Fraunhofer Liaison Office Brazil
How is Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft organized in order to transfer technology to lead markets?
Founded in 1949, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft‘s main goal is to transfer technology to society. Today, it has 76 research institutes in the most diverse areas of human knowledge. There are more than 30,000 employees and a budget of more than 3.1 billion euros in 2022. All this size brings with it a high complexity, especially when it comes to research focuses, technology focuses and market focuses.
Basic Format – Fraunhofer Groups
In order to facilitate these interactions and ways of working between the institutes, Fraunhofer organizes them in a number of ways. The most basic format is that of groups (from the German Verbünde). When an institute is born, it 'falls' into one of the groups. This distribution takes place with institutes working in related thematic areas and cooperating with each other within these Groups. They promote a joint presence in the Research & Development (R&D) market. The Groups help define the business policy of the Fraunhofer Society and act to implement the organizational and funding principles of the Fraunhofer model.
Today, there are 9 Groups. If you want more details, click on the group link:
Healthcare (6 Fraunhofer Institutes)
ICT Group (21 Fraunhofer Institutes)
Production (12 Fraunhofer Institutes)
Microelectronics (15 Fraunhofer Institutes)
Light and Surfaces (5 Fraunhofer Institutes)
Innovation Research (6 Fraunhofer Institutes)
Materials and Components (21 Fraunhofer Institutes)
Resource Technologies and Bioeconomy (4 Fraunhofer Institutes)
Energy Technologies and Climate Protection (9 Fraunhofer Institutes)
Alternative Format – Fraunhofer Alliances
Fraunhofer Alliances facilitate client access to the services and research results of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Common points of contact for groups of institutes active in related fields provide expert advice on complex issues and coordinate the development of appropriate solutions. An institute may or may not be part of an alliance. Also, the same institute can be part of more than one alliance.
Main focuses are to have a medium/long-term platform for collaboration, initiate and represent fields of expertise of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft to the outside world, conduct strategic market studies/analyses, joint fundraising, commercialization of results/services, participation in trade fairs, public relations campaigns, order/tender management, influencing and (when indicated) initiation of R&D programs and occasionally joint prospective research.
Today, there are 10 Fraunhofer Alliances. To find out more details, click on the link for each of the alliances.
Agriculture and Food Industry (13 Fraunhofer Institutes)
AutoMOBILE Production (20 Fraunhofer Institutes)
Aviation and Space (29 Fraunhofer Institutes)
Battery (20 Fraunhofer Institutes)
Inovação em Construção (12 Fraunhofer Institutes
Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (33 Fraunhofer Institutes)
Chemistry (15 Fraunhofer Institutes)
Energy (19 Fraunhofer Institutes)
Transport (20 Fraunhofer Institutes)
Water Systems (10 Fraunhofer Institutes)
Transfer focus – Fraunhofer Lead Markets
Fraunhofer Lead Markets" are our strategic customer segments. Applied research is the brand image of the Fraunhofer Society. Industry is our partner. According to our research fields, we define strategic customer segments, which we call "lead markets".
By fostering innovation, Fraunhofer Lead Markets give Germany a global competitive edge, ensure the technological sovereignty of Germany and Europe, and provide sustainable value creation for society.
These segments provide industry customers with access to Fraunhofer Society services targeted at the following industries:
Details of each Lead Market can be seen by clicking on the links above.
In brief...
Fraunhofer institutes cooperate in groups, collaborating in the form of alliances with the diverse multidisciplinary expertise of these groups directly in the value chain of strategic industrial sectors, so that technologies are transferred to Lead Markets, creating sustainable value for society.
Want to know more? Write to us from this link.
Written by:
Rodrigo Pastl