New Materials and Processes

FAU’s Faculty of Sciences and Faculty of Engineering are renowned for their exceptional strength in new materials research and related process technologies. New materials and processes are expected to catalyse scientific breakthroughs and push forward technological boundaries in emerging fields including energy and environment, information technologies, lightweight materials and in life sciences. In highly interdisciplinary research projects scientists and engineers from up to three faculties and 8 departments (chemistry and pharmacy, chemical and biochemical engineering, electronic engineering, information technology, mechanical engineering, material sciences and engineering, mathematics and physics) are closely cooperating.

The research activities in this area are mainly focused on the development of functional and structural materials which are constructed hierarchically from atoms and molecules to the functional particulate level and to the macroscopic scale. New research approaches which cover a wide range of length and time scales are required in order to bridge the gap between atomic and molecular architecture and component design. This applies to structural, property and process analyses, modelling, simulation, and optimisation as well as to processing and manufacturing technologies. FAU researchers are leaders in the fields of carbon allotropes and 2D-materials (e.g. graphene and black phosphorous), ionic liquids, particle technology, functional nanostructured thin films (e.g. solar cells), catalysis, self-organisation of nanostructures, bioactive and cellular materials. In particular, macroscopic material properties are tailored by microscopic design of interfaces.

Outstanding Activities

Exzellence Initiative

• Cluster of Excellence Engineering of Advanced Materials (EAM)
• Excellence Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT)

Collaborative Research Centres (CRC)

• DFG CRC 814: Additive Manufacturing
• DFG CRC 953: Synthetic Carbon Allotropes
• DFG CRC/TRR 103: From Atom to Turbine Blade – Scientific Foundation for a New Generation of Monocrystalline Superalloys
• DFG CRC/TRR 73: Manufacturing of Complex Functional Components with Variants by Using a New Sheet Metal Forming Process – Sheet-Bulk Metal Forming
• DFG SFB/TRR 225: From the fundamentals of biofabrication towards functional tissue models
• DFG CRC 1411: Design of Particulate Products
• DFG CRC 1452: Catalysis at Liquid Interfaces (CLINT)

Research Training Groups (RTG)

• DFG RTG 1161: Disperse Systems (2005-2015)
• DFG RTG 1229: Stable and metastable multi-phase systems for elevated service temperatures (2006-2015)
• DFG RTG 1896: In-Situ Microscopy with Electrons, X-rays and Scanning Probes
• DFG RTG 2423: Fracture across Scales (FRASCAL)

Research Units (RU)

• DFG RU 1600: Chemistry and Technology of the Ammonothermal Synthesis of Nitrides
• DFG RU 1878: funCOS Functional Molecular Structures on Complex Oxide Surfaces

Research buildings

Successful approval of two research buildings according to paragraph 91b Abs. 1 (GG):

• Interdisciplinary Centre for Functional Particle Systems (FPS, inauguration in 2012)
• Interdisciplinary Centre for Nanostructural Films (IZNF, planned completion in 2018)

Interdisciplinary Centres

• Center for Nanoanalysis and Electron Microscopy (CENEM)
• Interdisciplinary Center for Functional Particle Systems (FPS)
• Interdisciplinary Center for Molecular Materials (ICMM)
• Erlangen Center for Interface Research and Catalysis

Close connections exist between the University and transfer centres

• Joint Institute of Advanced Materials and Processes (ZMP)
• Central Institute for Scientific Computing (ZISC)
• The Bavarian Centre for Applied Energy Research (ZAE Bayern)
• Energy Campus Nürnberg (EnCN)
• Application Center VerTec

Cooperation with non-university research institutions

• Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
• Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (IIS)
• Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology (IISB)
• Helmholz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HI ERN)
• Neue Materialien Fürth GmbH

Outstanding achievements by contributing scientists

Scientists from the research area have received numerous, highly visible national and international awards. The most important awards are:

• 15 ERC Grants have been granted, the most prestigious science grant in Europe
• 4 scientists have been honoured with the DFG Leibniz Award, the most important research award in Germany
• 4 scientists have been listed as Highly Cited Researchers a total of ten times (Clarivate Analytics)

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