Forschungszulage: What Does 'Systematic' Mean? (BSFZ)

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Why This Criterion Matters

Many companies fail not because of the idea, but because of the presentation: the Forschungszulage promotes above all innovation in companies – but only if it is recognisable as a systematic, goal-oriented project. "Systematic" is therefore crucial because the BSFZ uses it to assess whether there is a genuine innovation project with technical substance – and not routine, support or pure day-to-day operations.

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Definition: What Does "Systematic" Concretely Mean?

According to the BSFZ, a systematic approach requires that the work contains precisely defined tasks of a scientific or technical nature with clearly established objectives. The planning is typically evidenced by:

• Schedule or work plan (roadmap, sprint/release plan, project phases)
• Resource and personnel planning (who does what, with what hours/budget)
• Work packages (WPs) and, where applicable, milestones
• Description of process steps and the expected (interim) results
• Documentation of the approach and results (so that the procedure remains traceable)

Resource & personnel planning (context):

• Forschungszulage Personalkosten

Important: Systematic does not mean "rigid". Agile projects can also be systematic – as long as objectives, hypotheses, iterations and results are clearly described.

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What "Systematic" Is Not (Common Misconceptions)

Not systematic (or at least difficult to justify) are e.g.:

• "We'll try out a few tools and see what works."
• Pure production start-up, pure routine optimisation without technological uncertainty
• Routine debugging or support of existing systems (without technical innovation)
• Pure market analysis or data evaluation using standard methods

Debugging context:

• Can I get public funding for my software project?

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Practical Examples: How "Systematic" Looks in Real Innovation Projects

Practical examples:

• Example projects

Example 1: AI/Camera Real-Time Analysis in Production (Industrial AI)

Systematic, if you define e.g.:

• Objective: detection of cycle problems/overload/process deviations in real time under production conditions
• Work packages: data collection & labelling (only as far as needed for the innovation objective), model approach, edge deployment, validation against defined KPIs
• Milestones: prototype running in test environment → pilot at the line → robustness/latency target achieved or falsified

This makes it visible: it is a budgeted, structured innovation process – not just "training a model".

Example 2: New Search Technology / New Algorithms in Software

Software can be eligible for funding when it addresses technical progress. Systematic means here:

• clear technical question (e.g. novel ranking/retrieval logic, new architecture, new encryption/security method)
• defined experiments (comparative design, benchmarks, test data, abort criteria)
• documentation of results (why approach A was discarded, why B is being pursued)

Example 3: Prompting Techniques for Consistent Image Styles (Creative Tech)

Here too, a systematic approach counts, if you set it up like an innovation project:

• hypotheses (which prompt structures increase style coherence?)
• test matrix (parameters, templates, evaluation criteria)
• reproducible templates/library as a result

Then it is systematic and traceable rather than "we just prompt around".

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Mini Checklist: How to Formulate "Systematic Approach" in Your Application

Application process:

• Application process

If you want to check in 10 minutes whether your project comes across as "systematic", answer:

1. Target picture: What is the technical objective (not just the business goal)?
2. Technical tasks: Which specific sub-problems need to be solved?
3. Approach model: Which steps/phases are planned (agile also possible)?
4. Resources: Who is working on it (roles) and over what timeframe?
5. Milestones: Which verifiable interim states are planned?
6. Results: Which artefacts will be created (prototype, tests, specification, documentation)?

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Why the Forschungszulage Is So Attractive for Innovation

The Forschungszulage is one of the strongest, technology-neutral innovation incentives in Germany – precisely because it is not tied to funding calls and works even when a project fails (uncertainty is explicitly part of the logic).

Further reading:

• Forschungszulage or Invest BW – which funding fits?
• The 8 most frequently asked questions about the Forschungszulage

If you want to implement it quickly and cleanly: zeitmaker.com supports companies in structuring innovation projects in a BSFZ-compliant way and applying for the Forschungszulage efficiently. More information is available directly at zeitmaker.com.

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Official Classification & Process (Brief)

• Step 1: BSFZ checks whether the project meets the criteria (incl. novelty, risk/uncertainty, systematic approach).
• Step 2: Application to the tax office via ELSTER (with BSFZ certificate).

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