About us

Fraunhofer Institute UMSICHT in Sulzbach-Rosenberg Germany is a Pioneer of the energy and raw material revolution. We contribute to a sustainable energy and raw material supply through business-oriented innovations and research in energy and plant technology, biological process engineering and recycling management.

The institute focuses on the development of processes and plants for the conversion of biogenic residues into valuable, storable products (e.g. synthetic fuels, biochar and gas), for the recycling of composite materials (e.g. electronic scrap or CFRP) and for waste management concepts for municipalities and countries. Our Centre of Energy Storage focuses on digital innovations in decentralised energy conversion and storage systems.

Our researchers accompany clients from industry and the public sector from the process idea to the pilot plant and the finished product.

Facts and Figures

The Sulzbach-Rosenberg branch of the institute in the Nuremberg metropolitan region employs over 100 people and has a budget of more than EUR 10 million. The institute has been a member of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft since July 1, 2012.

Fraunhofer UMSICHT 

Fraunhofer UMSICHT has a site in Oberhausen, an institute branch in Sulzbach-Rosenberg and a plastics technology center in Willich. The institute was founded in June 1990 as a non-profit technical-scientific institution with the support of the city of Oberhausen and local industries. The institute complex at the Oberhausen site comprises five buildings with office space, a data center, a library and a representative event room. Workshops, technical shops (3100 m²) and laboratories (1400 m²) form the technical infrastructure.

Since July 1, 2012, the institute branch in the Nuremberg metropolitan region, based in Sulzbach-Rosenberg, has been part of Fraunhofer UMSICHT. In 2024, the workforce at both sites comprised 596 employees – mostly with training in the natural sciences and engineering. Of these, 52 percent are scientific staff, 17 percent are administrative staff, 4 percent are training staff and 28 percent are students, pupils and interns.

In 2024, the institute generated a turnover of € 73.3 million. This includes € 18.5 million in industrial returns, € 36.2 million in public returns (incl. EU), € 3.6 million in other income, € 8.3 million in basic funding and € 6.8 million in funding from internal programs.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, headquartered in Germany, is a leading organization for applied research. It plays a pivotal role in innovation by focusing on cutting-edge technologies and transferring research results to industry in order to strengthen Germany as a business location and benefit society. Since its founding as a nonprofit in 1949, Fraunhofer has held a unique position in the German research and innovation ecosystem.

With more than 30,000 employees at 74 institutes and independent research units in Germany, Fraunhofer operates with an annual budget of 3.6 billion euros. Contract research, Fraunhofer's mainstay, generates 3.2 billion of this budget. Unlike other public research organizations, institutional funding from federal and state governments accounts for no more than one-third of Fraunhofer's contract research budget. Institutional funding is thus merely the base of Fraunhofer’s main business model and serves as the foundation for groundbreaking pre-competitive research that will become important for industry and society in the years ahead.

What truly sets Fraunhofer apart is its high share of industrial revenue, which ensures close collaboration with the private sector while keeping Fraunhofer's research focused on the market. Fraunhofer raises at least two-thirds of its contract research budget competitively from private-sector contracts and public project funding. In 2025, industrial revenue alone accounted for 966 million euros.