Germany

Nanotechnology Policy and Public Funding

Since the second half of the 1990s, there has been a consensus in Germany's nanotechnology policy—in line with the international discussion—that the term nanotechnology should refer to R&D activities at the scale of less than about 100 nanometers, and should include the new functionalities and properties that can be realized at this scale. While the stimulus to politically adopt the concept of nanotechnology appears to have come from outside Germany (mainly from the Anglo-Saxon world and Japan), the relevant topics in science and technology had already been in the focus of key players in German R&D policy, such as the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) and the Association of German Engineers (VDI), since at least the end of the 1980s. Moreover, German researchers, such as Gerd Bin-nig and Herbert Gleiter, had significantly helped to pave the way for the rise of nanotechnology, according to A. Nordmann. Analyses conducted both in the 1990s by G. Bachmann, and in the present decade by H. Paschen and colleagues have shown that the country is, in terms of the technology and science of this new field, in a very favorable competitive position, which has created a significant potential for developing industrial applications.

Starting in the 1990s and building on this advanced position, the federal government (particularly the BMBF) and other major players in German science and innovation systems have continuously developed their strategic approaches to nanoscience and nanotechnology. Throughout the entire present decade, Germany has been the leading provider of such public funding in Europe. Over the course of time, this public funding has become more systematic and better coordinated, paying tribute as well as contributing to the establishment of nanotechnology as a globally recognized new key field of technology. The funding of nanospecific centers of competence started in 1998. The focus of public funding has gradually shifted from basic research to more application-oriented activities. The emphasis of funding strategy is now on industry-science cooperation, socioeco-nomically driven leading-edge innovations, innovation alliances with the main technological stakeholders, and the promotion of public dialogue on nanotechnology.

In 2006, the federal government created its “hightech strategy,” addressing goals in major areas of applied technology such as medicine, energy, the environment, mobility, and communication. Work toward these goals was to be intensified via a coordinated policy of innovation in which nanotechnology was seen as a field important for the expansion of existing strengths. In order to make comprehensive use of this potential, the eight relevant German federal ministries—namely the Ministries for Research and Education (BMBF), for Labor and Social Affairs, for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, for Defense, for Health, for Commerce and Technology, and for Transportation, [Page 283]Building and Urban Affairs—have concentrated their nanotechnology-related activities within the framework of the 2007 “Nano-Initiative—Action Plan 2010,” headed by the BMBF. The biggest part of Germany's public funding of nanotechnology is the joint institutional funding by the BMBF and the individual German states. The second main pillar of public funding for nanotechnology is direct funding by the BMBF. In the case of the institutional funding, there has been a moderate but steady increase in funding since 2001. Direct project funding by the BMBF has, in contrast, increased significantly faster, as the expenditures have more than doubled in the course of the present decade.

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