Founded in 1973 as Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Space Research, the institute has changed its name to Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM in 1980. Fraunhofer IPM's main focus is on the development of optical systems and components as well as materials and processes for different technological areas.
Fraunhofer IPM is headquartered in Freiburg. In 2004 the IPM department Terahertz Measurement and Systems was founded at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern. Today, Fraunhofer IPM has 190 staff members, one third of them apprentices, guest scientists, and students who carry out research as assistants or for their master, diploma as well as PhD theses. In 2008 Fraunhofer IPM reached an annual turnover of 11.9 million euros.
