German-French research camaraderie

Press Release /

Eleven German-French research teams headed for the starting line on October 27, 2007 in Paris. Their goal: to build bilateral collaborations and to develop technologies over the next three years that can be realized as industrial products. These efforts are intended to supercharge the competitive engine of both France and Germany.

"This new cooperation between Fraunhofer and the Carnot institutes is indeed unlike any other," explains Fraunhofer Senior Vice President Ullrich Buller. "With ten million euros in funding per year, it is the largest of its kind that ever existed. This shows that applied research is considered to be an essential tool to bolstering competitive abilities, both in France and in Germany. And both nations seek to benefit fully from this." The cooperation is being funded in equal parts by Germany's federal ministry of education and research BMBF, and France's Agence Nationale de la Recherche. The programs are slated for an initial three year lifespan, during which new research groups can apply to join each year.

It's no coincidence that Fraunhofer and Carnot are working together in this new bilateral project. Both research institutions specialize in industrial research – and here, Fraunhofer provided the model for the development of the Carnot network and the restructuring of its institutes five years ago. A plethora of joint research projects followed suit. Then, in Paris in February 2008, the current bilateral research program to develop the cooperation between Fraunhofer and the Carnot institutes was adopted and put on terra firma.

The Kick-Off event in Paris on October 27th was opened by the Secratary of State of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Frieder Meyer-Krahmer and the director of Research and Innovation of the French Ministry of Education and Research, Ronan Stephan. At the newly renovated monastery Collège de Bernardins in Paris, the first eleven bilateral research groups presented their projects: For example, scientists and engineers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM in Berlin, together with their colleagues from the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology IZI in Leipzig and the French Institute Carnot FEMTO Innovation aim to develop a cost-effective microanalysis system for healthcare. The "lab-on-chip" technology will enable fast and affordable analysis of blood samples right at the doctor's office - eliminating the heretofore inevitable trip to the major laboratory.

At the same time, experts from the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM in Freiburg and the Institut Carnot IEMN are continuing progress on antennas for terahertz radiation. This technology is increasingly being used for security controls, because it makes explosives and drugs visible, and has no health-related side effects on human beings.

Another joint project, between the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart and the Institut Carnot CIRIMAT, holds promise for the cultivation of bone tissue using innovative biomaterials. Such materials could be used in surgery, for instance, when new bone material must be grown in order to treat accident victims.

“The close cooperation between Fraunhofer and Carnot is a definite win-win situation,” This arrangement will see the respective research groups working together in complementary fields, and the results they produce will find their way into the future development of innovative products in both nations.", concludes Buller.

The Cooperation Projects

ICT Technology
DeepCity3D – Integrated 3D visualization for urban surface and underground data; project partners: Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD and BRGM Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières

RT-DESCRIBE – Iterative Design Process for Self-Describing Real Time Embedded Software Components; project partners: Fraunhofer Institute for Communication Systems ESK and CEA LIST Lab of applied research on software intensive technologies

TOTEM – Theory and Tools for Distributed Authoring of Mobile Mixed Reality Games; project partners: Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT and TELECOM EURECOM
APUS – Auspicious high-Performant Ultrafest lase System; project partners: Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF and ESP Energy and propulsion system
Health

3µP – Multi-Reaction, Multi-Sample Microfluidic Platform; project partners: Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM, Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology IZI and FEMTO-Innovation fundamental research to industrial partnership

Bio-capabili – Investigation of new anti-bacterial biomaterials based on biomimetic calcium phosphates to prevent bone infections – Comparative critical study in view of industrial developments; project partners: Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB and CIRIMAT Centre Interuniversitaire de Recherche et d’Ingénierie des Matériaux

Transport
DEVICE – Downsized hybrid Diesel Engine for Very low fuel consumption and CO2 Emission; project partners: Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF and IFP-Moteurs Institut Français du Pétrole-Moteurs and Volkswagen AG

DEVICE-SOFT – Deductive Verification for Industrial Critical Embedded Software; project partners: Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Architecture and Software Engineering FIRST and CEA LIST the lab of applied research on software intensive technologies
Energy

SolarBond – Development of multi-junctions high efficiency solar cells on reclaimable substrates; project partners: Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Engineering Systems ISE and CEA LETI Laboratory for Electronics and Information Technology
Environment

VERTIGAN – Vertical-Cavity emitters based-on GaN for optical fiber sensors; ¬project partners: Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF and C3S Centrale-Supélec Sciences des Systèmes
Security

ARTEMIS – Antennas aRrays for Terahertz Material Identification and Security Applications; project partners: Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM and IEMN Institute of Electronics, Microelectronics and Nanotechnology