topic Ministry

France

France is Germany's most important partner among the EU member states. Intensive cooperative relations are maintained in numerous fields and at different levels: between the ministries, between scientific and research organizations, and in the form of specific projects.

Germany and France have developed extraordinarily extensive scientific and technological cooperation relations. We can only give a few examples here to illustrate the broad range of activities.

Political framework for scientific and technological cooperation

Since the 40th anniversary of the Elysée Contract in 2003, the Research Ministers of both countries have been agreeing on joint work programmes, which are known as 'feuilles de route'. They are regularly updated at the Joint Councils of Ministers, which take place twice a year. In these work programmes, short- and medium-term cooperation objectives are defined for selected research fields that have a high priority for both countries.

Key areas of cooperation

The current work programme includes activities in the following areas:

• Institutional cooperation of research organizations
• Innovation policy
• Cancer research
• Genome research (with a special focus on the genetic causes of diseases, in particular rare diseases)
• Plant genome research
• Animal genome research
• Marine Research

On the occasion of the Council of Ministers in March 2006, which focussed on research and innovation, the two countries published a joint declaration on France and Germany's Contribution to Research and Innovation in Europe.

Highlights of bilateral cooperation

Germany was a guest of honour at the 2nd Salon européen de la recherche et de l'innovation, which was held in Paris from 8 to 10 June 2006. A wide range of German research institutions and networks of excellence were presented at the German booth, which was financed by the BMBF. The booth was a forum that aimed to initiate new collaborations. In particular, it gave young scientists from around the world the chance to gather information about career opportunities at German research institutions. State secretary Frieder Meyer-Krahmer opened the exhibition together with the French Research Minister François Goulard. During the course of the event, State Secretary Frieder Meyer-Krahmer also presented the new German-French Cancer Research Funding Programme. In future, scientists from both countries, especially young scientists, are to be supported in their collaborations in this field.

The 2nd Forum on Franco-German Research Cooperation took place in July 2005. New cooperation priorities in clearly defined specialist subjects within the following areas were discussed:

• Information and communication technologies
• Nanotechnology
• Biotechnology
• Sustainability
• Health research
• Transport research
• Humanities and social sciences
• Marine technologies

The aim was to develop new joint initiatives at bilateral and European level.

In the field of biotechnology in particular, there is close cooperation between the national programmes for plant genome research - génoplante and GABI. Two joint calls for proposals have already been carried out. The second call for proposals was aimed at application-oriented projects with industry participation. A further step towards linking the German and French programmes even more closely together is currently being made in the field of animal genome research.

Outstanding examples of the close institutional link between French and German research institutions include the research group for virotherapy run by the French Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM) as a joint international research unit ("unité mixte internationale", UMI) at the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) in Heidelberg. A recent development is the close cooperation between the DKFZ and the Cancéropôle Grand-Est. Another exceptional example of the close cooperation between the two countries in research and technology can be identified in the area of polar research, with the merging of the research stations of the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) and the Institut polaire français Paul Emile Victor (IPEV) in Ny-Ålesund on Spitsbergen.

The German-French vocational training expert group and the Franco-German Secretariat for Vocational Training Exchanges (www.dfs-sfa.org) in Saarbrücken, which is the BMBF's largest bilateral exchange programme with a total of 3,400 participating apprentices per year, have both been running since 1980.

The German side is represented by the Federal Government, the representative for Franco-German relations in culture and education, various Länder governments, the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder, the Federal Institute for Vocational Training, and the social partners.
Some key aims of the cooperation are the comparability of vocational training qualifications (Joint declaration on the general comparability between German vocational training qualifications and the French BACPro and brevet professionelle, October 2005), the increase of apprentice exchanges to 5,000 participants per year, and the development of a German-French collaborative training venture.

Support of collaborations with France

There are numerous cooperation programmes with France. The following list is limited to the most significant examples.

In addition to its funding programmes for university students and graduates, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has introduced a number of special programmes with the aim of deepening Franco-German relations. One example is the programme PROCOPE (a project-based personnel exchange programme with France), which supports cross-border scientific cooperation between scientists working at universities and non-university research institutions in both countries. On behalf of the BMBF, the DAAD is also in charge of the joint exchange programme in the area of cancer research.

The Franco-German University (DFH) supports the development of joint courses of study in particular. In cooperation with the German Research Association (DFG), the Franco-German University also backs the establishment of joint postgraduate research groups. The Gay-Lussac/Humboldt Award, which has been conferred jointly by the French Ministry of Research and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) every year since 1981, honours scientists' efforts towards Franco-German cooperation in research and teaching.

The International Bureau of the BMBF at the DLR supports the BMBF in shaping bilateral cooperation with France. The Franco-German Association for Science and Technology (DFGWT) is also active in this area.

Activities carried out by scientific organizations

The extraordinarily close relationship between Germany and France is reflected in the large number of partnerships and agreements, especially at institutional level. For example, all German science organizations have now concluded cooperation agreements with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the largest French research organization. Some of the more recent examples are the cooperation agreements with the Fraunhofer Society (2004) and the Leibniz Association (2003). The existing cooperation agreement between the CNRS and the Helmholtz Association was renewed in 2003.