Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Reviews

I worked at Fraunhofer Gesellschaft as an intern for less than a year

Pros – Independent research was encouraged and a chance to write many research papers. Good funds available if one wants to travel for conferences. Strong encouragement from the senior management if you are a high performer.

Cons – I found it hard to turn my internship offer to fulltime employment. And this was the case with most students. Most students including me got much better job offers in the industry but we wanted to stick along for the environment it provided.

Advice to Senior Management – Try recruting students as fulltime employee after the internship offers.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Fraunhofer Gesellschaft full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – - big office
- good salary

Cons – - not stable job, only temporary jobs

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Fraunhofer Gesellschaft

Pros – a lot of free time

Cons – too low in the pay

Advice to Senior Management – increase pay

I worked at Fraunhofer Gesellschaft full-time for more than a year

Pros – you work on industry projects beside your PhD research, and your research is industry oriented, which gives you an advantage if you aim to work in the industry after completion of the PhD. A guaranteed job offer upon completion of the PhD.

Cons – Salaries are low for PhD students (half position offers), and the work load is very high, as they are required to do the same project work done by other colleagues in addition to their PhD work in just a 3 year period. Rare cases of contract extensions if the PhD is not finished within 3 years.

I have been working at Fraunhofer Gesellschaft full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Excellent work culture and very intelligent people, usually the best in the field. Ability to work and lead EU and Industry projects. You get a great deal of contacts and offers a launchpad to get into industry.

Cons – Gets too hectic if you are active in your personal research activities.

Advice to Senior Management – Allow workers to get more time for extra work, for example, their personal research activities. Also, provide a wider set of compensation options.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Fraunhofer Gesellschaft full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Room for personal improvement, challenging job, different work every day, good working climate and smart people all around.

Cons – payment could be much better, there are not many institutes outside of Germany, so it is not easy to get international experience

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Fraunhofer Gesellschaft part-time for more than 3 years

Pros – comfortable atmosphere. jerk free environment. decide your own work hours. Budget always available for ordering new hardware.

Cons – Bad relations to Infrastructure team. low salary. sometimes too much bureaucracy. work is too monotone and not always challenging. Campus is far away from city center. no flawless communication between the employees level and the far higher management level.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Fraunhofer Gesellschaft part-time for less than a year

Pros – Good environment, get to know latest projects, Professor or RA assistance, thesis project

Cons – hard to get in touch with professor sometimes, no pay for thesis work

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Fraunhofer Gesellschaft

Pros – Great opportunity to work in interesting and international development and research projects, lots of freedom (but ones has to be able to make use of it), allows building a big set of contacts into academia and industry

Cons – Time management can be very difficult among varying responsibilities such as writing proposals, doing development work and furthering one's scientific career. Expect to work a bit more than 40 hrs if you plan to get a PhD while working here.

Advice to Senior Management – Ensure more consistent application of trainings - as an example, introductory trainings sometimes do not take place and it takes years until new employees have conducted the basic training in presentation skills, project management etc.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Fraunhofer Gesellschaft

Pros – - Good working atmosphere
- Diverse projects
- Great campus

Cons – - high average age in my department

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend