The Leibniz Association is a network of 86 scientifically, legally and economically
independent research institutes and scientific service facilities. Leibniz Institutes
perform strategic- and thematically-oriented research and offer scientific service
of national significance while striving to find scientific solutions for major
social challenges.
Leibniz Institutes employ 16.100 employees, of which 7.100 are academics, including
2.800 junior scientists. Leibniz Institutes maintain 2.200 major national and
1.300 international scientific co-operations. Each year, around 2.300 foreign
scientists join forces with the Leibniz Institutes as temporary workers. One
indication of their high competitiveness and excellence is the 280 million Euros
allocated to the Leibniz Institutes from third-party funds.
The Institutes have been awarded 35 million Euros from the European Union, 55
million Euros from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation,
DFG) and 51 million Euros from industry co-operations. The total budget of all
Leibniz Institutes amounts to more than 1.3 billion Euros.
Leibniz Institutes contribute to clusters of excellence in fields such as Mathematics,
Optic Technologies, Materials Research, Medicine, Climate and Environmental
Research, Bio- and Nanotechnology as well as humanities, economics and social
sciences. They foster close co-operations with universities, industry, and other
research institutes, both in Germany and abroad. The Leibniz Association has
developed a comprehensive system of quality management. At regular intervals,
independent experts assess every institute as part of their unique peer review
evaluation process.