German Federation of Industrial Research Associations (AiF)

The AiF was founded in 1954. Its services are especially oriented towards German firms. The association is active at the national and European level.

The AiF is organised by industry and is particularly involved in increasing the competitive strength of SMEs by supporting the efficient application and advancement of R&D programmes. This includes a variety of fields of applied research, such as process control, construction industry, medical technology and food science.

The AiF promotes R&D for small and medium-sized enterprises in several ways:

• organisation of collective industrial research for the benefit of entire industrial sectors
• administration of programmes for governmental R&D support measures
• promotion of R&D through open innovation processes
• networking within and between industrial sectors and politics

See more details in http://www.research-in-germany.org/en/research-funding/funding-organisations/industrial-research-associations-aif.html

and http://www.aif.de/en/about-aif.html