Holger Hanselka, president of the Fraunhofer Society, has called for sweeping protective measures to shield Germany from a massive exodus of knowledge. In an interview with the “Handelsblatt”, he urged the federal government and the Länder to make a “binding” determination of which countries, organizations and companies, and on which key topics a German research institute must not collaborate with. He warned that violations should be penalised, stressing that “scientific freedom does not mean arbitrariness”.
When criticised that the Fraunhofer Society may not be doing enough to safeguard knowledge, Hanselka pointed out that the employment contracts for institute directors contain confidentiality clauses that remain in force even after employment ends. A highly publicized case in this context concerns the departure of a director of the institute for communications technology to the Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei. According to “Handelsblatt” reports, there was no cooling‑off period or other restriction to prevent a knowledge leak.
The issue has gained additional relevance after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) recently announced plans to replace Chinese networking technology within German infrastructure.