Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT
Pioneering the way to a sustainable world
Fraunhofer UMSICHT is actively involved in shaping energy and raw materials management, focusing its research on four main areas: carbon management, circular economy, green hydrogen and local energy systems.
As a pioneer for technical innovations, we promote sustainable management, environmentally friendly technologies and innovative behavior in order to improve people's quality of life and promote the innovative capacity of the domestic economy.
We develop solutions that make a decisive contribution to a resource-conserving society and economy. Our focus is on achieving a balance between economically successful, socially just and environmentally compatible developments.
Facts and figures
Fraunhofer UMSICHT has a site in Oberhausen, an institute branch in Sulzbach-Rosenberg and a plastics technology center in Willich. The institute was founded in June 1990 as a non-profit technical-scientific institution with the support of the city of Oberhausen and local industries. The institute complex at the Oberhausen site comprises five buildings with office space, a data center, a library and a representative event room. Workshops, technical shops (3100 m²) and laboratories (1400 m²) form the technical infrastructure.
Since July 1, 2012, the institute branch in the Nuremberg metropolitan region, based in Sulzbach-Rosenberg, has been part of Fraunhofer UMSICHT. In 2022, the workforce at both sites comprised 600 employees – most of them with training in the natural sciences and engineering. Of these, 376 are permanent staff, plus 20 trainees and 200 students, school pupils and interns.
In 2022, the institute generated a turnover of EUR 58 million. This includes EUR 15.7 million in industrial returns, EUR 26.6 million in public returns, EUR 2.2 million in other income, EUR 7.7 million in basic funding and EUR 5.6 million in funding from internal programs.
Institute of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
As an institute within the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, we are globally networked and promote international cooperation. In order to use synergies in technology development and expand scientific value adding, we work with partners worldwide. Strategic collaborations exist in Kuwait, with the University of Alberta in Edmonton/Canada and with the University of Birmingham, UK, among others. Details can be found on the International Networks page.
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, based in Germany, is the world’s leading applied research organization. By prioritizing key technologies for the future and commercializing its findings in business and industry, it plays a major role in the innovation process. A trailblazer and trendsetter in innovative developments and research excellence, it is helping shape our society and our future. Founded in 1949, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft currently operates 76 institutes and research units throughout Germany. Around 30,800 employees, predominantly scientists and engineers, work with an annual research budget of roughly €3.0 billion, €2.6 billion of which is designated as contract research.
