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[Funding of research projects--the importance of foundations]
1Klinik für Anästhesiologie und Operative Intensivmedizin, Klinikum der Stadt Ludwigshafen gGmbH. BoldtJ@gmx.net
Objective:
Without outside funding, scientific research would widely stagnate. Funding of research projects by German foundations was analysed and specified for different medical disciplines.
Methods:
The analysis based on the following sources: Handbuch der Wissenschaftspreise und Forschungsstipendien, Forschungshandbuch "Hochschul- und wissenschaftsfördernde Institutionen und Programme", Deutsches Arzteblatt 2000, the internet and the CD-ROM "Verzeichnis Deutscher Stiftungen".
Results:
The highest number of research support by foundations was found in internal medicine (n = 70; volume: > 3,6 Mio DM). Other large disciplines, e. g. surgery (number of projects n = 10; financial volume: approximately 130,000 DM) or anesthesia (9 projects), were much less supported by foundations. A smaller discipline, dermatology, was supported much more (n = 13; volume 320,000 DM).
Conclusions:
None-industrial, none-governmental supported research is based on foundations. The range of support by foundations is very large, reaching from very high to only very small support. Increase in the foundation-based financial support would help to improve medical research in several disciplines.