The Leibniz Association (German: Leibniz-Gemeinschaft or Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz) is a union of German non-university research institutes from various branches of study.
In 2011, 87 non-university research institutes and service device for science belong to the Leibniz-Gemeinschaft. The fields range from natural science, engineering, and ecology, to economics, other social sciences, space science, and humanities. The Leibniz Institutes work in an interdisciplinary fashion, and connect basic and applied science. They cooperate with universities, industry, and other partners in different parts of the world. The "evaluation" of the Leibniz-Gemeinschaft is a benchmark for all institutes. The Leibniz Institutes employ 16,800 people and budget was €1.4 billion.
Leibniz Institutes are funded publicly to equal parts by the federal government and the Federal states (Bundesländer).
Read more about Leibniz-Gemeinschaft: History, Retired Institutes, Leibniz Alumni of Business Start-ups