Research and
Technology
Factsheet No.5 (April 2002)
The Fraunhofer Society
(Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, FhG)
The Fraunhofer Society
(FhG) is one of Germanys four non-university research organisations.
It focuses on applied research. After the merger with the Research
Centre for Information Technology (GMD) in Spring 2001, the number
of FhG institutes has increased to 56. They undertake contract research
for the public sector, government and industry, including small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which lack the critical mass
to carry out their own R&D. Members of the institutes play an
important role in the promotion of young scientists through university
teaching. The FhG also acts as an adviser to government and industry
on research-related issues, particularly on the commercialisation
of new technologies.
Structure and Priorities
The Fraunhofer Societys
headquarters are based in Munich. Professor Hans-Jürgen Warnecke
chairs the Executive Board of the FhG. The Senate, which comprises
representatives from industry, science and government, sets research
priorities and determines the allocation of resources to the institutes
on the basis of advice from the Scientific and Technological Council
(WTR). The Fraunhofer Institutes focus on eight priority areas:
materials technology
and component behaviour;
production technology;
information and communications technology;
microelectronics and microsystems engineering;
sensor systems and testing technologies;
process engineering;
energy and construction technology, environmental and health research;
technical and economic studies and information transfer.
In order to maximize
their potential, the FhG institutes form cooperative alliances,
thus jointly offering their services on the market. Currently, there
are seven cooperative alliances formed by 48 institutes, which also
advise the Executive Board on structural and business development
within their research field. They are:
The Information and
Communication Technology Alliance
The Microelectronics Alliance
The Surface Technology and Photonics Alliance
The Production Alliance
The Materials and Components Alliance
The Polymer Surfaces Alliance
The Life Sciences Alliance
The recent merger with
the GMD, a former Helmholtz Research Centre, resulted in the formation
of the largest IT research group in Europe, the Fraunhofer Information
Technology and Communication Group, which includes 15 institutes.
It improved the FhGs and also Germanys competitive strength
in the IT area. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research supported
the merger financially.
Another emerging research
priority of the FhG is the life sciences area. Four of the Fraunhofer
Institutes pooled their biotechnological expertise in a "Life
Science Alliance" in December 2000. They conduct research in
the field of bio- and genetic engineering, medical technology, pre-clinical
and clinical research and environmental research and protection.
The goal of the alliance is to promote the industrial development
of biotechnology and thus link basic research and industry production.
The revenue generated by the new alliance in 2001 amounted to € 50 million.
Facts and
Figures about the Fraunhofer Society
The Fraunhofer Societys
2001 budget was € 977 million (£1=€1.6),
an increase of € 217 million over the previous year.
Some € 100 million was revenue generated by the former
GMD institutes. The Fraunhofer Society has three main sources of
income:
institutional funding
provided by the federal and states (Länder) governments on a 90:10
basis, (a total of € 320 million in 2001 plus an
additional € 36 million from the Federal Ministry
of Defence)
public-sector project
grants from the EU, federal and states sources
Industry funding
from contract research (some € 278 million in 2001).
Some two thirds of
the FhGs annual budget of almost € 1 billion
is covered by contract research carried out on behalf of industry,
the state and public institutions. Following the merger with the
GMD, the Fraunhofer Society employs close to 12,000 staff.
Technology Transfer
Fraunhofer Institutes
focus on applied research and development but an amount of strategic
and precompetitive research is also undertaken. Research is usually
conducted in the form of projects funded from public-sector grants
or by industry, mainly SMEs. The latter include customer-specific
solutions to companies problems, for instance the adaptation
of specific processes or technologies in accordance with company
requirements. With an annual staff fluctuation rate of 12%, the
Fraunhofer Society continuously transfers technologies and expertise
into industry. The FhG has introduced three mechanisms to promote
the transfer of research into industrial applications:
Application Centres
(Anwendungszentren) are based at individual institutes and form
a platform for contract research for the specific needs of industry.
Innovation Centres
(Innovationszentren) seek to bridge the gap between applied R&D
and the introduction of new products on the market. Two innovation
centres, both located in Bavaria, specialise in telecommunications
engineering and recyclable polymers.
Demonstration Centres
(Demonstrationzentren) combine the expertise of several Fraunhofer
Institutes to improve the R&D infrastructure in priority areas.
These centres also provide training opportunities and consultancy
services for SMEs.
FhG Institutes generally
offer university graduates training opportunities in various technological
areas.
Patent and Licensing Activities
In 2001, the Fraunhofer
Society was granted 166 new patents, raising the total number of
active German patents of the FhG to 1372. Most of them come from
the engineering and microtechnology areas. In 2000, the FhGs
central patent and licensing agency (PST, Fraunhofer Patentstelle)
had an annual budget of close to € 5m. Its role is to advise
and support Fraunhofer Institutes on patent and licensing matters.
It is also responsible for providing consultancy on patent and licensing
issues to independent investors, universities and non-university
research facilities. The centre runs three technology transfer projects:
an initiative to promote patent activities in Bavarian universities
(Bayern Patent); the Patent and Licensing Agency of the German Human
Genome Project (PLA), which assists industry and publicly funded
institutes with the commercialisation of research resulting from
the German Human Genome Project; and the Technology Transfer of
the National Genome Research Network (TT NGRN), a project promoted
by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Spin-offs from Fraunhofer
Institutes
Some 300 companies
have been spun off from the Fraunhofer Society since 1992, mainly
in such areas as information technology, life sciences, material
research and environmental engineering. The Fraunhofer Venture Group
was established in 1999 to support spin-offs by providing consultancy
on start-up funding and business plan design. It also offers access
to a network of consultants, venture capitalists and banks. The
Fraunhofer Venture Group takes out partnerships, usually by providing
technology licences. To a very limited extent, it also provides
seed capital. In the year 2000, there were 48 spin-offs from the
FhG. The Venture Group was involved in about half of them.
International
Activities
The Fraunhofer Society
has two subsidiaries in the US, which operate centres from five
locations. They focus on computer graphics, biomedical engineering,
materials research, production technology and software engineering.
The centres aim to transfer local expertise into the Fraunhofer
Society and to increase its customer base overseas. The FhG has
also established four Representative Offices in South East Asia
focusing on marketing and business expansion. In April 2001, a further
Fraunhofer Representative Office officially opened in Brussels.
The FhG also maintains Liaison Offices in China and South East Asia,
which aim to establish R&D collaboration projects, win R&D
contracts for the affiliated Fraunhofer Institutes, provide technology
consultancy for local companies and to support German companies
expanding research and production activities to the region. The
FhGs revenue acquired from foreign contracts increased in
2001 to some € 82 million. Its income from European
partners accounted for 70% of this income. Business with UK companies
accounted for some € 2 million in the year 2000.
Further Information and Literature
English-language information
on the Fraunhofer Society with links to all institutes is available
on the Internet at http://www.fhg.de.
The FhG publishes a number of English-language brochures, including
a guide to its research establishments and sectoral publications
on priority research areas. The Society also publishes a regular
newsletter "Research news" and a bilingual German/English
guide to its institutes on CD-ROM. The annual report 2001 is only
available in German. Copies of these may be obtained via the Internet
or from:
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft e.V.
Leonrodstr. 54
80636 Munich, Germany
Tel: +49 89 1205 459
Fax: +49 89 1205 317
E-mail: fraunhofer.presse@zv.fhg.de
Internet: http://www.fhg.de
Research
and Technology Section
British Consulate-General Munich
Bürkleinstrasse 10
D-80538 München
|