An overview of our annual report
Dear Reader,
We are delighted to present the annual report of the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI. Last year was marked by exciting developments, new challenges and significant progress, in our research and also in our institute.
At the start of 2025, Fraunhofer ISI incorporated two departments from the former Fraunhofer IMW in Leipzig. The departments “Regional Transformation and Innovation Policy”, led by Dr. Friedrich Dornbusch, and “Knowledge and Technology Transfer”, led by Dr. Steffen Preissler, have expanded our profile by, among other things, contributing their methodological strengths, such as data science, their focus on implementation and new areas of expertise. The first year with our new location in Leipzig represents a fresh start, characterized by intensive adaptation and the establishment of an innovative working culture.
Our research activities in Heilbronn were once again very successful in 2025. With its attractive research profile and successful project acquisitions, the Joint Innovation Hub has continued its dynamic development and has established itself as a major contract research partner for industry in the innovation ecosystem of business, science, politics and society. Nine Fraunhofer Heilbronn Research and Innovation Centers (Fraunhofer HNFIZ) were launched in 2025. The Joint Innovation Hub is responsible for the “Innovation & Foresight” Research and Innovation Center, led by Prof. Marion A. Weissenberger-Eibl and Dr. Malte Busch. Prof. Marion A. Weissenberger-Eibl is also deputy chair of the speaker’s group for the nine Fraunhofer HNFIZ.
Our representative office in Berlin, which strengthens our close ties to the capital, has also evolved over the past year, for example through regular exchanges with experts in the “Tacheles” (“straight talking”) discussion format. The Berlin office serves as an important bridge linking our scientific strengths with their political implementation.
This annual report presents selected research highlights from our different locations and departments and offers an insight into our scientific research. The projects clearly illustrate the breadth and relevance of our involvement in technological, environmental and social-strategic domains with European and international significance.
The interview with Dr. Mirjam Storim, Chair of our Board of Trustees, offers valuable insights into how innovation research will have to adapt in the coming years to tackle the impacts of current developments. The challenges and opportunities discussed in the interview highlight just how important it is that innovation research continues to evolve.
The past year also brought personnel changes. New people bring fresh ideas, first and foremost, our new director of administration, Dr. Sebastian Ziegaus, who started working at Fraunhofer ISI in 2025 alongside other highly qualified colleagues.
The facts and figures demonstrate the institute’s dynamic growth. The number of employees, projects and publications has risen again, an indication of our team’s dedication and expertise.
Special thanks go to all our staff, partners and supporters at every location and our representative office in Berlin. Your commitment and ideas make our institute a vibrant place of progress.
Together, we take an optimistic view of the future and are committed to actively shaping innovation research and developing sustainable solutions to social challenges. We hope our report is an inspiring read and that you enjoy discovering more about our activities and findings.
From the directors of Fraunhofer ISI,
Prof. Jakob Edler & Prof. Marion A. Weissenberger-Eibl
I can see the need for two adaptations here that have already begun: First, a methodological one. We will need data-based research approaches more than ever before, ones that can use AI-based language and other data models to provide more evidence regarding the perennial question of why and where certain innovations succeed (or fail). Second, we will have to broaden our scope of analysis. Just as innovation policy and industry policy are becoming increasingly intermeshed in the political sphere, innovation research will also turn its attention to established industries and technologies to a much greater extent than before. How do sustainable innovations emerge not only from greenfield but from brownfield sites? What is required for established companies to manage transformation successfully? Which competition-related framework conditions does government have to tackle and readjust? Questions like these are already broadening the scope of innovation research and will continue to do so, and it should not shy away from neighboring fields of research and policy, such as energy policy or labor market policy!
For me, the key word here is transfer. We need measures that support the transition from invention to innovation. And we need the courage and drive to implement these measures swiftly and effectively. Incidentally, this warning applies equally to all sectors . To industry and businesses, when it comes to their willingness to invest in new technologies and reconfigure tried and tested business models. To politics, when it comes to consistently linking industry funding with instruments to aid innovation. To academia, when it comes to rewarding not just publications but also transfer activities to a greater extent. In the future, the education sector should also pay greater attention to new technologies and their significance for society.
In Germany, the former Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) (now the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR)), has presented a clear and focused overview of prioritized key technologies in its High-Tech Agenda that I personally believe to be very helpful for guiding research activities: Artificial Intelligence, quantum technologies, microelectronics, biotechnology, fusion and climate-neutral energy generation, and technologies for climate-neutral mobility. Fraunhofer ISI is already well positioned in several of these fields today - always with its critical perspective of systems and innovations that makes the institute stand out. Because what really matters is understanding technology in context, providing holistic policy advice, and having the foresight to identify and evaluate the interactions between government, business, technology and society.
The departments "Regional Transformation and Innovation Policy" and "Knowledge and Technology Transfer" from the former Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy IMW became part of Fraunhofer ISI on January 1, 2025.
Since 2025, Fraunhofer ISI has had an additional location in Leipzig, alongside its main site in Karlsruhe, the Joint Innovation Hub in Heilbronn and the representative office in Berlin.
In December 2025, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e. V., represented by the three institutes Fraunhofer ISI, Fraunhofer ICT and Fraunhofer IOSB, was admitted as a shareholder of the TechnologieRegion Karlsruhe GmbH “By joining the Karlsruhe Technology Region, we are contributing to a networked innovation region, where science, businesses and society work together to benefit the region, as our own research repeatedly demonstrates that the quality of such networking is a decisive factor in successful regional development”, says Prof. Jakob Edler, executive director of Fraunhofer ISI.
One of our established cross-cutting research topics has had a new coordinator since October 2025. Dr. Henning Döscher (Emerging Technologies Department) is responsible for coordinating the activities of the cross-cutting topic Hydrogen.
In 2025, Circular Economy was introduced as an additional cross‑cutting topic. It is coordinated by Dr. Meta Thurid Lotz (Energy Technology and Energy Systems Department). As part of our research on the circular economy, the institute develops and models future scenarios, evaluates policy instruments, and produces patent and trend analyses.
Dr. Benjamin Lux has been head of the Business Unit Electricity Markets and Infrastructures in the Department of Energy Policy and Energy Markets since February. Dr. Niklas Reinfandt took over as head of the Business Unit Energy Policy in April. Dr. Sabine Preuß has been head of the Business Unit Actors and Acceptance in the Energy System since June. In the Energy Technology and Energy Systems Department, Dr. Andrea Herbst took over the Business Unit Energy Efficiency in March 2025. In the Foresight Department, Dr. Anna Kirstgen became head of the Business Unit Foresight for Business and Industry Associations in July 2025 Prof. Kerstin Cuhls took over as head of the Business Unit Foresight for Research and Civil Society.
We welcomed the following new members to our Board of Trustees in 2025: Dr. Babett Gläser (Head of the Research Department at the State Ministry of Saxony), Henriette Spyra (Head of Section III “Innovation and Technology” at the Austrian Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure) and Dr. Volker Trier (Head of Foreign Trade and Member of the Executive Board of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce). A very warm welcome to you all!
We also said goodbye to Prof. Sylvia Schwaag (University of Lund), Prof. Wiltrud Treffenfeldt (Life Science & BioTechnology, BioEconomy, Oberrieden) and Prof. Thomas Hirth (Karlsruher Institute of Technology). Many thanks for your commitment!
Andreas Kessen was appointed head of IT at our institute on July 1, 2025.
Michael Becker took over as head of HR on September 1, 2025.
On October 1, 2025, we welcomed Dr. Sebastian Ziegaus back to Fraunhofer ISI as our new Director of Administration. After his degree and doctorate, Sebastian Ziegaus was employed for several years at Fraunhofer ISI as part of the institute director’s scientific team.
The institute’s executive director, Prof. Jakob Edler, spoke in February 2025 about current innovation policy issues at an online workshop with the Federal Chancellor’s Office. The focus here was on questions of strategic intelligence and governance as well as key technologies and technology sovereignty. In April, Prof. Edler was at the Chancellery again as a guest at a conference.
In October, he opened the 2025 Crowd Innovation Summit with a keynote on participatory formats in the scientific process. He spoke at numerous scientific conferences throughout the year and moderated the farewell symposium for Hans Martin Henning, the institute director of Fraunhofer ISE. The volume “Transformative Mission-Oriented Innovation Policies. Revisiting the Role of Science, Technology and Innovation in Society”, which Jakob Edler edited together with Mireille Watt, Wolfgang Polt and Matthias Weber, is just one of his many scientific publications in 2025.
Our institute director, Prof. Marion A. Weissenberger-Eibl has been deputy chair of the speaker’s group Fraunhofer HNFIZ since the launch of the nine Fraunhofer Heilbronn Research and Innovation Centers (Fraunhofer HNFIZ) and is responsible for the “Innovation & Foresight” FIZ together with the Joint Innovation Hub Heilbronn, which she leads together with Dr. Malte Busch.
Marion A. Weissenberger-Eibl was singled out by Table.Briefings as one of the leading figures in the “Consulting” category in their "Top 100 of the Table". She also published a new edited collection in 2025 with the title “Zukunftsgestalter Deutschlands: Pioniergeschichten aus Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft, Politik und Zivilgesellschaft.“
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Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI
