The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is Europe’s largest application-oriented research organization. With 67 institutes throughout Germany as well as numerous international research centres and liaison offices in Europe, the USA and Asia, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has an established reputation for excellence at the front rank of applied research and development. All institutes perform contract research and development for industry and public authorities. The majority of more than 24,000 staff is qualified scientists and engineers, who work with an annual research budget totaling more than 2.1 billion euros. The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS is one of the world’s leading application-oriented research institutions for microelectronic and IT system solutions and services. About 950 employees conduct contract research for industry, the service sector and public authorities. Founded in 1985 in Erlangen, Fraunhofer IIS has now 13 locations in 10 cities: in Erlangen (headquarters), Nuremberg, Fürth, Dresden, further in Bamberg, Waischenfeld, Coburg, Würzburg, Ilmenau and Deggendorf. The budget of 130 million euros is mainly financed by projects. 22 percent of the budget is subsidized by federal and state funds.