Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation

With the "Pact for Research and Innovation", the federal and state governments are strengthening the competitiveness of the science system: The funding initiative is aimed specifically at non-university research in Germany.

In addition to the Helmholtz Association, other leading German research institutions are funded through the Pact.

The Pact provides for an annual budget increase of currently three percent. This opens up new scope for action and development. In return, we are making decisive contributions to growth and prosperity. Important priorities include

the focus on excellence
the expansion of cooperative ventures
networking and knowledge and technology transfer
the promotion of young scientists
the progressive internationalization of the community
Ensuring an attractive, opportunity- and family-friendly environment for our employees.

Information on the measures we have taken and their successes is provided annually in our monitoring report. To achieve our common goals, we rely primarily on three instruments: cross-center program-oriented funding, the development and operation of complex infrastructures and unique large-scale equipment, and the President's Initiative and Networking Fund.

The instruments in the Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation:

Program-oriented funding

Since Autumn 2001, when the Helmholtz Association was founded, all the research has been strategically restructured. Program-oriented funding is the centerpiece of these reforms. We no longer invest our resources in individual institutions, but rather fund center-embracing research programs that compete with each other. In accordance with the core objectives of the Pact for Research and Innovation, activities now concentrate primarily on achieving top-flight results through cooperation and competition.

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Driftkammer Argus Detektors: Mit dem ARGUS Detektor wurden die Teilchenreaktionen am DORIS-Beschleuniger gemessen. In den 1970er Jahre verfolgten die Forscher an DORIS die Spuren der Quarks. Bild: DESY

Research infrastructures

Scientists and researchers from the Helmholtz Association develop and operate large-scale facilities of international significance, such as particle accelerators, synchrotron beams, neutron and ion sources, research vessels and aircraft. These facilities have a great appeal for the best researchers around the world as well as for young scientists. Each year, several thousand researchers from home and abroad use these large-scale facilities, some of which are the only ones of their kind.

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The Initiative and Networking Fund

The President's Initiative and Networking Fund is one of the key instruments available to the Helmholtz Association for achieving its strategic objectives and realizing the principles to which it has committed itself under the Pact for Research and Innovation. The Fund makes it possible to respond rapidly and flexibly, and to set initiatives where strategic goals are to be achieved quickly.

In accordance with the objectives of the Pact for Research and Innovation, the competitive award of funding also acts as the Fund's key principle.

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