Germany: €21.82 billion for the Ministry of Research in the 2026 budget; €1.64 billion in special funds

The German Ministry of Research, Technology and Space will have a budget of €21.82 billion in 2026 after a vote by the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament, on 28/11/2025. This amount, which was increased by MPs compared to the government's initial proposal (€21.26bn), is lower than the 2025 budget (€22.28bn).

It is the fifth largest budget for a federal ministry, behind those of the ministries of labour and social affairs, defence, transport and health. The ministry's main programme, dedicated to the competitiveness of the scientific and innovation system, has a budget of €8.3bn.

This includes €2.16bn for the German Research Foundation (DFG) and €1.28bn for the Max Planck Society, as well as €515 million for the excellence strategy and €50m for the plan to welcome international researchers, launched in response to Donald Trump's restrictions on scientific activity at US institutions.

The second part of the budget, worth €8.2bn, focuses on innovation and the implementation of the High-Tech Agenda launched by the German government in July 2025. In particular, it allocates…