The transfer of basic research findings to practical applications is an important element of the funding policy of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation). That this kind of transfer is also possible in humanities research projects is shown by the example of the Hamburg Collaborative Research Centre 538 “Multilingualism”. In four transfer projects, scientists and academics have begun the practical implementation of findings from basic research in linguistics. This is the first time that transfer projects have been established on such a scale in a humanities Collaborative Research Centre. “With this success, the University of Hamburg and the Collaborative Research Centre itself have set new standards,” says DFG President Prof. Matthias Kleiner. Funding of the transfer projects began on 1 March 2007 and is planned for three years. The official starting signal was given on 13 June at a festive opening in Hamburg, attended by the DFG President.
The Collaborative Research Centre “Multilingualism”, which has been funded by the DFG since 1999, is dedicated to the task of documenting, analysing and explaining the forms and functions of multilingual language use. One of the results of its investigations is that early contact with a second language is not only advantageous for the acquisition of the second language, but also promotes the general development of cognitive abilities. Above all, the transfer projects hope to bring the results produced up to now by the Collaborative Research Centre to teachers and educators, in order to improve the performance capacity and the quality of foreign language classes in schools. This will involve both the development of teaching materials and the design of qualification and advice modules for educators. The Hamburg researchers work together with, among others, vocational schools for social pedagogy, a regional teacher training institute and a service company for translation and communication consultation.
The DFG started funding transfer projects in Collaborative Research Centres in 1996. Currently around 150 transfer projects are being supported, with about 9 million euros per year. At present, this funding opportunity is mostly utilised in the engineering sciences. In this case, basic scientific findings are examined, in cooperation with an industry partner, for their possible applications, or prototypes are jointly developed. In the other sciences too, this funding instrument provides an exceptional opportunity for cooperation with suitable private or public partners. The new transfer projects in Hamburg are a good example of this.
Further information on the Collaborative Research Centre “Multilingualism” and on the transfer projects can be found at www.uni-hamburg.de/fachbereiche-einrichtungen/sfb538/index.html.
The DFG contact persons are Dr. Oliver Wiegner, Research Centres Division, Tel. +49 228 885-2576, Email: oliver.wiegner@dfg.de, and Dr. Susanne Anschütz, Humanities and Social Sciences, Tel. +49 228 885-2528, Email: susanne.anschuetz@dfg.de.