The Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (Fraunhofer ISI) is part of the

Fraunhofer Society The Fraunhofer Society (german: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., lit=Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research) is a German research organization with 76institutes spread throughout Germany ...

for the promotion of Applied Research e.V. (FhG),

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

’s largest application-oriented research organization. The institute is based in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

. It conducts applied research and development on

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entit ...

s in

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

, the

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

and

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...

. The Fraunhofer ISI is one of the leading Institutes for innovation research in Europe.

History

At the beginning of 1972, the innovation researcher Helmar Krupp ( de) recommended that the natural science and technology-oriented Fraunhofer Society should found a new institute to research the impacts and potentials of technologies and innovations. This recommendation was followed on 1 April 1972 with the establishment of the Fraunhofer Institute for System Technology and Innovation Research in Karlsruhe – under Helmar Krupp as its director. Frieder Meyer-Krahmer ( de) took over as director from 1990. Under his management, the institute became one of the internationally leading innovation research institutes. This resulted in it being renamed “Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research” in 2004 because “System Technology” was no longer considered suitable for the institute that had since grown to well over 100 employees. In 2005, Meyer-Krahmer was appointed State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Marion Weissenberger-Eibl ( de) has been the director of Fraunhofer ISI since April 2007. Under her leadership, futures research has become a core competence at the institute. In 2007, the institute was restructured and its individual departments were turned into Competence Centers with specialized Business Units. The energy transition and new

mobility Mobility may refer to: Social sciences and humanities * Economic mobility, ability of individuals or families to improve their economic status * Geographic mobility, the measure of how populations and goods move over time * Mobilities, a conte ...

and

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

concepts have resulted in Fraunhofer ISI's continued growth. Fraunhofer ISI now conducts research in 7 Competence Centers. On 1 October 2018 Fraunhofer ISI was expanding its management team with the appointment of Prof. Jakob Edler. As a professor of innovation

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...

and strategy he was previously a director at the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research. Prof. Edler joins the management team as

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

, contributing his expertise in the

governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, norms, power or language of an organized society over a social system ( family, tribe, formal or informal organization, a territory or across territories). It is done by the gove ...

and

of international research and innovation initiatives.

Research interests

In seven Competence Centers (CC), Fraunhofer ISI researches the origins, applications, opportunities and risks as well as the markets for innovative technical developments. Particular attention is paid to exploring the impacts of these innovations on the economy, the state and society and providing a basis for decision-making in

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

and

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

Energy Policy and Energy Markets

The CC Energy Policy and

Energy Markets Energy markets are national and international regulated markets that deal specifically with the trade and supply of energy. Energy market may refer to an electricity market, but can also refer to other sources of energy. Typically energy developme ...

researches the implementation of a political and institutional framework for a sustainable

energy system An energy system is a system primarily designed to supply energy-services to end-users. The intent behind energy systems is to minimise energy losses to a negligible level, as well as to ensure the efficient use of energy. The IPCC Fifth ...

. As

renewable energies Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

and climate protection technologies advance, this CC evaluates

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

and

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...

policy measures, strategies and instruments in order to provide decision-makers with a better picture of the future energy market. The Business Units are Renewable Energies, Energy Policy,

Climate Policy The politics of climate change results from different perspectives on how to respond to climate change. Global warming is driven largely by the emissions of greenhouse gases due to human economic activity, especially the burning of fossil fuel ...

, Electricity Markets and

Infrastructures Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

as well as Global Sustainable Energy Transitions.

Energy Technology and Energy Systems

The CC

Energy Technology Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reuse ...

and Energy Systems analyzes emerging technologies that can contribute to a sustainable energy system. Its five Business Units Energy Efficiency, Energy Economy, Demand Analyses and Projections, Demand Response and Smart Grids as well as Actors and Acceptance in the Transformation of the Energy System focus on the efficient and sensible use of energy and analyzing the impacts on the

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

and

society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...

Foresight

The CC Foresight uses scientific methods to look ahead into the future. To support industry, society and politics, the CC conducts research on alternative future scenarios, the developments of long-term objectives, future strategies and technology changes in its Business Units Futures and Society, Futures Dialogs, and Foresight for Strategy Development.

Innovation and Knowledge Economy

The CC analyses the prerequisites for innovations and their effects from the company level up to national innovation systems. It explores the various institutions, instruments and strategies in the economy and science that generate new knowledge and innovations. This happens in the Business Units Industrial Change and New Business Models, Innovation Trends and Science Studies, and Competitiveness and Innovation Measurement.

Sustainability and Infrastructure Systems

Taking into account

ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

, political, economic and social aspects, the CC Sustainability and Infrastructure Systems conducts research on innovations that foster the decoupling of economic growth and environmental pollution. The research focus ranges from individual new products up to long-term developments in industrialized and developing countries. The four Business Units are Water Resources Management, Sustainability Innovation and Policy, Raw Materials, and Mobility.

Emerging Technologies

The CC Emerging Technologies is concerned with the analysis of new technologies and socio-technical transformations. It examines the changes resulting from the interplay between technologies, innovations and society. Communication and an interdisciplinary perspective are essential for the research conducted. The Business Units Bioeconomy and Life Sciences, Innovations in the Health System, Information and Communication Technologies, and Industrial Technologies contribute to the respective scientific discourses.

Policy and Society

Research and innovation are increasingly called upon to contribute to overcoming societal challenges. The CC examines the resulting requirements for research and innovation systems, as well as for the design of a research, technology and innovation policy committed to sustainability and societal well-being and its coordination with other policy fields. This happens in the Business Units Policy for Innovation and Transformation, Societal Change and Innovation, Regional Innovation Dynamics and Knowledge Exchange, and Innovation and Regulation.

Cooperation

Among others, the institute cooperates with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Leibnitz

University of Hannover Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover (german: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität), also known as the University of Hannover, is a public research university located in Hanover, Germany. Founded on 2 May 1831 as Higher Vocational Sc ...

and the

University of Kassel The University of Kassel (german: link=no, Universität Kassel) is a university founded in 1971 located in Kassel, Hessen, in central Germany. As of February 2022 it had about 25,000 students and about 3300 staff, including more than 300 profe ...

in Germany and, internationally, with the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

(Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliqué), ETH Zurich (Centre for Energy Policy and Economics), the Institute of Policy and Management at the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republi ...

(Beijing),

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

(Blacksburg) and the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta) and Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIoIR), Fraunhofer ISI is also a member of numerous programs,

networks Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

and advisory committees.

Infrastructure

Fraunhofer ISI employs around 270 permanent members of staff, who work on about 400 research projects each year. 60 percent of these employees are

scientists A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophica ...

. According to the institute's own figures, its annual budget amounts to around 27.4 million euros (in 2020). Approx. 40 percent of its contracts come from the

German government The Federal Cabinet or Federal Government (german: link=no, Bundeskabinett or ') is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany. It consists of the Federal Chancellor and cabinet ministers. The fundamentals of the cabinet's or ...

, another 30 percent from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. About 20 percent are from industry – both companies and industrial associations.

References

External links

Website Fraunhofer ISI
{{Authority control Fraunhofer Society Scientific organisations based in Germany Scientific organizations established in 1972 Futures studies organizations