???aural:Bildanfang???Innovation made in Germany: The automotive sector. © BMWGroup???aural:Bildende???

German companies are among the most innovative in Europe. Industry based and financed investments account for almost two thirds of all R&D funding in Germany. Companies are especially involved in the field of applied research, working together with the global network of Fraunhofer Institutes and the German Federation of Industrial Research Associations “Otto von Guericke“ (AiF). Environmental research is an example of successful technology transfer, as is evident by the growing markets for renewable energies that range from photovoltaics to wind energy.

Close cooperation between industry and research

Industry and research cooperate in many areas. For example, there are numerous joint programmes and research projects involving companies as well as research and research funding organisations.
Companies co-operate especially closely in the field of applied research, working together with globally operating Fraunhofer Institutes and the German Federation of Industrial Research Associations "Otto von Guericke" (AiF). The Helmholtz Association has 2,400 collaborative projects with industry – for example, in energy research or in nanotechnology and biotechnology. The Max Planck Society runs Max Planck Innovation GmbH, a separate technology transfer company. Since 1979 it has concluded over 1,700 utilisation agreements and supported more than 80 spin-off companies since 1990. The Leibniz Community has also set up its own interface between research and industry called Leibniz X. The German Research Foundation (DFG) supports knowledge transfer by research institutions and facilitates the foundation of research training groups in which universities and companies work closely together.

Facts and Figures

???aural:Bildanfang??????aural:Bildende???

shares of the internal industrial research budget: 10.1% small enterprises (up to 249 employees), 5.3% medium-sized enterprises (250-500), 84.6% big enterprises (more than 500 employees)

???aural:Bildanfang??????aural:Bildende???

322,000 research staff,
including 174,00 scientists

???aural:Bildanfang??????aural:Bildende???

annual budget (2008):
approx. 46.1 billion euro (internal R&D expenditure)

Research Activities

Roughly 38% of internal R&D spending in industry was invested in the automotive sector, some 19% in the electrical engineering sector, a good 14% in the chemical industry and just under 11% in mechanical engineering.

Where does industrial research take place?

???aural:Bildanfang??????Großansicht des Bildes???R&D expenditures in billion EUR (2005) Source: Eurostat???aural:Bildende???

The Federation of German Industries (BDI) is the umbrella organisation for enterprises and industry-related service providers. The BDI coordinates the views and recommendations of its members and provides business support, i.e. the information covering all fields of economic policy. Particularly in the field of applied research, companies are working together with universities and research institutes on joint projects which are co-funded by public institutions. Shares of the industrial research budget are distributed as follows: small enterprises (10.1%), medium-sized enterprises (5.3%) and big enterprises (84.6%). The nine big enterprises listed below account for the lion's share of the total industrial research budget.

Company Links

• Daimler: www.daimler.com
• Siemens: www.siemens.com
• Volkswagen: www.volkswagenag.com
• BMW Group: www.bmwgroup.com
• Robert Bosch: www.research.bosch.com
• Bayer: www.bayer.com
• Boehringer: www.boehringer.com
• Infineon Tech.: www.infineon.com
• SAP: www.sap.com

Research Budget

???aural:Bildanfang??????Großansicht des Bildes???Budget of industrial research???aural:Bildende???

German industry spends approx. 46.1 billion euros on internal research (2008). Industry is responsible for carrying out and funding at least two-thirds of R&D activities.