Strukturen und Modelle der Forschungsfinanzierung in Deutschland: eine Policy-Analyse

Abstract

"This paper focuses on the financing patterns of R&D (research and experimental development) in Germany. Primarily we reflected on the experiences of West Germany and the method of our analysis is based on expert interviews, of which most were carried out in December 1992. A twofold approach was followed. (1) Firstly, the structural framework of the German R&D system, and its financing, are described with a particular emphasis on the policy profiles of the DFG (German Research Society) and the BMFT (Federal Ministry of Research and Technology). Additionally, we also covered the latest trends in the financing of academic research. (2) Secondly, we aimed at three German success models for the financing of R&D. These are: – The Verbund-Research (Collaborative Research) of the BMFT: Within this scheme academic and industrial research partners are linked and the BMFT only partially finances those clusters (the threshold of financing for the BMFT is 50%). – The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FhG/Fraunhofer Society): The FhG, a nonuniversity research network, has a mixed funding base, consisting of three components – public basic funding, public contract funding and private (industrial) contract funding. – The implementation of foundations: The two major German foundations, the Volkswagen Foundation (VW-Stiftung) and the Environment Foundation (Umwelt-Stiftung), originated from the privatization of public industrial ownership. The German foundations play a key role for the financing of R&D and developed, through a special policy profile, a division of labor with public institutions (like the DFG and BMFT)." [author's abstract]