The Fraunhofer Society (german: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., lit=Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research) is a German research organization with 76institutes spread throughout Germany, each focusing on different fields of applied science (as opposed to the Max Planck Society, which works primarily on

basic science Basic research, also called pure research or fundamental research, is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenomena. In contrast, applied researc ...

). With some 29,000 employees, mainly

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...

s and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

s, and with an annual research budget of about €2.8billion, it is the biggest organization for applied research and development services in Europe. 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 Länder (singular Land) or Bundesländer (singular Bundesland) is the name for (federal) states in two German-speaking countries. It may more specifically refer to: * States of Austria, the nine federal subdivisions of Austria * States of Germany ...

'', "owns" the Fraunhofer Society), but more than 70% of the funding is earned through contract work, either for government-sponsored projects or from industry. 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. The organization has seven centers in the United States, under the name "Fraunhofer USA", and three in Asia. In October 2010, Fraunhofer announced that it would open its first research center in South America. 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.

Fraunhofer model

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. 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. 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. One of the best known Fraunhofer developments is the

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

audio data compression process. 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.

Institutes

The Fraunhofer Society currently operates 76 institutes and research units. These are Fraunhofer Institutes for: * Advanced Systems Engineering �
IEM
* Algorithms and

Scientific Computing Computational science, also known as scientific computing or scientific computation (SC), is a field in mathematics that uses advanced computing capabilities to understand and solve complex problems. It is an area of science that spans many disc ...

�
SCAI
* Applied

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of Data (computing), data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information te ...

�
FIT
* Applied and Integrated Security �

* Applied Optics and Precision Engineering �
IOF
* Applied Polymer Research �

* Applied Solid State Physics �
IAF
*

Biomedical Engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...

�
IBMT
* Building Physics �

* Cell Therapy and Immunology

* Ceramic Technologies and Systems �

* Chemical Technology �

* Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics �

*

Computer Graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great de ...

Research �
IGD
* Digital Media Technology �
IDMT
* Digital Medicine
MEVIS
* Electron Beam and Plasma Technology �

* Electronic Nano Systems �

* Energy Economics and Energy System Technology

* Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology �

* Embedded Systems and Communication

* Experimental Software Engineering �

* Factory Operation and Automation �

* High-Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques �

* High-Speed Dynamics (

Ernst-Mach-Institut The Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics (German: ''Fraunhofer-Institut für Kurzzeitdynamik''), commonly known as the Ernst Mach Institute and also by the abbreviation Fraunhofer EMI, is a facility of the Fraunhofer Society in Germany. T ...

) �
EMI
*

Industrial Engineering Industrial engineering is an engineering profession that is concerned with the optimization of complex processes, systems, or organizations by developing, improving and implementing integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information a ...

�
IAO
* Industrial Mathematics �

* Information Center for Regional Planning and Building Construction �
IRB
*

Integrated Circuits An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...

�
IIS
* Integrated Systems and Device Technology �
IISB
* Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems �

* Interfacial Engineering and

Biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...

�
IGB
* International Management and Knowledge Economy

*

Laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fi ...

Technology �
ILT
* Machine Tools and Forming Technology �
IWU
*

Manufacturing Engineering Manufacturing engineering or production engineering is a branch of professional engineering that shares many common concepts and ideas with other fields of engineering such as mechanical, chemical, electrical, and industrial engineering. Manufa ...

and Applied Materials Research �
IFAM
* Manufacturing Engineering and Automation �

* Material and Beam Technology �

* Material Flow and

Logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

�
IML
* Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies �

* Mechanics of Materials �
IWM
* Microelectronic Circuits and Systems �
IMS
* Microstructure of Materials and Systems �

* Microsystems and Solid State Technologies EMFT

*

Molecular Biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

and Applied

Ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

�
IME
* Non-Destructive Testing �
IZFP
* Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation �
IOSB
* Open Communication Systems �
FOKUS
* Photonic Microsystems �

* Physical Measurement Techniques �

* Process Engineering and Packaging �

* Production Systems and Design Technology �
IPK
* Production Technology �

* Reliability and Microintegration �

* Secure Information Technology �

* Silicate Research �
ISC
*

Silicon Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic ta ...

Technology �
ISIT
* Solar Energy Systems �
ISE
* Structural Durability and System Reliability �

* Surface Engineering and

Thin Films A thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a nanometer ( monolayer) to several micrometers in thickness. The controlled synthesis of materials as thin films (a process referred to as deposition) is a fundamental step in many ...

�
IST
* Systems and Innovation Research �
ISI
* Technological Trend Analysis �
INT
*

Telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut �
HHI
*

Toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating e ...

and Experimental Medicine �
ITEM
* Transportation and Infrastructure Systems �

* Wind Energy Systems �

* Wood Research, Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institut �

Fraunhofer USA

In addition to its German institutes, the Fraunhofer Society operates five US-based Centers through its American subsidiary, Fraunhofer USA: * Coatings and Diamond Technologies �
CCD
* Experimental Software Engineering �
CESE
*

Applications �
CLA
* Manufacturing Innovation �
CMI
* Digital Media Technologies �

Fraunhofer Singapore

In 2017 Fraunhofer Society launched its first direct subsidiary in Asia:
Fraunhofer Singapore
– Visual and Medical Computing, Cognitive Human-Machine Interaction, Cyber- and Information Security, Visual Immersive Mathematics

Fraunhofer UK Research Ltd

At the invitation of the UK Government, Fraunhofer UK Research Ltd was established in partnership with the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

. The UK's first Fraunhofer Centre
Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics
was established and quickly recognised as a world-leading centre in lasers and optical systems. The UK Government commented on the significance of Fraunhofer CAP in quantum technology innovation. Ongoing core funding is received from Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and the University of Strathclyde.

Notable projects

*The

compression algorithm was invented and patented by Fraunhofer IIS. Its license revenues generated about €100 million in revenue for the society in 2005. *The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) was a significant contributor to the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video compression standard, a technology recognized with two Emmy awards in 2008 and 2009. This includes the Fraunhofer FDK AAC library. *As of May 2010, a metamorphic triple-junction

solar cell A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

developed by Fraunhofer's Institute for Solar Energy Systems holds the world record for solar energy conversion efficiency with 41.1%, nearly twice that of a standard silicon-based cell. *Fraunhofer is developing a program for use at IKEA stores, which would allow people to take a picture of their home into a store to view a fully assembled, digital adaptation of their room. *E-puzzler, a pattern-recognition machine, which can digitally put back together even the most finely shredded papers. The E-puzzler uses a computerized conveyor belt that runs shards of shredded and torn paper through a digital scanner, automatically reconstructing original documents. *OpenIMS, an Open Source implementation of IMS Call Session Control Functions (CSCFs) and a lightweight Home Subscriber Server (HSS), which together form the core elements of all IMS/NGN architectures as specified today within 3GPP, 3GPP2, ETSI TISPAN and the PacketCable initiative. * Powerpaste, a

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...

- and

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...

-based gel, that releases

hydrogen fuel Hydrogen fuel refers to hydrogen which is burned as fuel with oxygen. It is zero-carbon, provided that it is created in a process that does not involve carbon. It can be used in fuel cells or internal combustion engines (see HICEV). Regarding hydr ...

suitable for fuel cell consumption when it reacts with

water Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

has been developed by the ''Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials (IFAM)''. *Roborder, an autonomous border surveillance system that uses unmanned mobile robots including aerial, water surface, underwater and ground vehicles which incorporate multi-modal sensors as part of an interoperable network.

History

The Fraunhofer Society was founded in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

on March 26, 1949, by representatives of industry and academia, the government of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, and the nascent Federal Republic. In 1952, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs declared the Fraunhofer Society to be the third part of the non-university German research landscape (alongside the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the

Max Planck Institute Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

s). Whether the Fraunhofer Society should support applied research through its own facilities was, however, the subject of a long-running dispute. From 1954, the Society's first institutes developed. By 1956, it was developing research facilities in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense. In 1959, the Fraunhofer Society comprised nine institutes with 135 coworkers and a budget of 3.6 million

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

. In 1965, the Fraunhofer Society was identified as a sponsor organization for applied research. In 1968, the Fraunhofer Society became the target of public criticism for its role in military research. By 1969, Fraunhofer had more than 1,200 employees in 19 institutes. The budget stood at 33 million

. At this time, a "commission for the promotion of the development of the Fraunhofer Society" planned the further development of the Fraunhofer Society (FhG). The commission developed a financing model that would make the Society 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 Bund-Länder-Kommission in 1973. In the same year, the executive committee and central administration moved into joint accommodation at Leonrodstraße 54 in

. The Fraunhofer program for the promotion of consulting research for SMEs was established, and has gained ever more significance in subsequent years. In 1977, the political ownership of the society was shared by the Ministries of Defense and Research. By 1984, the Fraunhofer Society had 3,500 employees in 33 institutes and a research budget of 360 million

. By 1988, defence research represented only about 10% of the entire expenditure of the Fraunhofer Society. By 1989, the Fraunhofer Society had nearly 6,400 employees in 37 institutes, with a total budget of 700 million

. In 1991, the Fraunhofer Society faced the challenge of integrating numerous research establishments in former East Germany as branch offices of already-existing institutes in the Fraunhofer Society. In 1993, the Fraunhofer Society's total budget exceeded 1 billion

. In 1994, the Society founded a US-based subsidiary, Fraunhofer USA, Inc., to extend the outreach of Fraunhofer's R&D network to American clients. Its mission statement of 2000 committed the Fraunhofer Society to being a market and customer-oriented, nationally and internationally active sponsor organization for institutes of applied research. In 1999, Fraunhofer initiated Fraunhofer Venture, a technology transfer office, to advance the transfer of its scientific research findings and meet the growing entrepreneurial spirit in the Fraunhofer institutes. Between 2000 and 2001, the institutes and IT research centres of the GMD (Gesellschaft für Mathematik und Datenverarbeitung – Society for Mathematics and Information technology) were integrated into the Fraunhofer Society at the initiative of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research. The year 2000 marked a noteworthy success at Fraunhofer-Institut for Integrated Circuits (IIS):

, a

lossy In information technology, lossy compression or irreversible compression is the class of data compression methods that uses inexact approximations and partial data discarding to represent the content. These techniques are used to reduce data size ...

audio format which they developed. For many years afterwards, MP3 was the most widely adopted method for compressing and decompressing digital audio. In 2002, ownership of the Heinrich-Hertz-Institut for Communications Technology Berlin GmbH (HHI), which belonged to the Gottfried William Leibniz Society e. V. (GWL), was transferred to the Fraunhofer Society. With this integration, the Fraunhofer Society budget exceeded €1 billion for the first time. In 2003, the Fraunhofer Society headquarters moved to its own building in

. The Fraunhofer Society developed and formulated a firm specific mission statement summarizing fundamental targets and codifying the desired "values and guidelines" of the society's "culture". Amongst these, the society committed itself to improving the opportunities for female employees and coworkers to identify themselves with the enterprise and to develop their own creative potential. In 2004, the former "Fraunhofer Working Group for Electronic Media Technology" at the Fraunhofer-Institut for Integrated Circuits (IIS) gained the status of an independent institute. It becomes Fraunhofer-Institut for Digital Media Technology IDMT. New alliances and topic groups helped to strengthen the market operational readiness level of the institutes for Fraunhofer in certain jurisdictions. In 2005, two new institutes, the Leipzig Fraunhofer-Institut for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI), and the Fraunhofer Center for Nano-electronic technologies CNT in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

, were founded. In 2006, the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems (IAIS) was founded as a merger between the Institute for Autonomous Intelligent Systems (AIS), and the Institute for Media Communication (IMK). In 2009, the former FGAN Institutes were converted into Fraunhofer Institutes, amongst them the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics FKIE and the Fraunhofer Institute for Radar and High Frequency Technology FHR. In 2012, the cooperation of Fraunhofer with selected research-oriented universities of applied sciences based on the "Application Center" model started. The first cooperation was started with the Technische Hochschule OWL in

Lemgo Lemgo (; nds, Lemge, Lemje) is a small university town in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated between the Teutoburg Forest and the Weser Uplands, 25 km east of Bielefeld and 70 km west of Hannover. T ...

and led to the foundation of the Fraunhofer IOSB-INA in late 2011.

Image gallery

File:Schmallenberg-Grafschaft Fraunhofer-Institut Sauerland-Ost 094.jpg, Fraunhofer-Institut (IME) in Schmallenberg File:Fraunhofer - Dresden - FEP - IFAM - IKTS - IWS.jpg, Fraunhofer - Dresden - FEP - IFAM - IKTS - IWS

Presidents

Walther Gerlach Walther Gerlach (1 August 1889 – 10 August 1979) was a German physicist who co-discovered, through laboratory experiment, spin quantization in a magnetic field, the Stern–Gerlach effect. The experiment was conceived by Otto Stern in 1921 an ...

(1949–1951) * Wilhelm Roelen (1951–1955) *

Hermann von Siemens Hermann von Siemens (9 August 1885 in Berlin – 13 October 1986 in Munich) was a German industrialist of the Siemens family. Life He was the eldest son of Arnold von Siemens who himself was the eldest son of Werner von Siemens, the famous inve ...

(1955–1964) *Franz Kollmann (1964–1968) *Christian Otto Mohr (1968–1974) *Heinz Keller (1974–1982) * Max Syrbe (1982–1993) *

Hans-Jürgen Warnecke Hans-Jürgen is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Hans-Jürgen Abt of Abt Sportsline, a motor racing and auto tuning company based in Kempten im Allgäu, Germany * Hans-Jürgen von Arnim (1889–1962), German colonel-general (Ge ...

(1993–2002) * Hans-Jörg Bullinger (2002–2012) * Reimund Neugebauer (2012–present)

Notes

References

External links

* * * (US) * (UK) * (DE) {{Authority control 1949 establishments in Germany Engineering research institutes Laboratories in Germany Members of the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics Organizations established in 1949 Robotics organizations Scientific organisations based in Germany 20th-century establishments in Bavaria