The main activities of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) joint sites of Braunschweig and Göttingen are aviation and transportation research. Located at the Research Airport in Braunschweig, DLR continues the tradition of the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DFL), founded in 1936, and employs there about 1000 highly-qualified scientists and engineers.

Range of services

Unique high-performance facilities, research flight and automotive vehicles, flight simulators, air traffic simulation facilities, wind tunnels in the European DNW foundation (German-Dutch Wind Tunnels), mobile rotor test stands and test stands for material and noise tests are available for experimental research. Together with ONERA, DLR Göttingen operates the largest mobile ground vibration test facility in Europe.

Test equipment for sophisticated, experimental technology is designed and manufactured in the modern workshops of SHT – Systemhaus Technik. An in-house office of airworthiness surveys the safe and operations of the complex experimental installations in fixed wing aircraft and helicopters of the Braunschweig Research flight department. The certified Rail Site® provides DLR with the competence to support industry in the certification of their rail system components. Furthermore DLR consults users in the application of composite fiber technologies and new materials in industry.

Focal areas of research are:

• Improvement of the dynamic aircraft behaviour and the operational safety of aircraft and helicopters
• Increase in the performance, safety and reliability o air, road and railway traffic
• Intelligent assistance systems for human operators of airborne and ground transportation systems
• Development of design principles and tools for low-drag and quiet air vehicles
• Development and realization of adaptable, damage-tolerant and cost-efficient high-performance structures for aerospace and ground transportation application

DLR in Braunschweig and Göttingen cooperates closely with TU Baunschweig, the University of Göttingen, other research establishments and in networks such as Research Airport Baunschweig, ForschungRegion Braunschweig and Measurement Valley Göttingen.

Institutes and facilities

• DLR-Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology
• DLR-Institute of Air Transport and Airport Research
• DLR-Institute of Composite Structures and Adaptive Systems
• DLR-Institute of Flight Guidance
• DLR-Institute of Flight Systems
• DLR-Institute of Transportation Systems
• DLR Design Organisation
• DLR Engineering Systems House (ESH)
• DLR Flight Operations
• DLR Technology Marketing
• Association for the Scientific Development of ATM in Europe (ASDA)
• AT-One
• Center for Computer Applications in AeroSpace Science and Engieneering (C²A²S²E)
• German-Dutch Wind Tunnels (DNW)
• Simulation and Software Technology (SISTEC)

Apprenticeships, continuing education and the promotion of young scientists

DLR is certified establishment for apprenticeships, vocational training and continuing/college education. It provides school and job internships as well as industrial-technical and commercial apprenticeships. It also provides additional qualification for scientists by coaching them on their diploma thesis and enabling them to acquire their PhD. The DLR_School_Lab Braunschweig is a curricular learning center where school students can carry out experiments on their own and acquire an insight into everyday research.