ifado

What ifado does

IfADo (Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors) is a Dortmund-based, publicly funded research institute operating as a non-profit registered association under German law (Forschungsgesellschaft für Arbeitsphysiologie und Arbeitsschutz e.V.). Founded in 1969 and hosted at TU Dortmund University, the institute organizes its scientific work into four departments — Ergonomics, Immunology, Psychology and Neurosciences, and Toxicology — supported by three scientific central units: an Animal Laboratory, a Bioanalytics facility, and an Outpatient Department. Research groups span neuromagnetic brain stimulation, flexible behavioural control, neuroimaging and interindividual differences, systems toxicology, neurotoxicology and chemosensation, cell metabolism, interorgan toxicology, bioimaging, intravital toxicology, regulatory networks of stem cell differentiation, NK cell immunotherapy for lung fibrosis, immunophysiology, immunomodulation, neuroimmunology, and clinical microbiology.

The institute's flagship longitudinal asset is the Dortmund Vital Study (DVS), a population-based cohort study registered at Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05155397) examining determinants and consequences of cognitive aging across all four departments, with national and international collaboration partners. Outputs are research-oriented rather than commercial: more than 10,000 peer-reviewed publications since founding, policy advice to government bodies, knowledge-transfer tools such as the Bladder Cancer Questionnaire, training programmes for graduates and female researchers, and structured science-communication across LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Mastodon, X/Twitter, and the institute website. There are no commercial products, apps, APIs, or pricing models.

IfADo's revenue model is institutional rather than transactional. Core funding is jointly provided by the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia (MKW) and the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) as part of its Leibniz Association membership. This is supplemented by third-party competitive grants from bodies such as the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the European Union. The institute has not disclosed revenue, ARR, or contract values. Customers in the conventional sense are absent; the served constituencies are the scientific research community (academic researchers, university partners) and government and policy makers seeking evidence-based input on occupational health, workplace safety, and human factors.

Name

ifado

Legal name

Forschungsgesellschaft für Arbeitsphysiologie und Arbeitsschutz e.V.

Website

https://ifado.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

IfADo (Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors) is a publicly funded German research institute in Dortmund studying ergonomics, immunology, neuroscience, and toxicology, serving government and academia through longitudinal cohort research and policy advice.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scientific Research Services

NAICS

Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Testing Laboratories and Services (54138)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) & Due Diligence (BPAHAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Compliance, Risk & EHS Management (BPABAAAK)

Keywords

• Occupational health research
• Human factors research
• Cognitive aging studies
• Systems toxicology research
• Workplace ergonomics science

Headquarters

HQ city

Dortmund

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Government Core Funding: Base institutional funding jointly provided by the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia (MKW) and the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) as part of the Leibniz Association membership.
2. Third-Party Research Funding: Research grants and project funding from external sources including German Research Foundation (DFG), European Union, and other research funding bodies for specific research projects across all departments.

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

IfADo is a non-profit research institute that conducts multidisciplinary scientific research on working environments and human factors, organized across four departments (Ergonomics, Immunology, Psychology and Neurosciences, and Toxicology) with supporting Scientific Central Units. The institute delivers research services, longitudinal studies (such as the Dortmund Vital Study on cognitive aging), and knowledge transfer products (such as the Bladder Cancer Questionnaire) to the scientific community, government agencies, and the public.

Product overview

IfADo (Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors) is a research institute organized into four main research departments—Ergonomics, Immunology, Psychology and Neurosciences, and Toxicology—supported by Scientific Central Units (Animal Laboratory, Bioanalytics, Outpatient Department). The institute conducts longitudinal studies including the Dortmund Vital Study on cognitive aging, and offers knowledge transfer products such as the Bladder Cancer Questionnaire. The offerings constitute a portfolio of research services and scientific studies rather than a unified software product platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Dortmund Vital Study (DVS): A longitudinal, population-based cohort study on determinants and consequences of cognitive aging, conducted by IfADo.

Products and services

• Dortmund Vital Study (DVS) A multidisciplinary longitudinal, population-based cohort study on determinants and consequences of cognitive aging, conducted by IfADo and used by academic researchers, university partners, and the broader scientific community.
• Bladder Cancer Questionnaire A questionnaire tool for bladder cancer assessment offered as part of IfADo's knowledge transfer and policy advice services.
• Scientific Central Units (Animal Laboratory, Bioanalytics, Outpatient Department) Central scientific infrastructure providing animal laboratory, bioanalytics, and outpatient department services to support research activities.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Leibniz AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIfADo is a member of the Leibniz Association (Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz e.V.), a network of non-university research institutions in Germany. This membership provides institutional framework, peer review, and collaborative opportunities with other Leibniz institutes.
• TU Dortmund UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost institution and primary academic partner, integrated with university departments for research collaboration, education, and training of young researchers.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin (BAuA): BAuA is the German federal institute for occupational safety and health, headquartered in Dortmund. It directly parallels IfADo's mandate on working environment research and is the closest domestic institutional peer, with overlapping scope on ergonomics, toxicology, and occupational health policy advice.
• Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (TTL): TTL is a government-owned research and specialist organization in Finland focused on occupational health, safety, and well-being at work. It directly mirrors IfADo's research portfolio across ergonomics, work psychology, and occupational health, and is one of Europe's most established peers.
• INRS (Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité): INRS is the French national institute for occupational health and safety research. Like IfADo, it conducts applied research on chemical risks, ergonomics, and human factors at work, making it a highly comparable European peer.
• TNO Work, Health & Care: TNO is the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, with a dedicated Work, Health & Care unit. It conducts applied occupational health and human factors research that closely parallels IfADo's domain and applied scientific orientation.
• NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health): NIOSH is the U.S. federal agency responsible for occupational safety and health research. It operates on a similar mandate to IfADo—generating scientific evidence on workplace hazards, ergonomics, and toxicology—and serves as the most prominent global peer in this category.

Broad incumbents

• Fraunhofer IAO (Institute for Industrial Engineering): Fraunhofer IAO is a major German applied research institute focused on work design, human factors, and industrial engineering. It operates at a broader scale and with more industry-facing applied focus than IfADo, but overlaps substantially on ergonomics and workplace research.

Others

• Helmholtz Munich - Institute of Neurogenomics: Helmholtz Munich operates large-scale research centers with neuroscience and environmental health components. While more focused on biomedical research than IfADo, it is a comparable scale German public research organization operating under a different federal-state funding arrangement.
• Leibniz-Institut für Präventionsforschung und Epidemiologie (BIPS): BIPS is a Leibniz Institute focused on epidemiology and prevention research, based in Bremen. It is structurally comparable to IfADo as a Leibniz peer institute sharing the same funding model and peer-review framework, though its research focus is epidemiology rather than occupational health specifically.
• Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing: The Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne conducts fundamental research on the biology of aging, with thematic overlap with IfADo's cognitive aging focus in the Dortmund Vital Study. It is a comparable German research institution with shared aging-research relevance.

Regional players

• CIOP-PIB (Central Institute for Labour Protection – National Research Institute): CIOP-PIB is the Polish national research institute for occupational safety and health, focused on ergonomics and labor protection. It serves a comparable mandate to IfADo but operates primarily in Poland and Central Europe rather than competing directly in IfADo's core German market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/IfADo_info
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCwIkc4IB0wYPPtxSxj_V1CQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/IfADo.info
• LinkedInde.linkedin.com/company/ifado-leibniz-institut
• Instagraminstagram.com/ifado_info

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about ifado