Scientific infrastructure at TU Darmstadt

The outstanding research and teaching at TU Darmstadt are achieved on the basis of a corresponding research and information infrastructure. And this infrastructure is being strategically developed in this era of digital transformation.

The Lichtenberg High Performance Computer of TU Darmstadt

Picture: Katrin Binner
Picture: Katrin Binner

The “Lichtenberg II” High Performance Computer of TU Darmstadt enables us to carry out cutting edge research and use highly interdisciplinary approaches to tackle problems in engineering and natural sciences, such as in the area of computational engineering. The Research Facilities and Major Research Instrumentation programme from the federal government and federal states provided funding of around 30 million euros for the high performance computer.

The Gauß Alliance

TU Darmstadt is a member of the Gauß-Allianz, an association of computing centres that have a high level of expertise in high-performance computing. The Alliance has the aim of promoting high-performance computing (HPC) as an independent strategic research activity and helping it gain international recognition.

Learning factories

The ETA Factory – The Centre for Energy Efficiency, Technology and Application

The ETA Factory conducts research into energy concepts for the production methods of the future – with a focus on energy efficiency, energy flexibility and resource efficiency so that companies can operate in a more ecological and economical way.

Process Learning Factory CIP – Centre for Industrial Productivity

The Process Learning Factory offers companies further training in process orientation and lean management – in a practice-oriented production environment and with real products.

S-DALINAC

The superconducting Darmstadt electron linear accelerator (S-DALINAC) has been part of the large-scale research infrastructure at TU Darmstadt and the Institute for Nuclear Physics since 1991 and enables highly precise measurements to be completed. The facility is a key research instrument for Research Training Group 2128 from the DFG (German Research Foundation), as well as a testing facility for the DFG´s Collaborative Research Centre 1245. Between 2003 and 2015, the experiments carried out using the S-DALINAC were an essential part of the work of the DFG´s Collaborative Research Centre 634. The accelerator is continuously developed and improved.

Research and Laboratory Centre – Magnets, Molecules, Materials

The Research and Laboratory Centre M³ is equipped with the very latest facilities for characterising substances and materials and provides optimal working conditions for material scientists and chemists. The centre is equipped with the latest NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) spectrometers, magnetometers that are protected against the tiniest of vibrations, superconducting magnets and laboratories for innovative methods of synthesis on an area covering 2,500 square metres.

An important research goal is the development of new permanently magnetised materials, which can be used in the area of renewable energies, such as in wind turbines and electromobility. Teams of chemists are researching ways to create homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts with improved efficiency.

Laboratory for Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)

This laboratory is equipped with several highly sensitive and high-performance electron microscopes for use in material and geosciences. They are used to carry out important research projects, such as:

Spinel ceramics – these materials are transparent to infra-red radiation and can therefore be used as a protective covering for infra-red sensors like those found in motion sensors.

Innovative functional ceramic materials – analysis of ceramics formed from conglomerates of tiny grains, between which extremely thin layers can develop. If the composition and structure of these nanometre thin separating films can be determined, it will be possible to adapt the production process to specifically adjust the desired properties.

The development of materials for replacing bone that contain pores of a size that will allow blood vessels to grow within them.

State Material Testing Institute

The State Material Testing Institute Darmstadt (MPA) and the specialist field of materials science including the Institute of Materials Science form a competence centre for materials technology in the areas of machine and plant engineering, transport technology, medical technology and the building industry.

Competence Centre Materials Characterisation

The Competence Centre Materials Characterisation at the department of Materials and Earth Sciences at TU Darmstadt provides companies and research institutes with a diverse range of methods for examining and testing materials.

Digital research data

The “TUdata” team has been set up by the Executive Board of TU Darmstadt to support all members of the university with saving, archiving, publishing and the subsequent use of research data. The team brings together expertise from the University and State Library, the University IT-Service and Computing Centre and the Directorate for Research and Technology Transfer.

Research data management

Guidelines on how to manage digital research data at TU Darmstadt

National Research Data Infrastructure for Engineering Sciences

TU Darmstadt is a member of the NFDI4Ing consortium. The alliance aims to create the infrastructure that is required for the further development of engineering sciences, boost networking and support cooperation with industry in the context of Industry 4.0. Other members of the consortium include RWTH Aachen University, TU Braunschweig, Karlsruhe Institute for Technology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Stuttgart University and the German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB) in Hanover.

Chairperson of the Advisory Board for Information Infrastructures

Petra Gehring, Professor of Philosophy at TU Darmstadt is Joint Chairperson of the Advisory Board for Information Infrastructures. . This panel of experts advises the worlds of politics and science. In his guest article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper („Ein Flussbett für die Datenströme“ – A Channel for Data Flows), Petra Gehring talks about the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) project that has been approved by the Joint Science Conference formed by the German government and federal states. The aim of the project is to develop a nationwide network for the management of research data.