Projects Support Emerging Talent

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is taking new steps to strengthen collaboration between science and industry. It has recently signed a cooperation agreement with software manufacturer SAP AG that allows universities to conduct DFG-funded research projects together with the company.

The collaborations are primarily intended to support emerging talent in science and industry and facilitate promising research activities on both sides through the mutual use of resources. The first projects to employ the new cooperation model are being undertaken by the Technical University of Dresden, the Technical University of Darmstadt and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), each together with SAP.

Researchers from the respective university and employees from SAP will work on mutually agreed-upon research topics in the area of computer science and related areas, and in doing so will earn their doctorate. The projects will also be performed in part in the development departments of SAP.

From the DFG’s perspective, these collaborations are a substantial contribution to knowledge transfer, which the DFG plans to strengthen as a whole in the coming years. "A more intensive exchange between basic research and application is very important to us.

Such transfer is in the interest of both parties. In no way does it serve to strengthen only the application side. Rather, it is reflected back to research, where it can provide new and important impetus," said DFG President Professor Matthias Kleiner on the occasion of the signing of the first agreements.