Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space
Runs Germany's federal research and innovation policy, setting priorities and channeling public resources through agencies and missions.
Germany's Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, legally Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt, is the federal ministry responsible for research policy and project funding. The ministry was renamed from BMBF in 2025, but the older acronym still appears in many documents and in its website address. It operates from Bonn and Berlin and channels support through project-management agencies.
Its funding runs through non-repayable grants under thematic calls, with instruments such as DATIpilot, GO-Bio next, FONA, KMU-innovativ, the Quantum Systems research programme, the Artificial Intelligence strategy, robotics, high-performance computing, health research, energy and climate research, civil security, and the Excellence Strategy. The ministry's sectors span AI, quantum, robotics, medtech, energy, climate, defence, photonics, materials, hardware, and built environment. Depending on the call, awards can reach EUR 5.35 million or EUR 10.7 million, while many other schemes publish their own caps later in the call text.
Applicants usually enter through a two-stage concept and full-application process, and the decision path is managed by agencies such as VDI Technologiezentrum and DLR Projektträger. That makes the ministry a good fit for research consortia, universities, and companies in Germany that can align to a named programme and wait for a structured review cycle. Its approach is policy-led and highly thematic rather than open-ended, with the call text doing most of the real work.