Location
Science & Research
Europe’s densest research network
“Every research project starts with amazement. Then something hits you.”German behavioural researcher and zoologist Wolfgang Wickler can be encountered day in, day out in the Metropole Ruhr at many different locations – labs, lecture halls, institutes and libraries. There is one main reason for this: the Metropole Ruhr has one of Europe’s densest research networks. Science and research have played a significant role in the transformation of this former industrial region into a modern metropolis for services and knowledge. To ensure that valuable results are not overlooked and can be transformed into marketable products, a rich range of knowledge transfer systems has been set up between science and the economy. A range of excellent research institutes is also based in the Metropole Ruhr. The region secures valuable resources and skills through collaborative projects such as pro Ruhrgebiet, the Initiativkreis Ruhrgebiet and the Wissenschaftsforum Ruhr.
University network
The Metropole Ruhr has been home to a unique and modern educational landscape ever since the first universities were established here in the 1960s. Some 141,000 students are enrolled each semester at the faculties of the Metropole Ruhr, representing around 1/3 of students in North Rhine-Westphalia. 30 percent of these students are studying maths and natural sciences. The region also teaches medicine and health care, languages and cultural sciences, law, economics and social sciences, engineering and art.
The region is home to five universities: the Ruhr University Bochum, the Dortmund Technical University, the University of Duisburg-Essen, Hagen distance-learning university and the Witten/Herdecke private university. The internationally renowned Folkwang university of art is also based in the Ruhr district (main site: Essen).
In addition to these universities, the regional educational system also offers ten universities of applied sciences specialising in economics, management and administration. Three of them are based in Bochum: the Bochum University of Applied Sciences, the University of Applied Sciences of Georg-Agricola and the Evangelical University of Applied Sciences Rheinland-Westfalen-Lippe. Dortmund is home to the International School of Management and the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences. Colleges of economics and management are based in Essen, not forgetting the University of Applied Sciences in Gelsenkirchen, the North Rhine-Westphalia college of public administration with sites in Duisburg, Hagen and Gelsenkirchen, the University of Applied Sciences Südwestfalen in Hagen and the private SRH University of Applied Sciences in Hamm.
University alliance - UAMR
The Universitätsallianz Metropole Ruhr (UAMR) university alliance was founded in 2007 and is unique. Neighbouring universities in Bochum, Dortmund and Duisburg-Essen have come together to form the alliance. Each of the three universities involved retains its independence. This partnership agreement means that the 89,000 current students can be offered a previously unattainable level of variety by combining the numerous study options. The 1,250 professors also benefit from the advantages of the shared teaching and research goals. The aim of the UAMR is to expand the services of the three partners and further develop their main fields of focus. In this way, the Metropole Ruhr can continue to establish itself as a location of excellence at a national and international level in terms of science and study.
A cooperation agreement with the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (USA) was set up in June 2008 with this in mind. The three universities work together with this elite American university within the fields of engineering, nano-technology, robotics and material sciences. The background to this partnership: both regions have undergone similar structural changes. They want to draw upon these shared experiences and develop cooperation agreements in science and the economy.
External research institutes
Scientific research external to the universities is also represented in the region through various institutes and makes a considerable contribution to the region’s reputation as a metropolis of expertise. Three big names dominate the scene: Fraunhofer, Leibniz and Max Planck. A total of four Fraunhofer institutes are based in Dortmund, Duisburg and Oberhausen (material flow and logistics/ software and systems technology/ micro-electronics/ environmental, safety and energy technology). The Fraunhofer institutes play a leading role in Europe in the field of applied research. The Leibniz organisation also has four institutes in the region in Bochum, Essen and Dortmund (mining history/ economic research/ occupational physiology/ analytical sciences). The Max Planck organisation is renowned worldwide for its fundamental research and has two institutes in Mülheim an der Ruhr (bio-organic chemistry/ coal research) and one in Dortmund (molecular physiology). Various industry research institutes are also present in the region.
Focal points of research
The development of environmental technologies is a focal point of research in the region, e.g. decontamination of hazardous waste, process and product design to reduce waste in industry and the application of regenerative forms of energy (solar power and fuel cell technology). The medical/technical field has developed to form another centre of research. New processes are currently being researched and developed in the Metropole Ruhr to aid medical imaging. The region has an excellent level of expertise in the new field of sensor-based neuronal adaptive prosthetics (SNAP). The technology platform which exists in the Metropole Ruhr for developing prosthetic aids is unique across the world. Research is also conducted in the region into the development of new substances and methods of processing them as well as into IT and micro-electronics.
More information on this under research and development in the fields of expertise.
Exceptional research institutes
The Metropole Ruhr is home to numerous research institutes such as the Interdisciplinary Center for Advanced Materials Simulation (ICAMS), attached to the Ruhr University Bochum. It covers the inter-disciplinary field of material and substances development which is gaining in importance. The use of elaborate computer simulations will change hugely over the coming years in the development departments of many sectors of industry. Experts able to operate as well as further develop these modern simulation tools are rare in Germany. The setting up of ICAMS in 2007 represented a highly innovative field of research. The organisation is unique both nationally and internationally and bridges the gap between university and industrial research and offers a means by which highly efficient methods of simulation can be directly transferred to industrial applications in future.
Other examples are the Centre for Fuel Cell Technology (ZBT) in Duisburg, which is working to develop low temperature fuel cells (PEM) and the Geothermal Centre Bochum. In the logistics sector, the multi-disciplinary Centre for Logistics and Transport (ZLV) is leading the way at the University of Duisburg-Essen, awarded the title of Germany’s best logistics university in 2007. These are just a few of the key examples of the Metropole Ruhr region’s exceptional research institutes.
Wissenschaftsforum Ruhr e.V.
25 research institutes have combined their efforts to form the Wissenschaftsforum Ruhr science forum. The member institutes join forces in four themed areas: bio-medicine, health and analysis; technology and the environment; social and economic sciences and culture and the humanities. The aim of the forum is to promote collaboration between the region’s research institutes and contact between the universities and partners in the fields of education, culture, science and politics and to strengthen the region’s science culture and dialogue between the world of science and the public.
Transfer points
The effectiveness of a region’s economic system depends on its powers of innovation as well as how quickly and efficiently scientific results can be applied to form marketable products and services. Information transfer points have been set up at universities and colleges in the region to improve the transfer of knowledge between the world of science and its potential users. In particular, this makes it easier for small and medium-sized companies without their own research department to access the latest scientific expertise.
transfer points
Technology consultation
Technology consultation is provided by the chambers of industry and commerce in the Metropole Ruhr, the German federation of trade unions, the technology transfer point at the chamber of crafts in Dortmund, the communal technology consultation centre in Oberhausen, the Centre for Innovation and Technology (ZENIT) in Mülheim and technology agencies in the various cities.
Technology and start-up centres
Start-up and technology centres offer an initial stable business basis to young technology companies and entrepreneurs. The centres combine innovative activities and guarantee close contact with the world of science. They make the initial stage of setting up a business easier and encourage innovation and cooperation. The Metropole Ruhr is home to more than 30 technology, innovation and start-up centres with more than 600 technology-oriented companies in addition to office and production rooms and the required infrastructure for company start-ups.
The first technology centre was established in Dortmund in the 1980s. Together with the near-by TechnologieParkDortmund, the Technologiezentrum Dortmund (TZDO) is renowned for its technology-oriented companies and entrepreneurs. Some 283 companies with more than 8,500 employees have settled here. The TZDO is one of the leading technology centres in Germany and operates as a magnet and hub for forward-thinking technologies ranging from IT to bio-medicine, micro-systems technology and production technology.
Addresses of the technology and start-up centres