Bosch officially opens new research campus in Renningen

A completely new work environment for creative minds: with its Renningen research campus, Bosch wants to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration, and in this way further enhance its innovative strength.

At the new center for research and advance engineering on the outskirts of Stuttgart, some 1,700 creative minds are doing applied industrial research. At a ceremony attended by Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel, Baden-Württemberg Governor Winfried Kretschmann, and many other guests from politics, business, and academia, the research campus has now been officially opened. 

“With this research campus, Bosch is setting new standards,” said the Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel. She underscored the significance of applied industrial research: “Research and innovation are the sources of our prosperity.” She noted that Bosch has set itself the task of realizing ideas that nobody else has even had. “Bosch wants to stay one step ahead of developments,” the Chancellor said.

Governor Winfried Kretschmann said that the new research campus is “an impressive demonstration of faith in Baden-Württemberg as a location for innovation.” 

“Like a university, our campus brings together many faculties. Here, we want our researchers to do more than just think about what the future could bring. We want them to be successful entrepreneurs as well. Renningen is Bosch’s own Stanford. And at the same time, the center is an expression of our faith in Germany as a technology location,” said Dr. Volkmar Denner, chairman of the Bosch board of management. The company has invested some 310 million euros in the new location. The research campus, whose motto is “Connected for millions of ideas,” is the hub of Bosch’s global research and development network. The supplier of technology and services also intends to strengthen the spirit of entrepreneurship there. It is precisely here that Denner sees Germany at a competitive disadvantage. “In Germany, there are neither the opportunities nor the willingness to establish companies. Especially among its young university graduates, we need more start-up spirit. In this respect, universities have to do more than prepare their students for exams in highly specialized fields.”