Contract research is the mainstay of Fraunhofer’s business activities and, in line with the Fraunhofer funding model, consists of three core areas, each contributing equal amounts to the organization’s finances:
- Research directly contracted by industry
- Publicly funded research projects
- Pre-competitive research financed through base funding
In 2022, the base funding requirement decreased by 9 percent to €708 million. Base funding is provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the state governments at a ratio of 90:10. Industrial revenue recorded growth of 9 percent to €787 million, exceeding the previous high achieved just before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. License-fee revenue from industry increased particularly significantly by 40 percent to €160 million due to the purchase of a larger patent portfolio. Revenue from contracts with industry increased by 3 percent to €627 million.
Revenue from publicly-funded projects increased significantly again in 2022. Project funding from the German federal government, in particular, jumped by 19 percent to €661 million. Within this, the revenue of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) increased by 33 percent to €344 million, the funding of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) by 4 percent to €233 million and the revenue of the other federal ministries by 18 percent to €84 million. Project funding of the German state governments rose by 4 percent to €245 million. At €89 million, EU revenue was slightly below the previous year’s level. Other revenue decreased by 5 percent to €125 million and includes revenue from foundations, universities, other research funding institutions, and license-fee revenue of €1 million from other customers outside industry.