Fraunhofer Society
The Fraunhofer Society (German: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e. V., lit. 'Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research'[note 1]) is a German research organization with 76 institutes spread throughout Germany, each focusing on different fields of applied science (as opposed to the Max Planck Society, which works primarily on basic science). With some 30,800 employees, mainly scientists and engineers, and with an annual research budget of about €3.0 billion,[1] it is the biggest organization for applied research and development services in Europe. It is named after Joseph von Fraunhofer who, as a scientist, an engineer, and an entrepreneur, is said to have superbly exemplified the goals of the society.
Formation
Some basic funding for the Fraunhofer Society is provided by the state (the German public, through the federal government together with the states or Länder, "owns" the Fraunhofer Society), but more than 70% of the funding is earned through contract work, either for government-sponsored projects or from industry.[1]
Since the 1990s the organization has also internationalized, establishing various centers in the United States, Asia and other European countries.[2] In October 2010, Fraunhofer announced that it would open its first research center in South America.[3] Fraunhofer UK Research Ltd was established as a legally independent affiliate along with its Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics, in Glasgow, Scotland, in March 2012.[4]
Fraunhofer model[edit]
The so-called "Fraunhofer model" has been in existence since 1973 and has led to the society's continuing growth. Under the model, the Fraunhofer Society earns about 70% of its income through contracts with industry or specific government projects. The other 30% of the budget is sourced in the proportion 9:1 from federal and state (Land) government grants and is used to support preparatory research.
Thus the size of the society's budget depends largely on its success in maximizing revenue from commissions. This funding model applies not just to the central society itself but also to the individual institutes. This serves both to drive the realization of the Fraunhofer Society's strategic direction of becoming a leader in applied research and to encourage a flexible, autonomous, and entrepreneurial approach to the society's research priorities.
The institutes are not legally independent units.[5] The Fraunhofer model grants a very high degree of independence to the institutes in terms of project results, scientific impact and above all for their own funding.[5] On the one hand, this results in a high degree of independence in terms of technical focus, distribution of resources, project acquisition, and project management. On the other hand, this also generates a certain economic pressure and a compulsion to customer and market orientation. In this sense, the institutes and their employees act in an entrepreneurial manner and ideally combine research, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Numerous innovations are the result of research and development work at the Fraunhofer institutes. The institutes work on practically all application-relevant technology fields, i.e. microelectronics, information and communication technology, life sciences, materials research, energy technology or medical technology.[6][7] One of the best known Fraunhofer developments is the MP3 audio data compression process.[8] In 2018, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft reported 734 new inventions. This corresponds to about three inventions per working day. Of these, 612 developments were registered for patents. The number of active property rights and property right applications increased to 6881.[9] Recent studies have shown that the presence of a Fraunhofer center can boost the patent output of local firms and inventors in at least 13%.[10]
Fraunhofer - Dresden - FEP - IFAM - IKTS - IWS
