Research Spending
September 22, 2006
"When I said 1.5 million, that is not an exaggerated but an understated number," Schavan told parliamentarians Thursday, adding that the number could be as high as 1.8 million, but that she was "being modest and saying 1.5 million."
The jobs would be the product of 14.6 billion euros the German government plans to invest in 17 "fields of innovation" by 2010, Schavan said. About 90,000 of the new positions would be in the high-tech industries themselves with the others coming from businesses that support them, she added.
Most of the federal money is slated to go into the aerospace and energy sectors, although substantial amounts will also be directed toward health and medical research, environmental research as well as bio and nano technologies.
Germany's MP3 problem
The new funding plan focuses its attention on partnerships between research institutes and companies to help scientists receive feedback on the implementation possibilities of their work and to get their ideas into the market faster -- an issue that has posed a problem for German researchers in the past. The MP3 file format commonly used to save and play digital music, for example, was developed in Germany but marketed by businesses outside of the country.
Although Germany is ranked second in registered patents behind the United States, researchers say the path to the market needs to be streamlined and improved.
"It is no longer among the German strengths to make market-ready innovations and sophisticated services from excellent ideas," Arend Oetker, president of the Association of Foundations for German Science, said in a statement Tuesday.
Extra funding for working together
As part of the high-tech research funding plan, Schavan's ministry teamed up with the association to sponsor a contest that will award 250,000 euros to five universities for projects conducted in cooperation with companies. The organizers issued a call for ideas on Tuesday.
The German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association also welcomed the ministry's decision to give priority to measures that cut the time it takes for research to hit the shelves.
"We have to not only fill the research pipeline but also advocate for a quick implementation of technological opportunities in Germany," said Edward Krubasik, the group's president. "That is the only way we will create new sustainable domestic jobs."
A researcher friendly environment
The strategy also calls for Germany to increase its public and private research spending from the current 2.5 percent to 3 percent of its gross domestic product over the next four years, a goal all European Union members had previously said they would try to meet.
"We are putting the switches in place to make Germany a stronger growth motor for research in Europe," Schavan said, adding that she wanted the country to become "one of the most researcher friendly countries in the world."
The growth is expected to come from aeronautics, pharmaceuticals, medical technology, logistics, and measurement and control technology, according to a 2006 report by the economic research company Prognos, which said those industries are likely to grow in Germany.
Doubts about new jobs remain
In the report, which drew attention to the concentration of Germany's high-tech companies in certain areas, Prognos came to the conclusion that mainly the south of the country and a handful of northern cities have been benefiting from clusters of activity in their vicinities.
The clusters, which often include a university or other research institute, work to combine knowledge in different fields to develop new products and gain an edge over international competitors.
By 2030, many of the products bearing the "Made in Germany" stamp will come from the high-tech industry as mass production continues leaving much of western Europe for countries to the east that have lower labor costs, according to the report.