What does R&D mean?

Research and Development (R&D) means striving for originality and innovation in research. R&D is the creative, systematic and planned search for solutions to practical problems. It also involves strategic and fundamental research, in which gaining background knowledge and improving (purely) scientific knowledge is paramount and not the pursuit of direct economic benefit or solving problems. Developing or elaborating ideas or prototypes into usable processes and production-ready products is also considered R&D.