The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has launched the “Souverän. Digital. Networked.” has launched a new funding measure. The aim of the funding guideline is to harness the opportunities of 6G for society and the economy by transferring 6G technologies into applications, thereby strengthening the technological sovereignty of Germany and Europe. The funding measure builds on the previous successes of research and development in the field of 6G, which were developed in the course of previous research projects as part of the 6G initiative. The central questions to be answered as part of the current funding relate to specific use cases with regard to the performance parameters of data rate, reliability, resilience and energy efficiency. The aim is to create systems that are tailored for practical use at an early stage.
The object of funding is research into 6G key technologies and complementary new communication technologies in specific application scenarios. The technology developments must focus on fields of application with social relevance for Germany as a business location. Examples of possible fields of application here include networked robotics, telemedicine, Industry 4.0, the mobility sector, virtual or augmented reality (VR/AR) as well as concepts for public and non-public mobile networks that are specifically tailored to central branches of industry in Germany. As a result, the projects should develop core technologies for 6G systems. A comprehensive overview of the specific technical research areas and funding rates can be found in the announcement of the funding guideline “Bringing 6G into application – Sustainable, resilient and intelligent networking for society and the economy” from 21.08.2024.
State and non-state universities, non-university research institutions, associations and societies as well as other organizations with an interest in research and development and commercial enterprises are eligible to apply. The participation of start-ups, SMEs and medium-sized companies in the consortia is expressly desired and will be positively considered in the project assessment. Start-ups within the meaning of the funding guidelines are companies that have been on the market for less than five years and have innovative technologies or business models.
The application procedure has a two-stage structure. In the first stage, project outlines of up to twelve pages can be submitted via easy online by interested project consortia by the deadlines 15.12.24 or 15.12.25. Once the project outline has been positively evaluated, formal funding applications can be submitted in a second step.
Further information on the communication systems framework research program “Sovereign. Digital. Networked.” can be found in the information brochure of the BMBF.