Länder institutions

The German states (Länder) and municipalities act as research funding bodies and operate several research institutes that support state research activities. There are 143 institutes covering a broad range of research areas. 

One example is the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW). The state of Baden-Württemberg set up ZSW in 1988 as a non-profit foundation that brings together universities, research institutes and companies. Today, it is one of the leading institutes for applied research in the areas of photovoltaics, renewable fuels, battery technology, fuel cells and energy systems analysis. Some 280 scientists, engineers and technicians, alongside 100 student assistants and trainees, are currently employed at ZSW’s three sites in Stuttgart, Ulm and Widderstall. 

Another example is the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), which is based in Kaiserslautern and has sites in Saarbrücken and Bremen and a project office in Berlin. It is one of the world’s leading research centres in the field of AI.

A researcher is conducting experiments with a mobile robot system.

©DFKI GmbH / Dr. Jan Albiez

Experiments with mobile robot systems: DFKI staff are experts in the forward-looking field of AI.

Facts and figures

 

143 research institutions

6,100 staff, including more than 2,600 R&D personnel;
among them 1,300 researchers

Internal expenditure: 552 million euros in total, including 243 million euros for R&D (2018)

Research activities

Research activities are conducted in: 

  • Engineering
  • The humanities
  • Health research
  • The natural sciences.

Budget

The total budget in 2018 was approx. 570 million euros, of which 243 million euros were allocated to R&D.

Piechart shows that departmental research institutes are primarily publicly funded (92%). Approx. 5% of these research institutions’ revenues come from their commercial activities and 4% from other sources. Deviation in the total amount is due to rounding.

©FAZIT

State institutions that conduct research are primarily state-funded. However, approx. 10% of these research institutions’ revenues come from their commercial activities.