DFG and Fraunhofer Society Announce New Call for Collaborative Knowledge Transfer Projects

Budget of €3 million to support trilateral projects in Germany that bring together universities, Fraunhofer Institutes and industry partners.

In collaboration with the Fraunhofer Society, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG – German Research Foundation) is operating a programme for trilateral knowledge transfer projects which are designed to bring together researchers from universities (including HAW and FH), Fraunhofer Institutes and application partners in the industry. The projects are intended to close a gap between basic research and application.

DFG funding is provided to the participating university partners while the participating Fraunhofer Institute will receive support via the Fraunhofer Society. Participating application partners will not be offered financial support but are expected to cover their own costs.

The trilateral projects must be based on the results of a DFG-funded project associated with an individual grant or with a coordinated process such as a Priority Programme, Research Unit or Collaborative Research Centre. The project partners address these results and further develop them into a demonstrator or prototype. Projects must be pre-competitive and involve a joint and balanced work programme laying out the contributions of each partner.

A prerequisite for funding is a technology readiness level of TRL 4.

Funding is offered for collaborative projects bringing together researchers from at least one institution of higher education (university/HAW/FH) and one Fraunhofer Institute as well as up to three self-financing partners in industry and application.

Eligible for DFG funding as part of this programme are researchers who work at a institution of higher education in Germany, and who have completed their academic training (usually with a doctorate).

Funding is provided for a period of up to three years. The total annual budget of the programme is €3 million. DFG and Fraunhofer Society intend to support five to eight projects with this call.

The application procedure comprises a two-step process with an initial call for outline proposals followed by the submission of a full funding application for shortlisted consortia.

The deadline for the submission of outline proposals is 7 September 2022.

(This report was the subject of a RESEARCHconnect Newsflash.)