Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research | |
German:Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e. V. | |
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 Headquarters inMunich, in 2013 | |
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| Named after | Joseph von Fraunhofer |
|---|---|
| Formation | 26 March 1949 (76 years ago) (26 March 1949) |
| Type | Nonprofit |
| Headquarters | 17 Stockwerke, Hansastraße,Munich,Germany |
| Location |
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| Services | Research institute |
| Methods |
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| Fields | |
Official language | German |
President | Holger Hanselka(since 2023– ) |
| Subsidiaries | multiple |
| Budget | €3.6 billion (2024) |
| Staff | 32,000 (2024) |
| Website | fraunhofer |
TheFraunhofer-Gesellschaft (full name, inGerman:Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e. V.,lit. 'Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research'), commonly known in English as theFraunhofer Society, is aGerman research organization with 75 institutes and research units spread throughoutGermany, the United States and the United Kingdom, each focusing on different fields ofapplied research. With some 32,000 employees, mainlyscientists andengineers, and an annual research budget of approximately€3.6 billion,[1] it is one of the world's leading organizations for applied research.[2] The organization, headquartered inMunich, is named afterJoseph von Fraunhofer, who, as a scientist, engineer and entrepreneur, is said to have superbly exemplified the goals of Fraunhofer.
Since the 1990s the organization has also internationalized, establishing various centers and representative offices in Europe, the United States, Asia and South America.[3]
Under the Fraunhofer model, which was approved in 1973, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft earns about two thirds of its income through contracts with industry or specific government projects. The remaining third of the budget is sourced in the proportion 9:1 fromfederal andstate government grants and is used to support pre-competitive research.[4]
Thus the size of Fraunhofer's budget depends largely on its success in maximizing revenue from contract research.[citation needed]
The institutes are not legally independent units. However, the Fraunhofer model grants a very high degree of independence to the institutes in terms of project results and 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.[citation needed]
Numerous innovations are the result of research and development work at the Fraunhofer institutes. The institutes work on practically all application-relevant technology fields, includingmicroelectronics,information and communications technology,life sciences,materials science,energy technology ormedical technology.[6][7] One of the best known Fraunhofer developments is theMP3 audio data compression process.[8] In 2024, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft reported 507 newinventions. Of these, 439patent applications claiming rights of priority were filed. The number of activepatent families amounted to 7,081.[9] Studies in 2023 have shown that the presence of a Fraunhofer center can boost thepatent output of local firms and inventors by at least 13%.[10]
As of 2025[update], the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft operated 75 institutes and research units throughout Germany:[11]
In addition to its German institutes and research units, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft operates three US-based centers through its American subsidiary, Fraunhofer USA, in collaboration with major research universities:
Fraunhofer USA also operates a headquarters office inPlymouth, Michigan, and a Digital Media Technologies (DMT) office inSan Jose, California. Furthermore, Fraunhofer USA participates in the South Carolina Fraunhofer USA Alliance, in collaboration with the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness and the South Carolina Department of Commerce.[12]
At the invitation of theUK government, Fraunhofer UK Research Ltd was established in partnership with theUniversity of Strathclyde. The UK's first Fraunhofer center, the Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics, was established and quickly recognized as a world-leading[13] center in lasers and optical systems. The UK government commented on the significance of Fraunhofer CAP inquantum technology innovation.[14] Ongoing core funding is received from theScottish government and fromScottish Enterprise.[15]
Fraunhofer was founded inMunich on March 26, 1949, by representatives of industry and academia and the governments ofBavaria,Hesse andWürttemberg.[24] In 1952, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs declared the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft to be the third part of the non-university German research landscape (alongside theGerman Research Foundation and theMax Planck institutes). From 1954, Fraunhofer's first institutes were established. By 1956, it was also providing administrative assistance in the area of defence research in collaboration with the German Federal Ministry of Defense. In 1959, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft comprised nine institutes with 135 employees and a budget ofDM 3.6 million.
In 1968, Fraunhofer became the target of public criticism for its role in military research. By 1969, Fraunhofer had more than 1,200 employees in 19 institutes, with a budget ofDM 33 million. At this time, a commission for the promotion of the development of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft planned the further development of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. In 1972, it proposed a financing model that would make Fraunhofer dependent on its commercial success. This would later come to be known as the Fraunhofer model. The model was agreed to by the federal cabinet and the Joint Commission of the Federal and States Governments (Bund-Länder-Komission) in 1973. In the same year, the executive board and central administration moved into joint accommodation at Leonrodstrasse 54 in Munich.
In 1977, a general agreement on research promotion came into force stipulating that the political ownership of Fraunhofer would be shared by the German Federal Ministries of Defense and Research. In 1984, Fraunhofer had 3,500 employees in 33 institutes and a research budget ofDM 360 million. Five years later, in 1989, the number of employees had increased to nearly 6,400, with Fraunhofer operating 37 institutes with a total budget ofDM 700 million. In 1991, Fraunhofer faced the challenge of integrating numerous research establishments in former East Germany. By 1993, Fraunhofer's total budget exceededDM 1 billion. In 1994, Fraunhofer USA, Inc., was founded to manage the activities of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in theU.S.
The year 2000 marked a noteworthy success at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS. The institute was awarded theDeutscher Zukunftspreis (German Future Prize) for developing the audio formatMP3, which later on developed into a worldwide de facto standard. Between 2000 and 2001, the IT research institutionGMD – Forschungszentrum Informationstechnik (Information Technology Research Center) was integrated into Fraunhofer at the initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research. In 2001, Fraunhofer Venture, atechnology transfer office, was established in order to enable employees and founders to build internationally successful companies from cutting-edge Fraunhofer technology.[25] One year later, in 2002, ownership of the Heinrich-Hertz-Institut für Nachrichtentechnik Berlin GmbH, which belonged to theLeibniz Association, was transferred to Fraunhofer. With this integration, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft's budget exceeded 1 billion euros for the first time. In 2003, Fraunhofer headquarters moved to its own building in Hanstrasse 27 c in Munich. Two years later, the Fraunhofer Technology Academy was founded in collaboration with theUniversity of St. Gallen,RWTH Aachen University, and the Hagen University of Distance Learning. In the same year, Fraunhofer's industrial revenues rose to 36 percent (a new record), helping to boost the organization's total business volume by 17 percent to€1.25 billion. In 2007, Fraunhofer Attract was introduced, which is designed to help Fraunhofer recruit outstanding independent research scientists with innovative ideas. 2009, the former institutes of theForschungsgesellschaft für Angewandte Naturwissenschaften (Research Society for Applied Sciences) were converted into Fraunhofer institutes. In the following years, Fraunhofer continued to grow. In 2015, its budget amounted to more than€2.1 billion. On March 26, 2024, Fraunhofer celebrated its 75th anniversary.[26]
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The following individuals have served as presidents of the Fraunhofer Society:
| Order | Name | Term started | Term ended | Time of office | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walther Gerlach | 1949 | 1951 | 1–2 years | |
| 2 | Wilhelm Roelen | 1951 | 1955 | 3–4 years | |
| 3 | Hermann von Siemens | 1955 | 1964 | 8–9 years | |
| 4 | Franz Kollmann | 1964 | 1968 | 3–4 years | |
| 5 | Christian Otto Mohr | 1968 | 1974 | 5–6 years | |
| 6 | Heinz Keller | 1974 | 1982 | 7–8 years | |
| 7 | Max Syrbe | 1982 | 1993 | 10–11 years | |
| 8 | Hans-Jürgen Warnecke | 1993 | 2002 | 8–9 years | |
| 9 | Hans-Jörg Bullinger | 2002 | 2012 | 9–10 years | |
| 10 | Reimund Neugebauer | 2012 | 2023 | 10–11 years | |
| 11 | Holger Hanselka | 2023 | incumbent | 2–3 years |
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