ZEW Involved in DFG-Funded Cluster of Excellence TransforM
Dates and NewsCluster of Excellence TransforM Aims To Better Understand and Actively Shape Transformative Technologies and Dynamically Changing Societies
On 22 May 2025, the German Research Foundation (DFG) published the complete list of funded Clusters of Excellence. Among them is the Munich Center for Transformative Technologies and Societal Change (TransforM), which will receive multi-million euro funding over a period of seven years.
The researchers aim to investigate why, when and how new technologies bring about changes in society. In their critical examination of innovation processes – from the inception of innovations to their ultimate societal impact – they will take into account social, political, economic and environmental factors.
Expressing his delight at the DFG’s decision to fund the TransforM cluster, ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach, PhD comments: “Congratulations to Hanna Hottenrott and the entire team. This is a huge success for them and for ZEW and all researchers involved, as well as, more broadly, for economic and social research on innovation and transformation in Germany. By selecting TransforM as a Cluster of Excellence, the DFG acknowledges the outstanding work of the consortium and lays an important foundation for future research. We are proud and delighted to be involved in TransforM with our research portfolio.”
Professor Hanna Hottenrott, head of the ZEW Research Unit “Economics of Innovation and Industrial Dynamics”, is principle investigator and co-speaker and of the funded consortium. “With TransforM, we are creating a unique space for interdisciplinary exchange on the societal impacts of technological change. The funding from the German Research Foundation is a recognition of our work so far and a powerful impetus for future social science research on innovation.” Hottenrott also highlights the outstanding network behind TransforM: “The close cooperation between ZEW Mannheim, the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), the ifo Institute, the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition and the other partners is a major strength of TransforM. It enables us to develop new, collective responses to pressing questions about the future.”
About TransforM
The TransforM cluster aims to become a driving force for a new kind of social science innovation research – one that not only observes technological developments, but also critically engages with and helps to shape them. TransforM pursues three key approaches: a critical re-evaluation of existing social science concepts of innovation (RETHINK); the development of new interdisciplinary methods and infrastructures through collaboration (INNOVATE); and the active shaping of societal innovation processes through co-creative formats (RESPOND).
