Industry Engagement
Industry continuously collects data and works with methods and standards that are of great interest to several scientific disciplines within the NFDI. Conversely, science also possesses data and methodological competencies that are significant for industry.
The Industry Engagement section therefore deals with the overarching design of cooperations between industry and the NFDI consortia, base services, and other sections. This includes creating a shared exchange platform between industry and science, identifying and concretising cross-cutting problem areas, developing initial shared solution spaces, and standardising and simplifying forms of cooperation within NFDI. In parallel, a continuous exchange with existing sections within NFDI is established.
Section Goals
- Establishing a continuous, open, and trust-based exchange between NFDI and industry actors
- Identifying and addressing jointly prioritised problems
- Standardising communication and frameworks for industry cooperations within NFDI
- Building an Industrial Advisory Board as an exchange platform to credibly incorporate the interests and perspectives of both sides — science (NFDI) and industry — and effectively promote collaboration
- Overcoming existing barriers in data availability and creating societal added value through greater transparency in academic-to-business (A2B) and business-to-academic (B2A) cooperations
- Involving further stakeholders such as professional associations, specialist societies, and others
Section Leadership
| Role | Name | Institution |
|---|---|---|
| Spokesperson | Prof. Dr. Florian Stahl | Universität Mannheim |
| Deputy Spokesperson | Dr. Andreas Förster | DECHEMA Gesellschaft für Chemische Technik und Biotechnologie e.V. |
Working Groups
| Working Group | Contact | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Benefits, Costs, and Risks in Research Cooperations | Chris Eberl | Needs analysis, benefit-risk balancing, legal frameworks |
| Cooperation Models and Agreements | — | Model contracts, white papers, stakeholder analysis |
| Data Spaces & Interoperability | — | Secure data exchange concepts, IP protection, legal compliance |
| Knowledge Transfer and Impact | Florian Stahl | Translating research into industrial practice, measuring success |
| Industrial Advisory Board | Florian Stahl, Chris Eberl, Andreas Förster | Industry representation from DAX companies, SMEs, and startups |