The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e. V. undertakes applied research of direct utility to private and public enterprise and of wide benefit to society. Its services are solicited by customers and contractual partners in industry, the service sector and public administration. At present, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft maintains 56 Institutes, at over 40 different locations in Germany. A staff of 12,500, predominantly qualified scientists and engineers, work with an annual research budget of around 1.2 billion euros.