FAQ

1. Event formats for Fraunhofer alumni

The range of services offered by the association is currently being developed. As a member of the association, you can already take part in the annual Fraunhofer Alumni Summit at no charge. In addition, you have the opportunity to be invited to exclusive Fraunhofer events,  such as: the Fraunhofer Anniversary Celebration, the Fraunhofer Network Symposium, or an exclusive technology briefing  at CeBIT. Further event formats, including those which are decentralized from the institutes, are being planned.

2. Strong skills network

The Alumni Portal enables you to network with all the members of Fraunhofer-Alumni-e.V. and to form a strong skills network. You have the opportunity to open a forum and to exchange ideas informally with members in an open or closed room regarding current research topics.

3. Exclusive information

On the homepage of the portal, we provide you with exclusive, internal information  from Fraunhofer which is otherwise only available to Fraunhofer staff.

Your first year at the Fraunhofer Alumni Association is free of charge. As of the second year, the association fee is EUR 50, and EUR 30 for people up to the age of 29.

People up to the age of 29 pay a junior contribution of EUR 30 per year.  The first year is non-contributory for all members.

Students can become members of the Alumni Association free of charge.

More info

Co-operation agreements are concluded with existing institute alumni associations so that the members do not have to pay twice. A cooperation agreement already exists with the FpF e.V., the AKL e.V. and the SBK. Please inquire with your institute association about the current state of the cooperation or get in contact with Martin Schindler.

You can find all the information about the Fraunhofer Alumni Association under www.fraunhofer.de/alumni-en

Upon request, we would be pleased to send you a copy of the Statutes, the Contribution Regulations or the Association Brochure in printed form.

Under the heading "News" on the Alumni Portal, we keep you up to date with information from the Fraunhofer world.  This includes articles that staff members receive over the intranet or staff newspaper, as well as career information about Fraunhofer alumni, spin-off companies and interviews with Fraunhofer institute directors addressing current topics. You can remain up-to-date through all of the current Fraunhofer press releases, available under "Press." Under Events, you will find not only the Alumni events, but also trade fairs and Fraunhofer events, where you can meet your former colleagues. There is also a job exchange. The portal lives through its members and is constantly being expanded. If you have any suggestions, please send them to Martin Schindler.

The Fraunhofer Alumni Portal is operated by Fraunhofer-Alumni-e.V. and is independent of commercial service providers. The data are hosted on a server in Germany. In contrast to commercial social media platforms, controlling bodies do not have access to the association portal, since this is a closed platform, which has not been classified by the Federal Network Agency as a telecommunications service within the meaning of Section 3 No. 24 of the Telecommunications Act (TKG) . Correspondingly, the legal obligations of the 7th part of the TKG which concern telecommunication are not applicable.

Only registered users have access to the Alumni Portal. The Fraunhofer-Alumni-e.V. manages the access rights.

In collaboration with the Fraunhofer-Innovation Forum, we present research projects that are looking for a cooperation partner.

 In the Fraunhofer Alumni Portal, click on the "Members" button in the green menu bar. Here, you can find all the members of the Fraunhofer Alumni Association. You have the possibility to filter the members by name, former institute or industry.

You can send messages to members within the portal by clicking "Mailbox" in the green menu bar, then clicking "New message". Another option is to display all the members via the "Members" button and to save your selection to your contacts via "Add member." All your contacts will be displayed at the end of the home page. 

If you would like to exchange ideas about a topic with other experts, you can create a forum and invite the members to do so. You can choose between an open or a closed forum. In an open forum, all the association members have access and can post their opinions, while in a closed forum, only the persons you selected can do so.

You can find all the information about protecting your personal data in our Privacy Policy.

Go to "My profile" in the green menu bar. Then, by clicking on "About me," the editing screen opens.

Once a year, all alumni are invited to attend the Fraunhofer Alumni Summit.  The General Meeting of the Association is held peripherally to the Summit. The Summit takes place at varying locations in Germany. Further meetings are planned; we would be glad to hear any suggestions that you might have in this regard.

Individual Fraunhofer institutes already invite their alumni to local events. You can get information about this on the homepage of your home institute.

If you are interested in setting up further local alumni activities, please contact us.

As a member of the association, you can take part in the annual Fraunhofer Alumni Summit. You will also be given the opportunity to participate in other exclusive Fraunhofer-events, such as the anniversary celebration, the Fraunhofer Network Symposium or an exclusive technology briefing at CEBIT. Alumni also may have the chance to get free or discounted admission to events like Hannover Messe or FUTURAS IN RES.

Each institute has the possibility to operate its own webpage for its institute alumni in the Fraunhofer Alumni Portal. This keeps you up to date with your former institute. Many institute webpages are still under construction. In any case, you will find a contact person from your former institute who can provide you with information about the respective alumni activities.

Through its alumni representatives, each institute can invite active employees as guests to the Alumni Portal to exchange their opinions about professional topics in forums there.

In the statutes of the Fraunhofer-Alumni e.V., in addition to education and further training events, support for scientific exchange, as well as programs for the recruitment and promotion of young professionals in the MINT sector, it is also intended for awards to be presented and social projects to be performed.

Currently, one third of the members of the association do not live in Germany. We have association members in Asia, Africa, the USA, South America and several European countries. The establishment of an international Fraunhofer Alumni Association is currently being planned.