The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, headquartered in Germany, is one of the world’s leading organizations for applied research. It plays a major role in innovation by prioritizing research on cutting-edge technologies and the transfer of results to industry to strengthen Germany’s industrial base and for the benefit of society as a whole. Since its founding as a nonprofit organization in 1949, Fraunhofer has held a unique position in the German research and innovation ecosystem.

With nearly 32,000 employees across 75 institutes and independent research units in Germany, Fraunhofer operates with an annual budget of €3.6 billion, €3.1 billion of which is generated by contract research — Fraunhofer’s core business model. Unlike other public research organizations, base funding from the German federal and state governments is merely the foundation for the annual research budget. This serves as the basis for groundbreaking precompetitive research that will become important for the private sector and society in the years ahead. Fraunhofer’s distinctive feature is its large share of industry revenue, guaranteeing close collaboration with the private sector and industry, and the consistent focus of Fraunhofer’s research on the market. In 2024, industry revenue accounted for €867 million of its budget. Fraunhofer’s research portfolio is augmented by competitively acquired public-sector funding, pursuing the right balance between public-sector and industry revenue.