A lot of innovative research is carried out at German universities, but far too often the ideas are not put into practice. In an international comparison, Germany lags behind here. To promote the transfer of research results into application, the Joachim Herz Stiftung supports a Transfer Center for "Innovative Materials for Sustainable Technologies" with up to 30 million euros within 10 years. This Transfer Center (named "innovate! Center") is intended to offer excellent researchers an ideal environment in which to realize their transfer projects, make their results usable in application and promote the entrepreneurial spirit in science. Universities with a proven excellence in the thematic focus were able to apply in the Germany-wide call.
„The major challenges of our time, such as climate change and resource scarcity, can only be overcome if research, industry and society work together. The further development of new materials plays a decisive role in the successful realization of environmentally friendly technologies.“, reads the call for the Joachim Herz Transfer Center. This statement immediately put the promoters of green chemistry in the capital region on notice. With success: The application of the Berlin University alliance (BUA) has reached the final selection round!
The innovate! Center Berlin is intended to accelerate the transfer of material science into industrial applications and for social benefit. The initial focus is on sustainable resources and energy materials.
The finalists were selected from a total of 18 applications from 11 federal states to submit a fully developed application. BUA‘s application was orchestrated by Martin Rahmel, Coordinator of greenCHEM and Managing Director of the Chemical Invention Factory (CIF). CIF and greenCHEM, which are dedicated to promoting the transfer of research results in the field of green chemistry from university to practice, are closely linked to UniSysCat.
Sustainability depends on innovation and committed people
Researchers from the Berlin science area are now invited to submit their specific transfer projects based on their research results that they would like to further develop toward implementation within the innovate! Center. Scientists from UniSysCat will certainly be involved - sustainability issues and green chemistry are among our core tasks and materials science is one of our core competences. We are keeping our fingers crossed for the final selection!
If you are interested in contributing your research as a transfer project to the innovate! Center Berlin, please contact the coordinator of the proposal Martin Rahmel (rahmel(at)tu-berlin.de). The deadline for the submission of transfer project candidates is April 14, 2024.
About Joachim Herz Foundation
The non-profit Joachim Herz Foundation was established in 2008 and is one of the largest German foundations. It promotes education, science and, in particular, innovative, application oriented research at the interfaces between the natural sciences and engineering. Since the beginning of 2023, it has focused its foundation activities on the topic of "transfer and innovation".