A materials company has developed, together with a university, a new sustainable material and a corresponding test method to characterise it. The material will only gain traction if buyers can rely on a recognised, comparable way to test and specify it. Without a published standard, every customer tests differently and adoption stalls. The company and the university want to turn their test method into a recognised specification.
WIPANO (Wissens- und Technologietransfer durch Patente und Normen) does not fund research and development itself; it funds two things that turn innovation into transferable value: securing intellectual property and standardisation. Its research-to-standard strand funds cooperation projects that prepare research results for standardisation, developing test methods, terminologies, interfaces or reference data and bringing them into bodies such as DIN, CEN or ISO. At least one university or publicly funded research institution and one commercial company must take part; no more than 70% of the person-months may fall to the research side.
For such a cooperation the funding rate is up to 50 percent for companies and up to 80 percent for SMEs, with a maximum of €200,000 per partner, generally over 24 months; universities receive up to 85 percent. The programme is run through the Juelich project management agency, with applications submitted via the easy-Online portal. New project outlines were only possible until 31 May 2026; full applications until 31 May 2027 are only for selected outlines.
The work fits WIPANO's research-to-standard strand exactly. The cooperation project prepares the test method for standardisation, the test procedure, terminology and reference data, and brings it into a standards body, for example by publishing it as a specification such as a DIN SPEC, which makes it usable across the market as a picture of the state of the art. As an SME, the company receives the higher rate on its share, up to 80 percent; on costs of around €190,000 this came to around €150,000, over up to 24 months; the university is funded on its side at up to 85 percent. This lets both partners dedicate real effort to standardisation work that is otherwise unfunded and easily neglected.
A €150k WIPANO grant.
A recognised test standard for the new material removes a major adoption barrier, gives customers confidence, and positions the originating company as the reference point. Turning the research into a standard scales both the impact and the commercial value of the innovation.
Standardisation · up to 80% of eligible costsWhere adoption of an innovation depends on a missing standard, the standard itself is worth funding. WIPANO lets a company and a research partner carry their results into the standards the market will then follow, at a high rate for the SME and with the research partner funded on its own side.
More on WIPANO: The guide WIPANO: patents, standards and application explains the programme step by step. How we support your project is covered under WIPANO consulting.
The questions we hear most about the programme. Short answer first, detail after.
Cooperation projects that prepare research results for standardisation, with at least one university or publicly funded research institution and one commercial company.
Up to 50 percent for companies and up to 80 percent for SMEs, with a maximum of around €200,000 per partner over up to 24 months.
A specification that makes a method or result usable across the market as a picture of the state of the art, faster to publish than a full standard.
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) funds WIPANO, the Juelich project management agency (PtJ) runs it; applications go through the easy-Online portal.
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