once every seven years). In their evaluation, external scientists focus in particular on excellence and the wider significance of the individual Leibniz institutions.
Editorial deadline for this text: 01.11.2024