Ms. Stark-Watzinger, what grade do you give research in Germany?
Thiemo Heeg
Editor in Business.
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We see a lot of great things, such as the first corona vaccine that was developed in Germany, an excellence strategy that is bearing fruit, new interdisciplinary approaches.
However, we also see the challenges of making universities fit for the future, for example.
Sounds like two minuses.
It would be wrong to rate that with an average grade.
What is going on and where are the deficits?
We are very well positioned in many areas of basic research.
One reason for this is the reliable funding from the federal government, i.e. through the Pact for Innovation and Research.
Where we still have some catching up to do: getting the results systematically out of the researchers' heads and into the hands of the people, i.e. in terms of transfer.
Germany has always seemed to be lagging behind when it comes to translating basic research into concrete business.
That's right, we have to get better at that.
Transfer is not a side business, but a permanent task.
It needs to be dealt with professionally.
Something is already happening, but in some cases it is still so homeopathic or so widely distributed that it is not yet suitable as a strategy.
That's why we want to build innovation bridges along the entire scientific map.
What do you have to imagine?
There are two building blocks.
On the one hand the German Agency for Transfer and Innovation, DATI for short.
It should serve the regional ecosystems and the evolutionary character of innovation.
We want to use it to strengthen existing strengths and to carry the many good ideas and research achievements that are currently being produced in small and medium-sized universities and universities of applied sciences to business and society.
And the second aspect?
That we also have the deep-tech foundations, with professional transfer units at universities.
The state will not be able to finance everything.
We must ensure that private capital moves closer to the universities - so that venture capital can get involved at an early stage.
How exactly is this supposed to work?
There are different instruments.
The point is that universities have the opportunity to professionalize themselves here.
It's about advice on intellectual property rights, how to set up a company, making space available and also building bridges between universities and venture capital.
"Earlybird" is an example that we want to encourage from the state side, for example with a German Tech Transfer Fund as an incentive, in which the state is involved.
How do you measure whether these initiatives are successful?
In terms of indicators such as: Has the number of spin-offs increased?
Has more venture capital flowed to the universities?
What is the number of patent applications?
Are there any results yet?
The numbers are in progress.
We'll know more in the second half of the year.
Which areas of basic research are becoming particularly important?