Running a 30-partner funded R&D consortium is its own full-time job. That's the job we do.
K&S is the expert-led operating
partner for large, cross-border, publicly funded R&D consortia —
from the first call analysis to the final audit. Across semiconductors,
industrial data ecosystems, clean energy & hydrogen, and defence
& dual-use.
20+ years · 50+ PMO mandates · €500M+ managedScroll
Trusted by
BMW GroupBoschAIXTRONSiemens EnergyCapgeminiInfineonConWeaverBASFKION GroupFraunhoferSoitecValeoTHIContinentalX-FABSchaefflerDLRBMW GroupBoschAIXTRONSiemens EnergyCapgeminiInfineonConWeaverBASFKION GroupFraunhoferSoitecValeoTHIContinentalX-FABSchaefflerDLR
The six problems we solve
In the words operators actually use.
These are the conversations that bring people to K&S. If one of them sounds like your week, we should talk.
01
"I have 30 partners across 7 countries and I'm losing visibility."
Coordinator drowning02
"My Chips JU project has six national bodies with different reporting cycles. We can't keep up."
National fragmentation03
"IPCEI needs spill-over analysis, matchmaking and portfolio integration. We have never done this before."
Multi-stage complexity04
"My project runs agile but the funding reporting is rigid. Somebody has to bridge the two without slowing the engineering team."
Agile vs. reporting rigour05
"Two of our partners are direct competitors. We need a truly neutral PMO."
Consortium politics06
"This touches dual-use content. Public cloud won't fly. We need on-premises infrastructure."
Secure collaboration
Four specialisms
Where K&S goes deep.
We are not a generalist funding
consultancy. We operate funded consortia in four programme areas where
the instruments, the geopolitics and the reporting rigour reward decades
of practice.
01 · Specialism
Semiconductors & Microelectronics
Coordinator-grade
operations for projects from SiC and wide-bandgap power electronics to
advanced packaging and EU value-chain assembly.
Reference projects
FASTLANE
VIVA
TRANSFORM
YESvGaN
IPCEI-AST
Ocean 12
AISSI
02 · Specialism
Industrial Data Ecosystems
Operating partner for the
dataspace generation: Catena-X, Chem-X, Gaia-X4KI and the next wave of
open, federated, cross-industry collaboration infrastructures.
Reference projects
Catena-X
CX-NEXT
Chem-X
Gaia-X4KI
03 · Specialism
Clean Energy, Hydrogen & Batteries
PMO across topics, from
electrolyser scale-up, AEM membrane manufacturing and hydrogen
value-chain assembly through to aviation batteries and next-generation
battery modelling.
Reference projects
MODABAT
SEGIWA
DERIEL
AEM-Direkt
F³Pylot
04 · Specialism
Defence & Dual-Use
Operating partner for
funded R&D consortia with dual-use relevance — including European
Defence Fund projects, export-control-sensitive work, and consortia that
require structural neutrality across competing partners and secure
project infrastructure.
What we bring
EDF consortia
Dual-use compliance
Export-control aware PMO
Secure project infrastructure
Five defined services
A productised operating suite, not bespoke consulting.
Most engagements fit one of five
repeatable products. Each is built on twenty years of real-world
consortium operations. Each is owned by a named, experienced K&S
expert from day one.
01Flagship
Consortium PMO
For coordinators of 15–40 partner R&D consortia
Full
coordinator-side operations from kick-off to final audit. Reporting
calendar, deliverables management, milestone & KPI tracking, change
& risk management, consortium meetings, JU / funding body
interface, financial consolidation across national regimes.
For consortia preparing single-stage, two-stage or IPCEI multi-stage proposals
Call analysis,
partner coordination, narrative drafting, budget consolidation,
evaluator-ready quality review, portal submission, two-stage and
multi-stage process management. Human-authored. Substance reviewed by a
partner.
Recent mandatesClean Aviation · Chips JU · IPCEI AST
03Service
Back-Office Support
For clients on active K&S framework contracts needing flexible funded R&D support
Flexible,
chargeable-hour support across any aspect of funded R&D work —
back-office coordination, partner reporting, proposals, compliance,
financial management, project-management advice. Clients draw on this
pool for specific tasks without the overhead of a defined-scope mandate.
04Service
Financial Management & Controlling
For coordinators, industrial primes and research institutes that need rigorous controlling of publicly funded R&D projects
Budgeting and
hourly-rate methodology. Cost-recovery preparation. Periodic financial
reporting. Reallocations and amendments. Audit support and
audit-readiness. Controlling of publicly funded projects
(ögP-Controlling) across BMWE, BMFTR, EU and Joint Undertaking
instruments. Twenty years of K&S controlling expertise — several
hundred funded projects budgeted and managed.
For consortia and partners that need IP-sensitive or dual-use-grade collaboration infrastructure
Per-project secure
collaboration platforms — from on-premises stacks to dedicated
SharePoint environments — matched to the data-sensitivity requirements
of the work. On-premises AI tooling available where the work demands it.
Optional DMS. Structured collaboration workflows.
Across DACH and the EU
From the cleanroom to the electrolyser. Where the work actually happens.
How we work
People first. AI in service.
In a market where proposals and PMOs are increasingly assembled by AI, premium buyers are asking a sharper question: who is actually accountable?
Every K&S engagement is led by an experienced expert from our team — a practitioner who has run funded R&D consortia, who is facing you directly, and who is accountable for the result.
We use AI tooling — chosen for each task by data sensitivity:
K&S-owned infrastructure for IP-sensitive and dual-use content;
commercial cloud AI where capability matters more and sensitivity allows
— to extend the reach of that judgement, not to replace it.
01AI is a tool, used in service of experienced human judgement. Not avoided. Not centred. Used where it earns its place.
02AI tool matched to data sensitivity.
K&S-owned infrastructure for IP-sensitive and dual-use content;
commercial cloud AI where capability advantage justifies it. The
practitioner makes the call — not the default.
03AI does not write proposals or reports.
It assists with research, summarisation, translation, formatting, draft
refinement. The substance and structure remain human-authored.
04A named K&S expert owns the engagement. Their name is on it. Their judgement is reviewable. They are accountable. End of.
50+
Proposals supported
50+
PMO mandates delivered
20+
Years in continuous operation
€500M+
Consortium budgets managed
Why K&S
Four things rare in combination.
Scale plays exist. Vertical
specialists exist. The combination of expert-led delivery, DACH
anchoring, industrial-vertical depth, and structural neutrality is white
space — and the reason premium consortia choose K&S.
Structural neutrality
We have no exploitation interest in your
project results. We can facilitate efficient collaboration even where
two partners are direct competitors — and we do that every week.
Instrument & national fluency
Chips JU. XECS. Clean Hydrogen. Clean
Aviation. IPCEI. ITEA. PENTA. Eureka. BMFTR. BMWE. Across all EU and German national
funding regimes. The reporting calendars and cost categories sit in
muscle memory.
Secure collaboration infrastructure
Per-project instances matched to the
data-sensitivity requirements of the work — from on-premises stacks to
dedicated SharePoint environments. AI tooling chosen the same way. ISO
9001 certified. TISAX AL3. GDPR overseen by a qualified
data-protection officer.
Experienced experts in every engagement
A bench of nearly 20 practitioners — most with
10+ years in funded R&D consortia. Each engagement is owned by a
senior K&S expert who faces you directly. No anonymous junior
delivery. No AI-assembled proposals.
Some of our current projects
Where the work actually happens.
A selection of consortia K&S
is operating right now — across all four specialisms, multi-year,
multi-partner, multi-national. References for more available on request.
Data Ecosystems
CX-NEXT
BMW Group · 15 partners
The Catena-X follow-on.
Extending the automotive data ecosystem with new use cases, open-source
community building, expansion of core services and continued
internationalisation. K&S also operated the original Catena-X PMO.
ProgrammeBMWE · Catena-X follow-onStatusRunning
Semiconductors
CHASSIS
Bosch · 19 partners
Coordinator-side PMO
for the Chips JU-funded CHASSIS consortium. Full project coordination on
Chips JU level, from kick-off through final reporting.
Operating PMO and
reporting support for the chemical-industry data ecosystem — digital
standards for competitiveness, sustainability and resilience across the
chemical value chain.
Modular, scalable and
technology-open battery systems for next-generation hybrid-electric
regional aircraft. Funded by the Clean Aviation JU, coordinated by
Fraunhofer IISB.
Camera-less laser
eye-tracking for the next generation of smart glasses — combining laser
feedback interferometry, meta-optics and AI signal processing. K&S
provides project-management support across this diverse consortium.
K&S
is a bench of experienced practitioners — Managing Directors and Team
Leads with deep operating experience across funded R&D consortia.
Every engagement is owned by a named, senior expert. You will know who
they are. Their judgement is on the line.
Managing Director
Dr Richard Kahle
PhD and MBA from Cambridge, on a foundation of physics, mathematics and computer science. Richard has twenty years' experience spanning the interface between industry and research. He joined K&S as Managing Director in 2023.
Managing Director
Dr Matthias Unbehaun
PhD in wireless communications from KTH Stockholm, with a research stint at Stanford. Managing Director at K&S since 2010, after coordinating the Mobile.Info industry consortium at BMW Group. Concurrently Executive Director of TISA in Brussels since 2013. PMP-certified, IEEE Senior Member.
Team Lead · Project Management
Dr Lena Glassmann
PhD from LMU, Germany's leading research university. With K&S since 2017, coordinating funded R&D consortia across electromobility, autonomous driving and novel materials. Team Lead Project Management since 2025.
Team Lead · Controlling
Björn Herms
With K&S since 2011 and the team's authority on the regulatory framework of funded R&D — from BMFTR and BMWE programmes to the grant conditions of Horizon Europe, Chips JU and IPCEI. When a new instrument is announced, Björn reads the fine print first.
Team Lead · Project Office
Martina Kirchhöfer
Leads K&S's Project Office for one of Europe's leading automotive OEMs — the administrative operational backbone behind 100+ funded R&D projects. With K&S since 2018; coordinates everything from proposal submissions and reporting cycles to project closures.
Full bench bios and expert profiles available on request. We make our people visible — it's part of how we sell.
Start a conversation
Have a consortium you need to actually run?
Tell us what you're
coordinating, what stage you're at, and what's keeping you up at night.
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