Research Landscape - Networked knowledge
There are lots of reasons why Germany is so successful. One of the most important is close cooperation between universities, international research institutes and industry. Expert networks of this kind have established themselves in 32 regions of Germany. They operate nation wide and are able to produce innovations with particularly high value-added potential. They are embedded in a framework of innovation-friendly conditions and contribute to the regions’ profile creation.
Cutting-edge research also takes place at hundreds of non-university instititutions belonging to organisations like the Max Planck Society, the Helmholtz Association, the Leibniz Association, or the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft. It is here that scientists can find optimum conditions only available at very few other institutions worldwide. The Helmholtz Association alone, the largest of the organisations, employs a staff of about 24,000, 4,500 of whom come from abroad. It has a budget of 2.2 billion euros (2006) which is channelled into research areas such as energy, health and transportation.
Alongside Germany's universities and extramural research organisations, hundreds of other research establishments ensure the high level of high performance in the German scientific system.
Concerted international efforts to open new markets and new technologies, sponsor bright hopes and create a core of excellence in the European university system - Germany has become a breeding ground for new talent and has already invested more than six billion additional euros in research and development during this government's term of office.
For some time, German objectives have been not only to achieve high scores in research rankings, but also to develop new methods for compiling such lists.
The results of the work of 27 Nobel Prize winners and a multitude of German researchers' inventions are known throughout the world as scientific landmarks - and have been successfully marketed around the globe.
Theory of relativity, computers, automobiles, teddy bears - all German inventions. And to make sure this series carries on, Germany registers an average of one patent every 22 minutes - more than any other country in the world. But Germany's export successes lead the field too.
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