VZCZCXRO2098
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD
DE RUEHRL #0494 1091721
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181721Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0960
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BERLIN 000494 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR INR, OES, EEB, EUR 
PLEASE PASS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO TNGD TPHY TRGY TSPL SENV ENRG PREL GM
SUBJECT: EDUCATION AND RESEARCH MINISTRY SHOWCASES GERMAN 
RESEARCH INSTITUTES 
 
 ¶1. (SBU)  Summary:  There are four major scientific research 
institutes in Germany, each with tens of affiliated research 
centers.  The institutes are entirely funded by the German 
federal and individual state governments.  The German 
Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) sponsored a 
two-day study tour for science attaches of foreign missions 
in Berlin.  Participants visited six research institutes in 
Leipzig and Dresden.  This cable includes general information 
about the structure, funding and staffing of the four major 
research associations in Germany.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  There are four major scientific research institutes 
in Germany: the Max Planck Institute, the Leibniz Institute, 
the Helmholtz Association and the Fraunhofer Institute.  Max 
Planck focuses on basic research.  Leibniz handles both basic 
and some applied research.  Helmholtz also does both basic 
and applied research.  Fraunhofer focuses more on 
application: about two-thirds of its work is contract 
research on behalf of industry and one-third is 
market-oriented basic research. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Helmholtz Association consists of 15 research 
centers with 250 institutes. It has an annual budget of 2.4 
billion euros.  About 90 percent of this funding comes from 
the federal level and 10% of funding comes from the state 
government.  In contrast, the funding structure for the other 
three institutes is 50% federal and 50% state and overall 
budgets are also much lower.  There are 56 Fraunhofer 
Institutes in Germany with an annual budget of nearly 1.3 
billion euros, including 38 million euros annually for 
defense and security research.  Max Planck has 80 locations 
with an annual budget of 1.45 billion euros.  Leibniz has 83 
centers and a budget of 1.1 billion euros per year. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  ECONOFF visited the Helmholtz Center for 
Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig on April 16.  Georg 
Teutsch, the scientific director of UFZ, said no tax money is 
spent on wind research (since technologies are already in the 
market) but money is spent on developing biofuels and 
photovoltaics (solar cells).  Teutsch also noted that no BMBF 
money is spent on nuclear energy research, "there is research 
going on but it is not funded by the (BMBF) ministry".  UFZ 
works with "seven sisters" (including institutes in Finland, 
Denmark, England, Holland, Italy and France) as part of the 
European Environmental Research Network. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Teutsch highlighted three UFZ projects:  ALARM, 
SMART and Risk Habitat Megacities.  ALARM is a European 
project that focuses on the impact of the loss of natural 
pollinators like honeybees and the impact on the food supply. 
 SMART works with developing nations to build decentralized 
waste water treatment and reuse plants.  The Megacities 
project studies cities in the global south with populations 
over 10 million people.  The same day, ECONOFF visited the 
Leibniz Institute for Meteorological Research, where German 
scientists are using dust particles to form and study clouds. 
 The group then visited the Leipzig Zoo and the Max Planck 
Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology to speak with animal 
behavior experts there.  The researchers explained the tests 
they are doing with chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas to 
distinguish between individual mental capabilities and 
socially-learned skills. 
 
¶6. (SBU)  On April 17, ECONOFF visited the Fraunhofer 
Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems in Dresden. 
Scientists there are developing non-metallic materials for a 
range of practical uses.  The Institute for Material and Beam 
Technology, located in the same compound, uses laser 
precision cladding to repair industrial tools.  The Electron 
Beam and Plasma Technology Institute focuses on plasma 
activated high rate deposition and pulse magnetron 
sputtering.  The Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research has 
many projects investigating the macromolecular and physical 
chemistry of polymers.  The study tour continued with a trip 
to the Dresden International Graduate School for Biomedicine 
and Bioengineering where significant genetic and stem cell 
research is taking place.  The trip finished with a quick 
tour of the VW car factory that produces the high-end Phaeton 
vehicle. 
TIMKEN JR