Science and research in Germany are characterised by an excellent infrastructure, a wide variety of disciplines, well-equipped research facilities and competent staff. Germany offers various forms of research locations: universities,  non-university institutes, companies and institutions run by federal or state (“Länder”) authorities. All in all, there are approximately 750 publicly funded research institutions in Germany, plus research and development centres run by companies.

In selected fields or regions, these industrial and academic institutions pool their research and development activities in networks and clusters to work more efficiently and to benefit from a higher level of knowledge. Also, cooperation at European as well as international level has become an essential dimension of sciences and humanities in Germany.

Facts and Figures

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approx. 750 public-funded research institutions
about 130 research networks and clusters

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506,000 staff in R&D
299,000  scientists and scholars

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bilateral, European and multilateral co-operations
with more than 40 countries

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Gross Domestic Expenditure on
Research and Development: 61,5 billion euro

Research Budget

In 2007 the Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) was 61.5 billion euros with more than two thirds of research funding provided by industry. Nearly 28% comes from federal and state authorities, and the remaining 4% from foreign investment. The proportions of public and private funding vary according to the type of institution and the kind of research it conducts (basic/applied).