The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) plans to significantly boost knowledge transfer between science and business. In keeping with this objective, the DFG's Joint Committee decided to implement changes to the funding scheme for temporary positions for principal investigators and the Emmy Noether Programme in order to increase the ties between academic research and industry. This decision was made on May 30, 2006, during the DFG's annual meeting. It will soon be possible to receive funding for a temporary position or an Emmy Noether working group, either within an existing company or within a new company founded especially for this purpose.
The transfer and start-up projects are intended to enable outstanding young postdocs and researchers participating in the Emmy Noether Programme to conduct independent research projects in an industrial environment, to harmonize the findings of their research with the needs of industry, or to develop their own findings through to the prototype stage. Funding will be granted to projects that have arisen from existing successful DFG-funded projects. In addition to the scientific quality of the results of the project, the potential for development to market readiness is also a key eligibility criterion.
The DFG's funding mechanisms already allow for funding of cooperation projects between academic and industrial researchers on an equal footing, either through the individual grants program or the various coordinated programs. Approximately 20 transfer projects, which facilitate cooperation between universities and industry or other users for a specific period, and which are intended to investigate to what extent the findings and insights gained from basic research can be put into practice in real-life applications, serve as prime examples.
For further information on the DFG, please contact Dr. Ing. Andreas Engelke; Tel: 49-022-888-52523; e-mail: andreas.engelke@dfg.de.