Research activities cover a wide array of subjects, for example Knowledge Architecture, Design methodology, design and representation in architectural education and practice, Perception of space and spatial design, Historicity, Demographic change and its impact on society, Computer aided teaching and learning methods in architecture.

Research and development have a major impact on the quality and safety of buildings. At the institutes of the faculty user-friendly programmes are created and continuously enhanced. For the experimental research large and performant laboratories are available. In these laboratories very large components are tested up to failure, river currents are simulated and extremely small details of construction materials are made visible with high-resolution special microscopes.

Topics of global importance are within the research focus of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences. These comprise adaption to climate change, renewable energy systems, environmental monitoring and geoinformation technologies, forestry, hydrology, physics of limnology, risk and water resources management.

With its interdisciplinary teaching and research network of traffic economics, traffic engineering, transport infrastructure and transport technology, it makes an important contribution to the sustainable development of all transport and infrastructure systems to meet the ever-growing mobility needs of society.

The faculty's research program is diverse and shaped by an interdisciplinary and highly methodological approach. The faculty cooperates with competence centers and central institutions of the TU Dresden, like the Centre for Demography and Diversity (CDD), the Health Economics Center (GÖZ), the School of International Studies (ZIS), the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER), and the ifo Institute.