The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB)
– the national metrology institute providing scientific and technical services

An efficient infrastructure for metrology, standardization, testing and quality assurance is a fundamental prerequisite for a modern industrial state. Only an optimized metrological infrastructure makes the proper use of technology for the benefit of man, for the efficient and ecologically compatible use of energy and raw materials and for the exchange of goods possible, even across borders. The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Braunschweig and Berlin, which comes under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, has been entrusted with this task in the Federal Republic of Germany.

The existence of federal institutes is based on a mandate given by the state and laid down in laws and ordinances. As regards the PTB, this mandate is of a constitutional nature, derived from the State's original responsibility for uniformity in metrology and for the safety and protection of the citizen. This concerns also the confidence which each individual, be it as a consumer, an authority or company, must have in the reliability and impartiality of measurements. It is the PTB's specific task, entrusted to it by the State, to make available to the society and to trade and industry an efficient metrological infrastructure recognized on international level. Research work and technological development serve to accomplish this task with competence and a sense of responsibility.

The percentage of research and development in all four fields of activity of the PTB, represented graphically opposite, amounted to 65 % in the year under report and was thus nearly unchanged with respect to the previous year.