Research Cooperation between Germany and France

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With a Franco-German week being held in Paris from 15 to 19 April 2013, both countries want to increase the visibility of these measures and the potential for German-French cooperation within higher education and research. Both ministers will be present at a festive opening ceremony on 15 April, where the Gay-Lussac Humboldt Prize will be awarded to excellent French and German scientists, the founding ceremony for the Paris-Berlin Centre for Public Health will be held, and a cooperation agreement between both national academies of science will be signed.

Current German-French cooperative projects

Germany and France want to expand cooperation in the fields of higher education, research and technology - the most important determinants for growth in Europe. At the first bilateral meeting between French Minister of Higher Education and Research Geneviève Fioraso and German Minister of Education and Research Annette Schavan in Berlin, both ministers agreed to strengthen cooperation in the fields of energy research and digital information technology and to work together during negotiations for the next EU framework research programme "Horizon 2020." Germany and France can draw on a long tradition of cooperation in education, science and research. Nearly 50 per cent of all expenditures for research and development in European countries are sourced from German and French businesses and taxpayers. The governments, scientists and entrepreneurs in both countries apply this funding to work on solutions to the great societal challenges of the 21st century.

 

Franco-German Council of Ministers

Since the 40th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty in 2003, the Research Ministers of both countries regularly agree on joint work programmes, known as 'feuilles de route'. These programmes are updated regularly for the Joint Councils of Ministers, which take place twice a year. The work programmes define short and medium-term cooperation objectives for selected research fields which have a high priority for both countries.

In the framework of the 14th Franco-German Council of Ministers on 6 February 2012, Federal Research Minister Annette Schavan and her French colleague, Laurent Wauquiez, adopted measures to intensify Franco-German cooperation in research and technology. Capacity will be pooled at the ministerial, research organizations, university and industry level to take on the challenges of the future together. The governments of both countries adopted the 'Franco-German 2020 Agenda' at the 12th Franco-German Council of Ministers held in Paris on 4 February 2010. The Agenda describes the framework and the objectives for shaping bilateral cooperation over the next decade. It focuses particularly on education, research and innovation policy. It includes a total of 80 project proposals for intensifying Franco-German cooperation over the next ten years in important areas such as economic and financial policy, energy and climate policy, foreign and security policy. As concerns European research policy, the two countries intend to cooperate in preparing the new EU Research Framework Programme, Horizon 2020.

Forums on Franco-German Research Cooperation

The Forums on Franco-German Research Cooperation, which have been taking place regularly since 2002, are also of special importance. The aim of these events is to coordinate research and innovation policy strategies at high level. Following the Forums in Paris in 2002 and in Potsdam in 2005, the third Forum took place in Paris on 29 February 2008.

4th Forum on Franco-German Research Cooperation

Federal Research Minister Schavan and her French counterpart Minister Wauquiez at the 4th Forum on Franco-German Research Cooperation on 13 October 2011The 4th Franco-German Research Forum took place at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities on 12 and 13 October 2011 and was attended by Federal Minister Annette Schavan and her French counterpart Laurent Wauquiez. The Forum addressed topics which both countries have identified as very important in national priority-setting processes ("Stratégie nationale de recherche et d'innovation" and the High-Tech Strategy). Twelve bilateral working groups convened at the Forum. At the same time, projects were implemented which had been adopted at the 12th Franco-German Council of Ministers under the Franco-German 2020 Agenda.

Research organizations from both countries also signed four agreements at the Forum. The Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale will be setting up a cancer research group in Lyon together with the German Cancer Research Center as well as a research group for immunology in Marseille with the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has signed an agreement with the Institut national de recherche en informatique et en automatique to cooperate on the development of image and model-based computer programmes.

Key areas of cooperation

There are numerous cooperative activities at subject-specific and project level. The main focus is on the fields of information and communications technology and the biosciences and biotechnology. Further joint German-French fields of research are the properties of matter, new materials, environmental and climate research, health and medicine as well as the humanities and social sciences.

Highlights of bilateral cooperation

Both countries are involved in research in the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KIC) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) in the fields of climate protection and adapting to climate change (Climate KIC) and sustainable energy (KIC InnoEnergy).

Germany and France are strengthening their cooperation in the field of supercomputing dealing with scientific questions in a number of areas (particle physics, climate research, astronomy, energy, life and nanosciences).

Both countries are also cooperating within the framework of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI). France plays a strong role in the XFEL X-ray Free-Electron Laser Facility in Hamburg and in the FAIR source of heavy ion research in Darmstadt.

Germany and France are working together in the context of various European programmes (7th EU Research Framework Programme, COST, EUREKA). Project proposals submitted by researchers, research institutions and organizations, universities and industry under these programmes are expected to encourage research policy synergies between the two countries.

The German-French University

The German-French University (DFH) with its office in Saarbrücken is a network of 180 member universities in Germany and France and focuses in particular on promoting the establishment of joint courses of study. The German-French University also supports the establishment of joint postgraduate research groups in cooperation with the German Research Association (DFG).

The Centre Marc Bloch

State Secretary Schütte speaking at the celebration of the Centre Marc Bloch's 20th anniversary. Copyright: cmb-hu-berlinThe Centre Marc Bloch (CMB), named after French historian Marc Bloch (1886-1944), celebrated 20 years of research on 9 November 2012. Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Federal Governments of Germany and France agreed to found a German-French research centre for social sciences in Berlin. On the wish of both governments, the new research institute was to be opened to other European countries as well. Funding for the centre is provided by the BMBF together with the French Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Research and Higher Education. Since the January 2011 cooperation contract, the centre is also closely connected to the Humboldt University to Berlin.

Cooperation in Vocational Education

Another major field of cooperation is in the field of vocational training. The German-French vocational training expert group and the Franco-German Secretariat for Vocational Training Exchanges in Saarbrücken, which is the BMBF's largest bilateral exchange programme with more than 4,000 participating German and French apprentices per year, have both been running since 1980 (http://www.dfs-sfa.org/).

Special activities of funding and intermediary organizations

There are numerous cooperation programmes with France. The following list is limited to the most significant examples.

In addition to its funding programmes for university students and graduates, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has introduced a number of special programmes with the aim of intensifying Franco-German relations. One example is the PROCOPE programme (a project-based personnel exchange programme with France), which supports cross-border scientific cooperation between scientists working at universities and non-university research institutions in both countries. The DAAD is also in charge of the joint exchange programme in the area of cancer research on behalf of the BMBF.

The Gay-Lussac-Humboldt Award, which has been conferred jointly by the French Ministry of Research and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) every year since 1981, honours scientists' efforts towards Franco-German cooperation in research and teaching.

The extraordinarily close relationship between Germany and France is reflected in the large number of partnerships and agreements, especially at institutional level. For example, all the German science organizations have concluded cooperation agreements with the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), the largest French research organization.

The German-French Association for Science and Technology (DFGWT) supports the BMBF in shaping bilateral cooperation with France.