Joint research and teaching on bioeconomy: The Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB) in Potsdam and the University of Kassel have now signed a cooperation agreement.
The aim of the cooperation is to advance bioeconomy-related research and teaching at both institutions and to disseminate the results to society. It is also planned to jointly train and promote young scientists. The cooperation focuses, among other things, on the fields of climate-resilient plant production, renewable raw materials, resource management, agricultural engineering and the application of artificial intelligence. The term bioeconomy refers to the processing of renewable raw materials and, in a more general sense, to an economy that is based entirely on renewable resources.
"We already have a long history of fruitful cooperation with the ATB," commented Prof. Dr. Wachendorf on the agreement. Wachendorf is Vice President for Research at the University of Kassel. "The cooperation agreement now establishes a firm partnership that ideally combines our strengths: 'Cutting edge' research and innovative teaching offer diverse and attractive educational and qualification opportunities for people interested in the bioeconomy and they generate the urgently needed knowledge for the sustainable transformation of our industries."
"I am very pleased about the future cooperation with a university that is committed to sustainability in all disciplines and departments," says Prof. Dr Barbara Sturm, Scientific Director of the ATB, who completed her doctorate and habilitation at the University of Kassel. "There are plenty of starting points for joint projects, for example in the development of innovative materials from plant fibres or from organic residues for applications in the construction industry or in wastewater treatment. Furthermore, there are initial concrete cooperation approaches between the Hessian State Domain Frankenhausen and the Leibniz Innovation Farm for Sustainable Bioeconomy which is currently being established near Potsdam. The two field research and demonstration farms will be able to make use of synergies."
The Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB) is a federal and state-funded institution with around 260 employees. It conducts application-oriented research on bioeconomy issues, including the programme areas Diversified Crop Production, Individualised Animal Husbandry, Healthy Foods, Multifunctional Biomaterials and Integrated Residue Management. ATB develops technology, processes and management strategies with the aim of intelligently linking highly diverse bioeconomic production systems and controlling them in a knowledge-based, adaptive and largely automated manner. With its research, ATB creates scientific foundations for the transformation into a comprehensive biobased circular economy. www.atb-potsdam.de
The University of Kassel has around 23,000 students. From a wide range of research topics, its focus on Materials of the Future and Sustainable Transformations stand out. With its Department Ecological Agricultural Sciences, it helped shape the agricultural turnaround at an early stage. Currently, the Kassel Institute for Sustainability is being established as a scientific centre that conducts research and teaches in line with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The cooperation with ATB involves fields of Kassel disciplines such as agricultural sciences, architecture, materials science, civil engineering and computer science. www.uni-kassel.de
Contact ATB:
Helene Foltan - Public relations and science communication
presse@atb-potsdam.de - Tel.: + 49 (0)331 5699-820