ZEW Annual Report 2010 Published - ZEW Successful in Raising Third-Party Funds From Home and Abroad

In the business year 2010, the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) Mannheim improved its results by half a million to 15.6 million euros. In particular, third-party funding strongly increased in 2010. The institute’s annual report provides this information.

In 2010, ZEW received 6.3 million euros third-party funds that were raised in national and international competition, thus exceeding the previous year’s funding of  5.8 million euros. Hence third-party funding contributes to 40 per cent of ZEW’s finances. In the past business year, ZEW was particularly successful in calls for project proposals by the German government and federal state ministries as well as foreign ministries. They contribute to a total of 45 per cent of the third-party funding. Other important clients are firms and organisations (25 per cent), the European Commission (17 per cent) and the German Research Foundation DFG (10 per cent) as well as other foundations (3 per cent). In the business year 2010, a total of 110 projects for national and international clients were successfully completed.

"It becomes apparent that policy advising as well as research plays an important role at ZEW. This is confirmed not only by the great success in raising third-party funds but also by the evaluation process that ZEW passed through in September 2009 and whose results were published by the Senate of the Leibniz Association in 2010", says ZEW President Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Franz. The evaluation committee praised ZEW as an extraordinarily successful and seminal establishment for applied empirical economic research and certified that the institute had an excellent national and international reputation as one of the leading economic research institutes in Europe. They also noted that ZEW had set scientific standards for economic policy advising in Germany. Furthermore, the evaluation report states that the excellent quality of ZEW’s advising services was primarily due to the high quality of research conducted at ZEW as well as its comprehensive and important databases.

Moreover, in 2010, ZEW took one step forward by maintaining and expanding its international networks. For instance, the research programme “Strengthening Efficiency and Competitiveness in the European Knowledge Economies (SEEK) was launched and is now to be financed by the state government of Baden-Württemberg for five years. The SEEK programme will further internationalise ZEW’s research activities in the next few years. "The insights that we gain in the SEEK programme are to increase the competitiveness of the increasingly knowledge-based economies in Europe," explains ZEW President Franz. "Thus, ZEW contributes to the goals set in the European Union’s 2020 strategy to increase productivity and achieve a high level of employment in the Member States."

In 2010, 15 doctoral degrees and one habilitation were successfully completed at ZEW. A number of dissertations were awarded the highest possible grade of "summa cum laude". At the end of 2010, a total of 172 persons were employed at ZEW, two thirds of which were researchers. "With 45 per cent of female staff, the proportion of women working at ZEW is on a high level," says Thomas Kohl, ZEW Director of Business and Administration. "The flexible working hours at ZEW help combining work and family life."

The ZEW Annual Report 2010 contains many other interesting facts. Its new design makes it more accessible for readers, and emphasises the highlights of 2010.

For further information please contact

Thomas Kohl, Phone  +49 (0)621/1235-111, E-mail kohl@zew.de