The CDG is a non-profit association. The members are companies active in research, that participate in CD Laboratories and/or JR Centres. Specifically, the corporate members are expected to enter into a long-term partnership with one or more research units and to be able to implement the knowledge gained there in new products or procedures. Within the scope of a Public Private Partnership arrangement, the companies jointly finance the research of the CD Laboratories and JR Centres with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy and the National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development. In addition to performing its role as a funding institution, the CDG can also act as a cooperation platform, whereby the stakeholders themselves do the organising and further develop the funding model of the CDG together.
The Christian Doppler Research Association promotes the cooperation between science and business. Specifically, this takes place in specially established research units with fixed terms, in which application-orientated basic research is pursued: Christian Doppler Laboratories at universities and non-university research institutions, Josef Ressel Centres at universities of applied sciences.
Under the direction of highly qualified scientists, research groups work in close contact with the commercial partners on innovative responses to business-related research issues.
