Clear way ahead for bifa research!
The Free State facilitates even more effective technology transfer in the environmental sector
In 2019, the Free State of Bavaria is increasing its annual institutional funding of bifa significantly, from half a million euros to 1.1 million euros per year, and wants to institutionalise this from 2020. This enables bifa to work on research projects funded by the Federal Government or the European Union, to a far greater extent than to date.
Since 1991, bifa has worked with partners in industry, municipalities and science on research projects paid for by public funds. During this time, however, we have also worked on well over 1,000 application-related commissioned research and consulting projects for businesses, municipalities and politics in Bavaria, Germany and abroad, which were fully funded by the clients.
15 years ago, bifa’s shareholders gave it the brief to increase the turnover share of its application-related commissioned research. We have fulfilled our brief: In 2005, client-funded research, development and consulting accounted merely for around 20 % of bifa’s turnover. By 2018 it had grown to 65 %.
In funded projects we develop new scientific methods and knowledge, which are then introduced into practice by businesses and municipalities through our commissioned research and consulting. Numerous practical commissions also ensure that we always bear in mind practical aspects, even in our funded projects. Both pillars of bifa’s work benefit from each other. This is an essential bedrock of our success.
In funded research projects, however, only part of the costs, mostly only the unit costs, are funded by the funding body. The remaining share, especially the overhead costs, must be borne by the funded organisation itself as in-house work and services to be contributed. bifa was increasingly less able to do so in recent years, as the amount of our annual grant had remained unchanged since 2005 while costs had risen continuously. We increasingly had to cut back the funded projects we applied for due to the amount of own work and services to be contributed and increasing self-financing of the company. One of the two pillars of our work was thus in danger of losing significance.
Thanks to the additional funds, bifa will now again be able to work on more funded projects together with partners in industry, municipalities and science. This will enable us anew to increasingly contribute the experience and knowledge acquired from our practical projects into innovative research projects and thus to increase technology transfer significantly.
bifa will therefore have even better possible actions in its most important field of activity: environmental technology transfer. This includes, for example, climate protection, sustainable waste management, process engineering and integrated company environmental protection. The increase in the share of institutional funding safeguards the continuation of bifa’s successful work. It maintains all the business and economic policy advantages of the institute and establishes planning security for the shareholders and for bifa. By the way, even after this increase, the share of institutional funding of bifa is still significantly lower than that of comparable technology transfer and R&D institutes.
You want more information?
You are welcome to contact me:
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Rommel
wrommel@bifa.de