The Technische Universität Darmstadt (TUD, Darmstadt University of Technology) is among the most renowned universities in Germany. The TUD has reliably earned top marks in institution al rankings. Interdisciplinary collaboration has been nurtured there for decades. The most direct expression of this networked thinking is the twelve “Centers of Research Excellence“ in which the natural sciences, applied sciences, humanities and social sciences work together closely.
The “City of Science” Darmstadt is also the site of international public research institutions such as the Institute for Heavy Ion Research (GSI), the Eumetsat (the meteorological center of Europe) and the ESOC, the “European Houston“ and the seat of numerous global corporations like Merck, Wella or Soft ware AG. In all, Darmstadt is optimally positioned to foster close cooperation between science and business.
A typical example from a TUD Excellence Center is the Darmstadt Center for IT Security (DZI) , whose main goal is to investigate and enhance tools that allow secure use of information technology. Important topics of research at DZI are, among others: reliability, data privacy, artificial immune systems and biometrics.
Another example: the Darmstadt Center for Fluid Flow and Combustion (DCFC) . Whether pumps, turbines, brake chambers or coating applications, drying processes and aerodynamic bodies, DCFC scientists are constantly trying to use the most varied of methods to predict (and hence optimize) fluid flow. They often break new ground in doing so, providing impulses to the automotive and aeronautic industries, as well as in energy and production technology.
Mechatronics − the interface among mechanics, electronics and information sciences − is considered one of the seminal multidisciplinary areas. Mechatronic systems are settling themselves ever deeper into our lives. Magnetic disk storage, video cameras, RPM-regulated asynchronous motors, automatic clutches and drives, active undercarriages for motor vehicles (not to mention robots), could not exist without mechatronics. TUD possesses one of the leading global centers for mechatronic systems.
Mathematics, computer science and engineering sciences form a symbiosis in the “Computational Engineering“ (CE) research center . Computer-assisted modeling, analysis and simulation allow for the study of complex systems where direct access through theory or experimentation would be too complicated, costly, slow or dangerous, or where it is simply not possible at all. The long tradition of material sciences at the TUD helps drive the “Functional Materials–Materials in Operation“ (fws) research focus: disciplines like material sciences, mechanical and electrical engineering, information sciences, chemistry, mechanics and civil engineering come together in high-class research for applications like intelligent lightweight construction, adaptronic and mechatronic systems, optoelectronics and photonics and CO2 reduction technologies.
The twelve “Centers of Research Excellence” are listed on the following page.
