The Research Institute for Application-Oriented Knowledge Processing (FAW): Planning and Realizing a High-Technology Institute

The FAW was founded at the end of 1987 in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, as part of an evolving scientific center. The institute is cosponsored by the State of Baden-Württemberg and a number of large industrial enterprises. Its research focuses on application-oriented knowledge processing, which ranges from basic research to precompetitive research and projects in industrial applications. The institute was formulated and implemented to do high-quality research and to achieve an intimate relationship between basic research and applications, and it depends on the right integration of state, industry, and science; solid funding with emphasis on deficit funding mechanisms; interchange of staff with the state and industry; close ties with the university; and the right kind of legal arrangements, for example, contracts for fixed periods of time.