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"they're expected to finance their research with patent licenses" Why they cannot be funded 100% with public money? At least the "public" would get some free t

• kuschku 9y ago
  We did that in the past, and it ends with those research institutes then wasting money for everything, as another commenter mentioned. This model is to ensure Fraunhofer only develops technology that has practical applications (for more theoretical research, there's other research societies). Also, if it was free, it'd be the German taxpayer subsidizing foreign companies — that wouldn't work in the long term, as German taxes would pay for tech that Google f.e. would use, but Google wouldn't give anything back. One could make the license fees tax deductible in Germany, though, that would be a good solution.
  • zoobab 9y ago
    What could go wrong with turning universities in money making machines?
    • kuschku 9y ago
      The research institutes are entirely separate from the teaching part of the universities, funded entirely separate (which is why nothing of this is counted in university rankinds). And this decision was done intentionally. There's also research societies that work without any income (Max Planck, Leibniz, Helmholtz), but the whole point of the Fraunhofer society is to take science and turn it into something that companies can apply, use, and would pay for.