The Helmholtz Association

Financing

The Helmholtz Association is Germany's largest research organization. Its total annual budget is about 3.76 billion euros. About 2.54 billion euros of this total amount are co-financed by the Federal Government (90 per cent) and the host Länder (10 per cent) as institution-based support. Approximately one third of the budget is acquired by the Helmholtz Centres in the form of contract funding. Around 33,700 employees work in the Helmholtz Association's 18 scientific-technical and biological-medical research centres.

Within the framework of the "Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation," initiated by the Federal Government and the Länder, major German research institutions can expect an increase in funds of at least 5 per cent annually. For Helmholtz, this means an increase of about 100 million euros per year. This Joint Initiative entails the special obligation for the Helmholtz Association to further enhance and intensify cooperation with institutions of higher education.

Research Fields

To succeed in meeting these responsibilities, the Helmholtz Association concentrates its work in six research fields: Energy, Earth and Environment, Health, Aeronautics, Space and Transport, Key Technologies plus Structure of Matter. Scientists develop Research Programmes for each of these fields. International experts review these programmes. Their evaluation forms the basis for the programme-oriented funding given to Helmholtz research.
Within the six research fields, Helmholtz scientists cooperate with each other and with external partners - working across disciplinary, organizational and national borders. Indeed, the name Helmholtz stands for concerted research in which networks form the key principle behind inquiring thought and action. Thus natural scientists, physicians, biologists, but also researchers from the humanities and social scientists work together, for instance to make crucial progress is the environmental research that will secure the basis for human life in the long term.

Impetus and Networking Fund

A central instrument of the Association is the Impetus and Networking Fund, which was established to achieve strategic objectives and implement principles of the Pact for Research and Innovation. The fund enables fast and flexible reactions and the possibility to provide impetus in areas where rapid research findings are to be generated. Besides the resources allocated through the ongoing programmes, the Centres can apply for additional support from this Fund. It is financed by a contribution from each of the Centres within the framework of the increase for the Helmholtz Association agreed within the Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation. Funding is provided in particular for activities of the Helmholtz Centres for networking with institutions of higher education, for international networking and for the qualification of young scientists. Examples of the funding tools developed are Virtual Institutes (together with institutions of higher education) as well as Helmholtz young researcher groups, Helmholtz colleges, and Helmholtz graduate schools.

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• topic Academia

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