HTWK Leipzig: Leading in DFG funding in East Germany

The Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK) is the most heavily funded university of applied sciences in eastern Germany by the German Research Foundation (DFG). According to the latest DFG Funding Atlas, HTWK received funding of 1.6 million euros in the period from 2020 to 2022.

In a nationwide comparison, this puts the university in seventh place among the 100 HAWs receiving funding. Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, which received 1.5 million euros in funding, ranks directly behind it. Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences also made it into the top 20 with funding of one million euros. According to the DFG, the two other universities of applied sciences in Saxony, Dresden and Zwickau, each received less than one million euros in the same period.

"It is not a matter of course to receive funding from the DFG," said the Vice-Rector for Research and Sustainability at HTWK Leipzig, Faouzi Derbel. He was very pleased "that the university has been able to achieve a top position among DFG-funded UAS over the years". At the same time, he emphasized that the total DFG funding acquired by UASs is still low and accounts for less than one percent of the total DFG budget.

Research dependent on third-party funding

In addition to basic state funding, research at universities is primarily financed by third-party funding. HAWs in particular are more reliant than average on third-party funding, which is acquired by researchers in competitive procedures. The DFG, which provides project-based funding in Germany, is still the second largest provider of third-party funding. Two-thirds of its funding budget comes from federal funds and one-third from state funds.

According to HTWK Leipzig, the DFG's 1.6 million euros went to individual projects, research groups and research equipment in the years 2020 to 2022. Funding was provided in particular for projects in the fields of civil engineering and architecture, computer science and electrical engineering as well as the humanities.