FAU President meets Germany’s Chancellor
Olaf Scholz visits Siemens factory in Erlangen
Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany, visited Siemens in Erlangen on July 13, 2023. FAU President Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger also attended the meeting and welcomed the chancellor to Erlangen as a leading location for innovation in Germany.
FAU President Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger: “We have had an extraordinary week with excellent news concerning the development of industry and research in Erlangen and Nuremberg, that will also have an impact on FAU. The major investment proposed will elevate the climate of innovation in Erlangen exponentially. Through the close cooperation of our university with our industrial partner Siemens, other leading enterprises, and research institutions such as Max-Planck, Fraunhofer and Helmholtz, we are creating a unique high-tech ecosystem that will have an impact far beyond Erlangen.”
According to Siemens, during his visit Scholz wanted to ascertain which challenges employees are facing due to digitalization. Siemens President and CEO Roland Busch used the occasion of the Chancellor’s visit to make an announcement: Siemens intends to spend half of its two billion euro investment program in Germany. Siemens CEO, Roland Busch: “Many companies are choosing to invest in foreign countries at the moment. Siemens is choosing to invest in Germany because there is an established and successful ecosystem here: Germany has well-developed automotive, chemical, pharmaceutical, and medical engineering industries and a strong SME sector. We are investing in Germany because we believe in the power of innovation and the ingenuity in our country.” Scholz welcomed this investment in Germany as a location for industry: “This is a strong signal. With this investment, Siemens is strengthening the innovative power of our entire country.” Around half a billion euros have been earmarked by Siemens for the construction of an electronics factory in Erlangen. Siemens stated that the investment will establish Erlangen as a center for the technology of the “industrial metaverse”, where this technology supports the connection between the physical and digital world. 
FAU Siemens Research and Innovation Ecosystem
By founding the Siemens Research and Innovation Ecosystem, FAU and Siemens have raised their successful and long-standing partnership to a new level. The center serves as a platform to bring together researchers at the university and the company and to promote collaboration projects efficiently. As a partner in the RIE program, FAU has taken its place in the network alongside other prestigious universities in the USA, China, Denmark and Germany.
Partnerships and collaborations