The announcement comes as Australia signs its association agreement with Horizon Europe in Brussels. The European Union’s flagship research and innovation funding program will open up new opportunities for Australian and European researchers to collaborate on joint projects.
“Australia produces about 3 per cent of the world’s research and innovation, which means we must connect with the other 97 per cent. Europe, and partnerships like this one, let us do the research here and connect it to the world”, UNSW Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Attila Brungs said in Stuttgart.
Advancing collaboration in energy, robotics and the built environment
“Through this partnership, our organisations will develop new initiatives in research, doctoral education, industry engagement and programs that support researcher and start-up company mobility,” said UNSW Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise Professor Bronwyn Fox. “UNSW’s strengths in clean energy and storage, robotics, architecture and construction, together with our ARENA2036 membership, provide a strong foundation. We look forward to exploring how joint research, doctoral projects and industry engagement can bring researchers and industry in Australia and Germany closer together.”
Connecting research and industry across continents
The collaboration was announced during a visit to Stuttgart by Australia’s Minister for Industry and Innovation and Minister for Science, Tim Ayres, who toured the ARENA2036 Industry and Innovation facility at the University of Stuttgart and the Fraunhofer IAO.
Through partnerships like this, Australian SMEs and emerging tech firms will gain access to European partners, supply chains and innovation infrastructure, lifting their global competitiveness. It will also open up new opportunities for German research organisations and companies to engage with Australian research expertise and a well-connected innovation ecosystem in the Asia-Pacific region.
Building on established partnerships
University of Stuttgart Rector Professor Peter Middendorf said the plans built on the University’s existing relationship with UNSW and its membership of ARENA2036.
“We are pleased to explore further collaboration with UNSW and Fraunhofer, including doctoral projects, researcher mobility and industry-linked research. ARENA2036 has more than 70 industry partners deeply engaged in collaborative, pre-competitive research,” Professor Middendorf said.
The organisations will explore options for a dedicated Fraunhofer IAO presence at UNSW Sydney and joint strategic R&D initiatives to support sustained collaboration.
Professor Katharina Hölzle, Executive Director of Fraunhofer IAO, a Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft institute, said the organisations shared an interest in connecting research and industry.
“Fraunhofer IAO brings vast experience in applied research and project development with industry and a long-standing collaboration with University of Stuttgart and ARENA2036. We look forward to exploring how our capabilities can complement those of UNSW and where collaboration can translate research into practical applications in Australia and beyond,” Professor Hölzle said.
Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO
