ZEW Annual Report 2012 Published: ZEW Successful in Raising Third-Party Funds

In 2012, the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim increased its total revenues by 2.3 million euros to 20.5 million euros. It was in particular the growth of third-party funding which contributed to the result. This information is provided by the annual report (German version) recently published by the institute.

In 2012, ZEW’s research units secured third-party funds worth 10.1 million euros against the backdrop of national and international competition among research institutions. The 2012 figures clearly exceed the previous year’s funding of 8.4 million euros. Compared to 2011, the turnover in third-party funds with the EU and foreign ministries could be doubled in 2012 and increased to 2.6 million euros, which is an outstanding success.

ZEW was also successful in the competition for project grants awarded by German federal and state ministries as well as ministries from other countries. Altogether, these projects contributed 53 per cent to total third-party funding. Other important providers of third-party funding include enterprises and associations (12 per cent), the German Research Foundation DFG and other foundations (13 per cent).

"The European Commission in particular has become an increasingly important partner over 2012. By now, almost 25 per cent of ZEW’s total third-party funding is provided by the EU," says Thomas Kohl, Director of Business and Administration at ZEW. "This illustrates the relevance of ZEW’s research and policy advice when it comes to EU topics, and it confirms the great esteem national and international clients accord to the institute."

The establishment of the ZEW Research Group "Competition and Regulation" was an important event in 2012. The Research Group focuses on the areas of competitive strategy, competition policy and regulatory policy in network industries. It closely cooperates with the Leibniz ScienceCampus "Mannheim Centre for Competition and Innovation (MaCCI)".  Launched in 2012, MaCCI is a joint project of ZEW and the School of Law and Economics at the University of Mannheim, and it receives funding from the State of Baden-Württemberg and the Leibniz Association. In 2012, a number of events took place at ZEW within the framework of MaCCI. In addition, ZEW organised some 40 conferences and workshops with the participation of many renowned German and international researchers.

The high quality of ZEW’s research in 2012 was reflected in numerous contributions of ZEW researchers in renowned academic journals as well as in the large number of lectures given at national and international conferences and events.

Again, up-and-coming researchers were promoted at ZEW: a total of 14 talented economists successfully completed their doctoral degrees. Holger Bonin, head of the ZEW Research Department "Labour Markets, Human Resources and Social Policy" was appointed professor of economics at the University of Kassel in recognition of his outstanding research performance in the last years.

By the end of 2012, ZEW had a staff 182, 127 of whom were engaged in research. "31 per cent of all researchers at ZEW and 41 per cent of the entire staff are female. ZEW is particularly proud of the high share of female senior researchers at the institute, which is 73 per cent," states Thomas Kohl. The average age of ZEW employees is currently 35 years.

The ZEW public relations department will be pleased to send you a printed version of the Annual Report 2012 (tillich@zew.de).

For more information please contact

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