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The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft conducts applied research for both private and public enterprises, as well as for the general benefit of the public. The association takes its name from Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787–1826), the illustrious Munich researcher, inventor and entrepreneur.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is the largest organisation for applied research in Europe. It conducts research under contract for industry, the service sector and public administration and also offers information and services. One of its most famous inventions is MP3, which was developed by the Fraunhofer-Institute for Integrated Circuits (IIS). MP3 is the most widely adopted method for encoding and decoding digital audio data.

Facts and Figures

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more than 80 research facilities,
including 60 Fraunhofer Institutes, at different locations in Germany

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18,000 staff
Majority are scientists and engineers

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research centres and representative offices in:
Europe, USA, Asia and in the Middle East

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annual budget:
approx. 1.65 billion euro

Organisational Details

Fraunhofer has more than 80 units worldwide, including 60 Fraunhofer Institutes in Germany.

Research Activities

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft works on different areas of research such as information and communication technology, life sciences, microelectronics, surface technology, photonics, production, defence and security, materials and components.

International Cooperation

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has research centres and representative offices in the world’s major economic regions:

• European liaison offices 
• Fraunhofer Centres in the USA 
• Representative Offices in Japan, China, Indonesia, Korea and in the United Arab Emirates 
• several joint programmes with European institutes

Research Budget

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The annual research budget amounts to 1.65 billion euros. Of this sum, 1.4 billion euros is generated by contract research. More than 70 percent of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s contract research revenue is derived from arrangements with industry and from publicly financed research projects. Almost 30 percent is contributed by the German Federal and State (“Länder“) Governments in the form of base funding.