Opportunities for cooperation

Here are some of the many good reasons for working with a large university like ours

• Top-level research: Access subject matter experts who can consult with you and help develop a promising product idea to keep you ahead of the international competition.
• One-of-a-kind test and measurement stands: Use non-standard technical equipment for analyses and measurements that is not always readily available, at least in smaller firms. Examples include the University’s motor vehicle wind tunnel, the materials testing facility, or the super computers in our High Performance Computing Center.
• Excellent young research talent: Connect with exceptionally well-educated graduates and young scientists to keep your enterprise’s recruiting pipeline filled with crucial young talent.

There are several options for working with the University. The type of cooperation depends largely on your subject matter and its scope.

• Research cooperation: Jointly, we do research in an area that is of strategic importance for you. In a cooperation agreement, we set down how our results will be commercialized, public funding is available for joint projects, mostly for those of a longer-term nature.
• Contract research: We do research for you on a longer-term R & D project toward a goal that you set. We consult closely with you to develop objectives, methods, and project phases that are then stipulated contractually. You are responsible to pay VAT for contract research
• Practice-related final theses or PhD dissertations: Our best-educated young scientists in can help solve problems of more modest scope for you.
• Measurements, analyses and expert assessments can be prepared in a short time frame by our scientists. For this purpose, you will in most instances engage directly with one of the University’s institutes.
• You can secure licenses from us that allow you to exploit many of the technologies, processes, products or software developed in the University.
• Continuing scientific education: Keep your company's employees up to date on the latest research. The regional and specialist networking centers act as a link between companies and universities, taking note of your needs and helping to design customized offerings.

Often you may not have to 100-percent self-finance your innovative products and services. A number of public funding programs exist at the EU, Federal, and State level that you may be able to draw on for your research projects.

• The Central Innovation Program (ZIM) specializes in funding small and medium-sized firms without restrictions as to type of technology or industry.
• Baden-Wuerttemberg Innovation Vouchers are issued under a state program for funding businesses that are planning, developing, and redesigning products or services or improving their quality.
• Funding by the University is another possibility for financing contract and joint projects.
• Click here for more information on Federal government funding for small and medium-sized enterprises
• The Federal Government’s Funding Portal has information on funding offers and databases on current research endeavors.
• The regional Competence Cluster moderate the dialogue between the various players from business and science and initiate and support cooperation between companies.
• The purpose of the Steinbeis Foundation for Economic Development is to make scientific findings, particularly in the fields of research and development, materials and product testing as well as information and documentation, available to the entire economy of the state.
• The Innovation Program for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) functions as an intermediary between the interests of SMEs in the business, science and politics sectors, and stimulates the design of innovation funding for SMEs.
• The Industrial Collective Research (IGF) is intended to develop contextual knowledge and technological platforms for entire branches or for interbranch use. This will support long-term research cooperation across branch and interbranch networks, with a focus on enabling small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to gain access to practical research findings.