Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony has a diverse and lively research landscape, with 21 state universities, 25 research institutions financed by the federal and state governments, 16 other research institutions financed by the state, and 5 federal research institutions, as well as many innovative companies.

Lower Saxony’s research policy creates the best possible planning environment for the national and international competitiveness of science. The state of Lower Saxony promotes close cooperation between science and industry and supports interdisciplinary work. This includes setting thematic priorities and specifically targeting selected areas for cutting-edge research.

Particularly in the areas of the life sciences, energy, mobility, aerospace, marine and coastal research, and quantum technology, priorities are being set that are of great importance to the country for research into socially pressing issues or key economic topics. In six clusters of the Excellence Strategy, work is being done with international partners in areas ranging from infection research to aeronautics.

On the one hand, the state supports participation in national and European calls for proposals and in programmes of the Federal Government and the European Union; on the other hand, the state’s funding policy sets its own focus with profile-raising thematic calls for proposals. One focus is currently on funding offers in the topics of the life sciences, energy, mobility, and marine and coastal, as well as in the horizontal topic of digitalisation.

Similarly, there are comprehensive programmes to fund start-ups, support knowledge and technology transfer and exploit technological innovations. The main objective is to strengthen the innovation and competitive potential of Lower Saxony, in particular for small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, networks and collaborative projects between universities, research institutions and companies support structural change in the regions of Lower Saxony.