The Institute

The institute concentrates competencies in retrieval, processing and refinement of natural materials along the entire value chain with respect to, for example, foods, biotechnological products, or wood and fibre-based products in the context of a circular flow economy. The recently established Chair of Technology of Productive Biolfilms (jountly with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ) and the appointment of the sokesman of the Papiertechnische Stiftung as Honorary Chair of Paper Technology additionally strengthen the institute and underline regional integration. This leads to a stronger linkage of academic education with application-based research and devlopment, which is also documented by the intense cooperation with the Fraunhofer IVV for Processing Machines and Packaging Technology.

An important starting point for the cooperation is the Centre for Integrated Natural Materials Technology.

The foundation of the institute will contribute to the coordination of research work in a more and more complex world, in order to change from a ressource intense towards a biobased economy. To develop a knowledge based, internationally competitive bioeconomy, the German government established the "Nationale Forschungsstrategie BioÖkonomie 2030“ (the national research strategy for bioeconomy 2030). The Institute of Natural Materials Technology is active in all therefore defined working areas:

•     Assurance of global nutrition
•     Sustainable agricultural production
•     Manufacture of safe and healthy foods
•     Industrial utilization of renewable raw materials
•     Development of biomass based energy sources