Financing
The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) is a research institute funded by private, non-earmarked contributions and third-party funds. HIIG was founded in 2012 by the Humboldt University of Berlin (HU), the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, together with the Hans Bredow Institute for Media Research (HBI) in Hamburg as a cooperation partner. Since 2025, three non profit foundations – the Joachim Herz Foundation, the Mercator Foundation, and the Science and Democracy Foundation – have been jointly supporting the strategic realignment of the institute and the establishment of new thematic priorities.
How we ensure the independence of our research
Since our foundation, we have been committed to transparency, open dialogue and critical debate. The independence of research is a fundamental prerequisite for our work. This is ensured and continuously optimised through various structural measures:
The guiding principles of our research are academic excellence, societal relevance, independence and openness. Research at HIIG is guided by the HIIG Guidelines to Ensure Good Scientific Practice, which are based on the recommendations of the German Research Association (DFG). In addition, we have committed ourselves to Fundraising Governance Guidelines, which underlie our funding agreements.
The research agenda and content focus of the institute are developed by HIIG's research directors, who are affiliated with academic institutions. These are then critically monitored and evaluated by an international Scientific Advisory Board.
Private non-profit foundations provide the HIIG's main institutional funding and associated research in the field of the internet and society. Further funding priorities and projects are also made possible through private, non-earmarked donations, as well as third-party funding from sources such as foundations, ministries, the DFG and the EU, and funding partnerships.
Distribution and development of funding
The graph above shows the ratio and development of our funding.
* Effective on 01 October 2025. Final numbers will be published in the Bundesanzeiger after our annual financial statement. Past research reports, financial statements as well as our research agenda and transparency reports can be found here.
Project-related grants and third-party funding
There are a variety of project-related grants and third-party funding. A detailed breakdown of all annual funding is published in the Research Report (Appendix) to our HIIG research magazine encore.
Current funders, supporters and partners
Thanks to our institutional funders, we can identify social changes at an early stage, critically assess technological developments and encourage their democratic development through agile research in key areas. Through cooperation with other public and private funding bodies, numerous research projects, supported many researchers, formed a broad research network, and established pioneering formats for a better exchange of knowledge with politics, business, and civil society. We are grateful for the support of and successful cooperation with our funders & partners!
Institutional funders
Funders and supporters
Initial funding
Partners
Former Partners, Funders and Supporters
Access Now · Advocate Europe · Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg · Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) · Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie · Berliner Stadtwerke · Bertelsmann Stiftung · betterplace lab · BI Norwegian Business School · Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend · Bundesministerium für Finanzen · Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz · Bundesverband mittelständische Wirtschaft (BVMW) · Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung · Cisco · Commerzbank Stiftung · DARIAH · DARIAH-DE · demokratie.io · Der Standard · Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) · Deutsche Bank · Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz · Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Berlin (DIW) · DFG · DFKI · Disruption Network Lab · Die digitale Gesellschaft · DRadio Wissen · dwerft · Erasmus + · E-Plus · Europäische Union (OpenAIRE) · Exeter University · Facebook · Factory Berlin · Fiducia IT · Filmuniversität Babelsberg: Konrad Wolf · Fraunhofer Fokus · Friedrich Ebert Stiftung · fritz · Gemeinsam Digital · GIZ · Hans Böckler Stiftung · Hasso-Plattner-Institut · Haus der Kulturen der Welt · Hochschule Anhalt · Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht (HWR) · IHK Berlin iLINC · innogy Stiftung · Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) · Institut für Innovations- und Informationsmanagement GmbH · Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB) · KPMG · Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg · media.net Berlin-Brandenburg · MIT Lab · NEGZ · neuland und gestalten · Next Media Accelerator · Next Media Hamburg · New York University (NYU) · NXP · Ostmost · Partake AG · Queen Mary University London · RIPE NCC · Robert Bosch Stiftung · Schering Stiftung · Siemens · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · startup.net berlinbrandenburg · Stifterverband · Technische Hochschule Brandenburg · Tech Open Air (TOA) · The Research Council of Norway · Universität Potsdam · University London · UOC (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya) · Vodafone Institut für Gesellschaft und Kommunikation · VolkswagenStiftung · Wissenschaft im Dialog · Wissenschaftsjahr 2019 · WWU Münster · Zeit Verlag
HIIG researches the development of the internet from a societal perspective in order to better understand the digitalisation of all areas of life.
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