You are a researcher at GFZ and would like to bring your research results into broader application? You have a business idea and want to create additional impact with it? You have already thought about a career outside of academia? Would you like to take on management responsibility and build up your own company?

The Transfer & Innovation team supports and accompanies all GFZ researchers who are concerned with such questions and who are thinking about a possible spin-off based on their research at the GFZ. We advise and support you all along the way - from the initial idea to the possible spin-off!

• Support in orienting and concretizing your start-up idea
• Consulting and testing the potential of your idea
• Finding funding opportunities (Helmholtz Enterprise, EXIST, et al. )
• Support with business plan creation in the pre-founding phase
• Placement of industry grants and support with the organization of industry workshops
• Support with trade fair activities and the establishment of a network in the pre-founding phase
• Technology marketing and target group management in the pre-founding phase
• Accompaniment of license negotiations, in cooperation and lease agreements in interaction with the legal department
• Support in clarifying issues concerning the compatibility of activities at the GFZ and spin-off activities

In addition, funding is available for the initiation and implementation of internal innovation projects, which can also be used for the preliminary phase of a potential spin-off project. Information on this can be found here and on the GFZ intranet.

Helmholtz Enterprise

The Helmholtz Enterprise program (HE) supports spin-off activities of scientists in the Helmholtz Association. It consists of two independent modules, the Field Study Fellowship (FSF) and the so-called Spin-Off Program. Both can be applied for independently of each other. Detailed information on the framework conditions and application procedure is available here.

EXIST start-up grant

The EXIST start-up grant from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy offers scientists from universities and non-university research institutions interested in founding a company a 12-month grant to carry out the preparatory activities for a possible spin-off. Further information is available here. In addition, there is also the EXIST research transfer .