What Gips-Schüle-Stiftung does

Gips-Schüle-Stiftung is a private charitable foundation (Stiftung) under German law, headquartered in Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, that funds science, research, and education in the state of Baden-Württemberg. The foundation's assets derive from the historical gypsum mining operations of the Schüle family, which extracted gypsum in Ammerbuch-Entringen from the early 1900s until the Entringer Gipswerk closed in 1974; the foundation was established after the death of the last Schüle descendants to manage the family legacy.

The foundation operates a portfolio of funding programs rather than commercial products. Its core offerings are three annual award programs: the Gips-Schüle-Forschungspreis (50,000 EUR, one of the highest-endowed science awards in Baden-Württemberg), the Gips-Schüle-Nachwuchspreis (20,000 EUR split across life sciences and technical sciences for outstanding doctoral work), and the Gips-Schüle-Sonderforschungspreis / Klaus-Koeppen-Preis (15,000 EUR for social innovations). Beyond prizes, the foundation funds endowed professorships, doctoral positions, and student scholarships at partner universities, and maintains a long-standing cooperation with the Fraunhofer-Institut für Bauphysik. Notable past laureates include researchers at KIT, Universität Hohenheim, Universität Konstanz, Universität Freiburg, and DITF Denkendorf.

The foundation's revenue model is endowment-based rather than commercial: no products or services are sold, pricing is not applicable, and no revenue figures are publicly disclosed. Operations are led by a small team under Dr. Stefan Hofmann (Vorstand). Separately from its research funding, the foundation completed a multi-year (2017-2024) renaturation project transforming the former 6+ hectare gypsum quarry in Ammerbuch-Entringen into a biodiversity biotope. Distribution and applicant outreach are handled through the foundation's website (gips-schuele-stiftung.de), LinkedIn and Instagram profiles, public award ceremonies at partner universities, and earned regional and national media coverage.

Name

Gips-Schüle-Stiftung

Legal name

Gips-Schüle-Stiftung

Website

https://gips-schuele-stiftung.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Gips-Schüle-Stiftung is a Stuttgart-based charitable foundation that funds science, research, and education in Baden-Württemberg through annual research prizes (up to 50,000 EUR), endowed professorships, doctoral positions, and student scholarships, with assets derived from the historical Schüle family gypsum mining operations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Research Grant Funding

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)

Keywords

• Research grant funding
• Science philanthropy
• Research prize awards
• Endowed university professorships
• Environmental renaturation projects

Headquarters

HQ city

Stuttgart

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Others, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Foundation Endowment/Grant Funding: Gips-Schüle-Stiftung operates as a charitable foundation that funds scientific research, education, and environmental projects in Baden-Württemberg. The foundation distributes prize money and research grants to scientists, universities, and research institutions. Revenue is generated from the foundation's endowment assets, not from commercial operations.

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Gips-Schüle-Stiftung is a Stuttgart-based charitable foundation that funds science, research, and education in Baden-Württemberg. Its core offerings are cash prizes and grants (research prize, young scientist prize, special research prize for social innovation), endowed professorships, doctoral positions, student scholarships, and an environmental renaturation project at a former gypsum mining site in Ammerbuch-Entringen. Recipients are research institutions, universities, and individual scientists in Baden-Württemberg.

Product overview

Gips-Schüle-Stiftung is a Stuttgart-based foundation that funds science, research, and education in Baden-Württemberg. Rather than offering a technology product, the foundation operates a portfolio of funding programs and awards including the Gips-Schüle-Forschungspreis (research prize), Gips-Schüle-Nachwuchspreis (young researcher prize), and Gips-Schüle-Sonderforschungspreis (special research prize for social innovations). The foundation also funds endowed professorships, doctoral positions, and student scholarships, and maintains an environmental renaturization project at a former gypsum mining site in Ammerbuch.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Gips-Schüle-Forschungspreis: One of the highest-endowed awards for science in Baden-Württemberg, recognizing ambitious and practical research projects. Awarded 50,000 EUR in 2023.
• Gips-Schüle-Nachwuchspreis
• Gips-Schüle-Sonderforschungspreis

Products and services

• Gips-Schüle-Forschungspreis (Research Prize) One of the highest-endowed research awards for science in Baden-Württemberg, recognizing ambitious and practical research projects with 50,000 EUR. Awarded in 2023 to Dr. Benjamin Dietrich and team at KIT for the NECOC project converting CO2 from ambient air into carbon powder.
• Gips-Schüle-Nachwuchspreis (Young Scientist Prize) Award recognizing outstanding doctoral dissertations in life sciences or engineering sciences, with total prize money of 20,000 EUR (10,000 EUR per category). Recent recipients include Dr. Mirco Friedrich (brain tumor immunotherapy, 2024), Dr. Maria Kalweit (AI flexibility research, 2024), Dr. Manuel Häußler (recyclable plastics, 2023), Dr. Rayhane Nchioua (coronavirus research, 2023), Dr. Juan Francisco Martínez Sánchez (hybrid photovoltaic modules, 2022), and Dr. Smitha Srinivasachar Badarinarayan (endogenous retrovirus research, 2022).
• Gips-Schüle-Sonderforschungspreis / Klaus-Koeppen-Preis (Special Research Prize for Social Innovations) Special research prize for social innovations, endowed with 15,000 EUR. Awarded in 2023 to the Deutsche Institute für Textil- und Faserforschung Denkendorf (DITF) for the HighPerCell hemp-based cellulose fiber research project.
• Stiftungsprofessuren und Promotionsstellen (Endowed Professorships and Doctoral Positions) Endowed professorships and doctoral positions at universities in Baden-Württemberg designed to create research freedom. Universität Hohenheim is a major recipient, hosting multiple research chairs and projects supported by the foundation.
• Förderung Studierende (Student Support Program) Support programs for student talent including scholarships and partnerships with national funding programs (e.g., Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, which provided a scholarship that enabled four years of cyanobacteria research by Moritz Koch).
• Renaturierung Ammerbuch (Ammerbuch Renaturation Project) Conversion of a former gypsum mining site in Ammerbuch-Entringen into a biodiversity biotope with meadow orchards, rare plant and animal species, and grazing sheep maintaining the lean meadows. The site spans over six hectares.

Quantifiable outcome

• Waltraud Schulze secured 10 million EUR from the European Research Council following initial funding from Gips-Schüle-Stiftung
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fraunhofer-Institut für BauphysikcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing cooperation with Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics, working together for many years on research initiatives in Baden-Württemberg.
• Climeworks Deutschland GmbHminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry partner in the NECOC project at KIT, collaborating on the development of technology to convert CO2 from ambient air into carbon powder.
• RBX CréationsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench startup collaborating with DITF Denkendorf on the development of hemp-based cellulose filaments for textile production.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Volkswagen Foundation: Germany's largest private science foundation, funding research across all disciplines at universities and research institutes. Directly comparable to Gips-Schüle in mission (science grantmaking) but operates at a vastly larger national and international scale.
• Fritz Thyssen Foundation:

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xinstagram.com/gipsschuelestiftung
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gips-sch%C3%BCle-stiftung
• Instagraminstagram.com/gipsschuelestiftung

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gips-Schüle-Stiftung