22.10.2008 Helmholtz Head Office

Future financial packages approved for three Helmholtz Association Research Fields

The Senate of the Helmholtz Association has approved the financial packages for the three Research Fields "Earth and Environment", "Health", and "Aeronautics, Space and Transport" with a core budget of around 800m euros per year in the coming funding period from 2009 to 2013. In so doing, the Senate followed the recommendations made by 169 international experts on the basis of a detailed review process.

"The review teams assessed the scientific quality and strategic relevance of the Research Programmes as highly convincing throughout and as excellent in many of the research topics, when compared with international competitors. A few improvements were suggested, which we are now implementing. Hence, the method of programme-oriented funding guarantees that the Helmholtz Association can constantly advance in its development and so raise its performance levels," says Prof. Dr. Jürgen Mlynek, President of the Helmholtz Association. The reviews of the Research Fields "Energy", "Structure of Matter" and "Key Technologies" will follow in 2009.

The Helmholtz Association is the only research organisation in Germany to subject itself once every five years to a process of having its programmes restructured by independent international experts. The individual centres are no longer reviewed. Rather, the evaluation considers the overarching Research Programmes that extend across the centres. Each of these programmes is reviewed by between ten and fifteen distinguished and independent reviewers, not only in terms of scientific quality and originality, but also in terms of strategic aspects, such as their gearing in line with the Helmholtz Association Mission, cooperation with external partners, or promoting young researchers. The expert assessments help the association check and verify its own strategic planning and to adjust and fine-tine this where necessary. "We perform top-flight research that aims to contribute to solving the grand challenges," says Mlynek. "This not only means producing scientifically excellent results, but also asking the right questions so as to be able to take up topics that are of particular significance to society."

A further result of the complex review process is to be seen in the three cross-programme strategic initiatives that are funded on the recommendation of the reviewers. These are the Climate Research Initiative, the Translational Research Initiative that aims to transfer the results of basic research more quickly into clinical application, and the establishment of a major population study, the "Helmholtz-Cohort", over the coming two decades in order to improve the prevention and early diagnosis of major common diseases. Furthermore, the financial sponsors (in this case the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology) decided on the emphatic recommendation of the reviewers to substantially increase the core financial package for the Research Field Aeronautics, Space and Transport.

Research Field "Earth and Environment"

The Research Field "Earth and Environment" will have a total of 249m euros from the Helmholtz budget available to it for the coming year, plus external funds. While the following years will see a planned annual increase of 1.9%, which, extrapolated over five years, accounts for just under an additional 70m euros that is to be used to specifically strengthen the research field. Some 16m euros of this increase will be invested in an overarching programme research initiative on global climate change and its impact at regional level. The core budget will be distributed across four programmes from 2009 to 2013:

Geosystem: The Changing Earth: 15%
Marine, Coastal and Polar Systems: 44%
Atmosphere and Climate: 11%
Terrestrial Environment: 30%

Further information of the Research Field "Earth and Environment"

The Research Field "Health"

A core financial package of 326m euros is planned for 2009, plus external funds. An increase of 2.8% per year has been promised for the coming years, which, extrapolated over five years, amounts to a total of around 130m euros, to be distributed within the research field in accordance with the reviewers' verdicts. Of these, 13m euros will be invested in the overarching programme initiative on translational research so as to be able to transfer the results of basic research more quickly into clinical application. 20m euros will be provided to establish a "Helmholtz-Cohort" of 200,000 people to facilitate epidemiological studies on common diseases. The core-financed costs will be distributed across six programmes from 2009 to 2013.

Cancer Research: 41%
Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Research: 10%
Function and Dysfunction of the Nervous System: 12%
Infection and Immunity: 13%
Environmental Health: 15%
Systemic Analysis of Multifactorial Diseases: 9%

Futher information of the Research Field "Health"

Research Field "Aeronautics, Space and Transport"

This Research Field has been earmarked with 227m euros from the Helmholtz budget for the coming year, plus external funding of almost the same amount. An increase of 2.6% per year is planned for the following years, which, extrapolated over five years, accounts for a sum of around 90m euros. Due to the enormous strategic significance that these three programmes have for the economy and society, the reviewers recommended a pronounced increase in the core financial package. This recommendation to the financial sponsor, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) and the participating Federal States, resulted in an increase to the annual grants of around 25m euros. The core-financed costs are distributed across the three programmes as follows from 2009 to 2013.

Aeronautics: 40%
Space: 47%
Transport: 13%

This does not include the very recently launched activities of the "Space Institute Bremen" and the "Robotics Centre" in Oberpfaffenhofen for which a further 22m euros are available.

Further information of Research Field "Aeronautics, Space and Transport"

The Helmholtz Association contributes to solving major challenges facing society, science and the economy with top scientific achievements in six research fields: Energy, Earth and Environment, Health, Key Technologies, Structure of Matter, Transport and Space. With 28,000 employees in 15 research centres and an annual budget of approximately 2.4 billion euros, the Helmholtz Association is Germany’s largest scientific organisation. Its work follows in the tradition of the great natural scientist Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894).