About Fraunhofer

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, based in Germany, is one of the world’s leading applied research organizations. It plays a crucial role in the innovation process by prioritizing research in key future technologies and transferring its research findings to industry in order to strengthen Germany as a hub of industrial activity as well as for the benefit of society.

Founded in 1949, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft currently operates 76 institutes and research units throughout Germany. Its nearly 32,000 employees, predominantly scientists and engineers, work with an annual business volume of 3.4 billion euros; 3.0 billion euros of this stems from contract research, which is divided into three funding pillars. Fraunhofer generates a share of this from industry and license-fee revenue, totaling 836 million euros. This high proportion of industrial revenue is Fraunhofer's unique selling point in the German research landscape. Another share of contract research revenue comes from publicly funded research projects. The final share is base funding supplied by the German federal and state governments and enables our institutes to develop solutions now that will become relevant to the private sector and society in a few years.

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Ingenuity is our country’s most important raw material. It enables the efficient and sustainable transfer of scientific knowledge into commercial use. This transfer is the backbone of our innovation system. Challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate and energy crises, global supply chain problems, demographic changes and new geopolitical conflicts have changed our world − with consequences for the long-term stability of our security and prosperity. And yet change also offers opportunities for bringing more sovereignty to central areas of technology − and transforming our economy with a view to making it more sustainable. From our energy supply to the medical sector through to cybersecurity: We can now emerge stronger and more resilient after a crisis − and we have the chance not only to use specific innovations to preserve our competitiveness, expertise and knowledge but to expand them, too. Germany and Europe’s freedom to act and make decisions within the political and economic spheres is a key objective here. With holistic concepts for business, politics and society, Fraunhofer delivers solutions that make an impact across multiple sectors − with a view to the markets now and in the future. Fraunhofer. #WeKnowHow.