Whether small and medium-sized companies with new products, research teams with ideas for process engineering, or start-ups with high-tech services: To support innovation development in Thuringia, several 100 million euros are now bundled in one program for business and research. The Ministry of Economics announced on Sunday that around 600 million euros could be called up for Thuringia’s research and technology funding alone. In the 2014-2020 funding period, programs for this included a volume of around 213 million euros.
The new funding program will provide a total of around 850 million euros from EU, state and federal funds by 2027, as Economics Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee (SPD) said. This is intended to support the Thuringian economy, but also research institutions and universities in the development of new products, processes and services.
The aim is for companies to have better access to the funds. To this end, barriers to access have been lowered and flat-rate funding has been introduced. The program makes it easier for companies and research institutions to apply for targeted funding.
The focus is on small and medium-sized companies. “We want to encourage these companies in particular to do more market-oriented research and development and give them even better support,” said Tiefensee. Innovative foundations and start-ups in high-tech areas also belonged to the target group.
In Thuringia, according to the ministry, only half of all expenditure on research and development is borne by business, while on average in the western German federal states two thirds of research investments are accounted for by the private sector. “The central challenge for us is to pave the way for more research and development for our predominantly medium-sized companies,” said Tiefensee.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:230507-99-596892/2
2023-05-07 14:01:49
#funding #research #business
