The universities and technical colleges in Niedersachsen play a key role in the task of developing innovations and intensifying their transfer into the economy. Thus they are important contributors in the search for and finding ways out of the employment crisis. The decisive aspect for the competitiveness of the universities is their scientific excellence. In order to guarantee the productive alliance of science and economy, Niedersachsen favours the policy of supporting the profitability of the universities. For one this is synonymic with a reform of the university structures in order to achieve better efficiency. On the other hand it also means effort in order to prepare the universities for economic competitiveness, and that more than ever. Due to the globalisation of science, the efforts of the other German states and the competition of private universities, the fight for money, students and highly qualified researchers will be fiercer in the future.

Research Institutions in Niedersachsen

Niedersachsen has a varied and vital research landscape, comprising 13 universities, six public or privately funded technical colleges and seven officially recognised technical colleges as well as a large number of extra-faculty research facilities. Federal institutions and research institutions which are financed by the federal and state governments top off the state's scientific profile. Niedersachsen is the home of six Max Planck and three Fraunhofer Institutes, among others. Another huge research institution, the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (German Aerospace Center - DLR) has two locations in Niedersachsen - Braunschweig and Göttingen. Still more impressive though are the scientific results being achieved in Niedersachsen. From new types of BSE tests to intelligent hearing aids, from Goethe editions to Mars probes - there is not much that is not being researched in Niedersachsen. The state of Niedersachsen supports the close cooperation of science and economy and promotes interdisciplinary cooperation. For example, in Hanover a number of biotechnology enterprises have established themselves in the vicinity of the Medical University. In Göttingen a 30 million EUR investment helps build an interdisciplinary Centre for Molecular Biosciences in which the manifold competences of the university, the clinical centre, two existing Max Planck Institutes and the German Primate Center are bundled.

Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony
www.mwk.niedersachsen.de

Innovatives Niedersachsen
www.innovatives.niedersachsen.de