The total expenditure on research and development in 1978 in the Federal Republic of Germany came to about DM 30 billion; in 1980, it came to 34-7 billion. Leaving research and development expenditures by business and industry for their own purposes in applied science, the public sector, represented by the Bund and the Lander, i.e., the federal government and the states, clearly dominates the support of scientific research carried out in universities and other research institutions. Both in their teaching and in their research activities, universities are mainly financed by the states, while the federal government has almost a monopoly in the field of extra-university research.1 This simple picture, however, is complicated by an intricate division of responsibilities between the federal government and the states. While the states have traditionally claimed responsibility for the field of science and research, the federal government also has successfully entered this field claiming implied powers mainly for "big science" and those fields which are said to fall within federal jurisdiction. This conflict was only partly solved when in 1969 Section VIII of the federal constitution was amended by providing for "joint responsibilities" in several fields including among others the support of scientific institutions and projects.2 Subsequently the federal and state governments agreed to establish a joint commission which has the task of preparing and co-ordinating all activities in the support of scientific research of more than regional significance.3 In 1975, the federal government and the states entered into an agreement on a framework for the joint support of research, under the authority of Art. 91 GG.4 Its main purpose was to outline the field of joint federal and state action in support of research, to establish reciprocity