Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (full name, in German: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e. V., lit. 'Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research'), commonly known in English as the Fraunhofer Society, is a German research organization with 75 institutes and research units spread throughout Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, each focusing on different fields of applied research. With some 32,000 employees, mainly scientists and engineers, and an annual research budget of approximately €3.6 billion, it is one of the world's leading organizations for applied research. The organization, headquartered in Munich, is named after Joseph von Fraunhofer, who, as a scientist, engineer and entrepreneur, is said to have superbly exemplified the goals of Fraunhofer.

Since the 1990s the organization has also internationalized, establishing various centers and representative offices in Europe, the United States, Asia and South America.