German academics secured an average of €332,200 in external funding in 2023, a slight increase of 2% or €5,800 compared to the previous year, according to data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Thursday. This funding, known as Drittmittel, primarily supports individual research projects and specific research areas.
The Technical University of Aachen (RWTH Aachen) maintained its leading position in external funding per professorship, securing €1.127 million. The Technical University of Munich followed with €863,200 and the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg ranked third with €697,400. To facilitate fair comparisons between institutions with and without medical facilities, figures related to medical and health sciences-which generate significantly higher external funding-have been excluded from these rankings.
In terms of total external funding secured, the Technical University of Munich led the way in 2023 with €405 million, mirroring previous years. RWTH Aachen held second place with €396 million and the Technical University of Dresden ranked third with €298 million.
Analysis by subject area, including medical and health sciences, reveals that engineering disciplines garnered the highest external funding per professor at €718,600 – a 1% increase from 2022. Human medicine/health sciences followed with €661,600 (a decrease of 1%) and agricultural, forestry and nutritional sciences, along with veterinary medicine, secured €422,500 (no change).
Conversely, law, business and social sciences saw comparatively lower external funding, averaging €170,700 per professor, a 5% increase. Humanities disciplines drew €150,300 per professor (a 2% increase), while the lowest funding was secured within arts and arts sciences, at €101,000 per professor (a 14% increase).
External funding levels were notably lower across other types of higher education institutions. At universities of applied sciences, the average external funding per professor stood at €53,200 (a 4% increase), while at art academies it was €20,000 (an 8% decrease). Overall, across all higher education institutions, professors secured an average of €226,800 in external funding (a 2% increase).