The event highlighted central funding programs at federal level and showed how companies can receive targeted support for innovation projects.
The German mechanical and plant engineering industry has always been able to build on its high innovative strength. However, medium-sized companies in particular quickly come up against personnel or financial limits in their research and development activities. This is precisely where government research funding comes in.
Overview of research funding
Dr. Julian Barnikol from the Forschungskuratorium Maschinenbau e.V. provided a compact overview of government funding opportunities in Germany. The focus was on federal funding instruments: Industrial Collective Research (IGF), collaborative research and research grants.
The IGF is characterized by the following features:
- Industry-driven, pre-competitive, open-topic, broadly effective
- Bottom-up approach, long-term networks, sector-related, processed by research institutions
- No direct company funding, but contribution to the training of young engineers (e.g. via doctoral projects)
Overview of collaborative research
Collaborative research is application-oriented, cooperative and close to the market – with room for innovative, risky projects.
It follows a bottom-up approach, directly supports companies and enables cross-industry knowledge exchange. Young talent is promoted indirectly.
Dr. Julian Barnikol presented the ZIM (Central Innovation Programme for SMEs) and KMU-Innovativ programs.
Research allowance at a glance
The research allowance promotes basic research, industrial research and experimental development – open to all topics and from non-market to near-market.
It is processed for tax purposes via the tax office, is aimed directly at companies, is enshrined in law and can be applied for on an ongoing basis.
Questions about research funding?
After the event, Dr. Julian Barnikol answered questions from the participants about the application process, other advisory services and funding opportunities for specific research projects.
If you have any further questions, please contact Dr. Julian Barnikol, VDMA Research & Innovation, at julian.barnikol@vdma.eu.
Organizer
The event was organized by ProduktionNRW. ProduktionNRW is the cluster for mechanical engineering and production technology in North Rhine-Westphalia and is organized by VDMA NRW. ProduktionNRW sees itself as a platform for networking, informing and marketing companies, institutions and networks with each other and along the value chain. Significant parts of the services provided by ProduktionNRW are funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.