The International Joint Research Lab (IJRL) “Architecture Criticism and Heritage” analyzes the role of architectural theory and criticism in dealing with architectural heritage and and ascribing political, professional and cultural values to them, with a special focus on questions of social, ecological and economic sustainability. The complex global challenges of climate change, resource scarcity, and urbanization cannot be met by new technologies alone, but must be integrated politically, socially, culturally, and not least spatially. Heritage buildings and historic infrastructures are key elements on the way to a sustainable built environment that improves people’s participation and quality of life. “Architecture Criticism and Heritage” explores the built environment and interrogates its potential for a sustainable future. In this way, the IJRL addresses acute questions such as those currently being pursued by the EU’s “New European Bauhaus” initiative with its focus on “enriching, sustainable, and inclusive spaces.” The project expands on existing research collaborations between the Center for Critical Studies in Architecture (CCSA), the Mapping Architecture Criticism network at Université Rennes 2 and Politecnico di Milano, and the Cultural Landscape Research Group at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. The CCSA is a cooperation between the Department of Architecture at the Technical Universiy of Darmstadt, the Institute of Art History at the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and the Deutsches Architekturmuseum, established in 2017.

Prof. Dr. Christiane Salge, History of Architecture and Art History
Dr. Lisa Beißwanger, Architecture Theory and Science & History of Architecture and Art History
Dr. Frederike Lausch, History of Architecture and Art History

(International) Partner Institutions

Architekturmuseum, Deutschland
Fachhochschule Dortmund, Deutschland
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Deutschland
Politecnico di Milano, Italien
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spanien
Universität Kassel, Deutschland
Université Rennes 2 – Haute Bretagne, Frankreich

Main Contact at the TU Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. Christiane Salge
History of Architecture and Art
Department of Architecture

As a virtual representation of a physical product or product-service system, digital twins can find applications in various phases of product creation and support secure and sustainable product development. Thus, Digital Twins can contribute to a more efficient use of resources, to an increase in flexibility in value creation processes, and to the linking and mastering of data. The IJRL brings together researchers who explore applications of the digital twin throughout the product lifecycle, from materials to manufacturing and product use. The IJRL serves to strengthen the already existing scientific relationship between the Universidade de São Paulo (USP), the ENS Paris-Saclay, the Chalmers University of Technology and the Technische Universität Darmstadt and aims to expand the spectrum of scientific cooperation.

(International) Partner Institutions

Chalmers University of Technology, Schweden
École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay, Frankreich
Universidade de São Paulo, Brasilien

Main Contact at the TU Darmstadt

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Benjamin Schleich
Product Life Cycle Management
Department of Mechanical Engineering

The present project with the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) strate-gize a development to cope with the increasing challenges of climate change. Thereby, new water resources will be identified such as treated wastewater and reuse options of water in industrial processes. Also, the use of brackish water as an alternative to freshwater in coastal areas will be explored to save exist-ing freshwater resources. Additionally, water sensitive concepts will be devel-oped to retain and store water in rural and urban areas. Financial support will be provided by funding e.g., by the German Research Foundation (DFG), which recently opened a call for joint work with the National Science Founda-tion (NSF) of the USA. The ongoing collaborative work between Holger Lutze (Environmental Analytics and Pollutants), Christoph Schüth (Hydrogeology), and Britta Schmalz (Engineering Hydrology and Water Management) with Saugata Datta Chair of the Institute of Water Research Sustainability and Policy of UTSA is an excellent basis for a fostered continuation in the frame of an international joint research lab.

Prof. Dr. Holger Volker Lutze, FG Umweltanalytik und Schadstoffe
Prof. Dr. Christoph Schüth, Hydrogeologie
Prof. Dr. Britta Schmalz, FG Ingenieurhydrologie und Wasserbewirtschaftung
Dr. Sajjad Abdighahroudi, FG Umweltanalytik und Schadstoffe

International Partner Institution

University of Texas San Antonio, USA

• • Prof. Dr. Saugatta Datta, Chemical Hydrogeology and Low Temperature Geochemistry
  • Prof. Dr. Jose Lopez-Ribot, Water and Health and Immunology
  • Prof. Dr. Marcio Giacomoni, Water Reuse and Recycling and Storm Water Runoff Reuse
  • Prof. Dr. Kaushik Mitra, Geochemistry and Water Resources

Main Contact at the TU Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. Holger Volker Lutze
Environmental Analytics and Pollutants
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

The IJRL “Ions at Interfaces” is aimed at a better understanding of the interaction of various ion types with technologically and biologically relevant interfaces. Applications include the stabilization of foams, the recovery of heavy metals from industrial or nuclear waste, or the ion-specific generation of surface charges on biological membranes. The involved research groups address these and related aspects with mutually complementary experimental and theoretical methods. In the experimental domain, purposefully prepared interfaces are exposed to the influence of typical and atypical ion types under well-defined conditions. Such samples can then be characterized comprehensively with the help of scattering techniques with light, x-ray, or neutron radiation, or by measuring interfacial forces. Atomistic computer simulations and thermodynamic modeling of the phenomena investigated, once validated with the experimental data, provide additional mechanistic insights that are crucial for our understanding but would not be accessible with experiments alone.

International Partner Institution

Institut de Chimie Séparative de Marcoule, Frankreich

Main Contact at the TU Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. Emanuel Schneck
Institute for Condensed Matter Physics
Department of Physics

Within the framework of the IJRL “Solid State Lighting Technology – Components to Systems” the universities are cooperating in the field of material analysis and reliability assessment of semiconductor-based lighting and irradiation systems. Through multi-dimensional analysis of the semiconductor devices and components used, physical aging mechanisms and deficiencies are identified allowing an optimization from the single device to the system level. Using dedicated test sequences of accelerated lifetime tests, critical failure mechanisms of various semiconductor emitters and their package designs are identified. The collected data is used to create multidimensional models describing the electrical, optical and thermal characteristics of the devices over the ageing period.

In addition, the data transfer to multi-domain models allows the creation of digital twins that can be used for the simulation of lighting and irradiation units. Analogously derived models for the power supply units used, combined with the ageing models of other optical components, allow the irradiation units to be simulated at system level. Supported by data from static and cyclical laboratory tests, the robustness of the models is additionally improved, thus enabling the most precise possible prediction of service life and maintenance intervals under changing environmental conditions in the field. In addition to service life calculations and maintenance procedures, this development should also significantly shorten the product development cycles of LED systems.

Prof. Dr. Tran Quoc Khanh, Adaptive Lighting Systems and Visual Processing
Prof. Dr. Klaus Hofmann, Integrated Electronic Systems
Prof. Dr. Sebastian Schöps, Computational Electromagnetics
Dr. Alexander Herzog, Adaptive Lighting Systems and Visual Processing

International Partner Institutions

University of Padova, Italy

• • Prof. Dr. Matteo Meneghini
  • Dr. Matteo Buffolo
  • Prof. Dr. Nicola Trivellin
  • Dr. Riccardo Torchio

Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

• • Prof. Dr. Willem Dirk van Driel
  • Prof. Dr. Gui Qi Zhang
  • Filip Simjanoski

Budapest University of Technology, Hungary

• • Prof. Dr. András Poppe
  • Dr. Gusztáv Hantos
  • Dr. János Hegedus

Main Contact at the TU Darmstadt

Dr. Alexander Herzog, Adaptive Lighting Systems and Visual Processing

The IiJRL „Memristor Technology“ pursues the goal to progress on relevant aspects of the fundamentals, technology and exploitation of memristive devices. It addresses the materials properties and defect structure of several kinds of memristor realizations based on oxide, magnetic and ferroelectric materials. From the application side, it covers several novel computing schemes using memristors to increase energy efficiency, including field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), neuromorphic computation and processing-in-memory. From the analysis and modelling side, a unique selling point is to encompass all relevant scales from density functional theory, multi-phase and compact modelling as well as circuit design. The experimental analysis correlates advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods with physical models used for compact simulation of model device and array behavior. Thereby, the iJRL establishes a methodology from innovative materials to single devices and arrays up to the circuit level that can be transferred to novel emerging materials in this fast-developing field also for interested partners in the field of electronic material and semiconductor industry.

(International) Partner Institutions

Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Deutschland
National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spanien

Main Contact at the TU Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. Lambert Alff
Institute for Materials Science
Department of Materials Science and Geosciences

The nitrogen cycle is heavily influenced by human activities. keeping it in balance is one of the big environmental challenges of our time. The influencing factors related to the nitrogen cycle include nitrous oxide emissions from soils, agricultural- and engineered systems, high nitrate concentrations in groundwaters, or high nitrogen levels in surface waters. All of these contribute to pollution and loss in biodiversity. To overcome a continued imbalance in the nitrogen cylce, responsible nitrogen management is crucial, as excess nitrogen harms ecosystems while nitrogen deficiency threatens food security. The IJRL N-SUSTAIN explores the role of nitrogen and, in particular, the important greenhouse gas N2O (laughing gas), in natural and engineered (eco)systems using a multidisciplinary approach. We combine research in environmental biotechnology, microbiology, (waste)water treatment technologies and water resources managament to develop sustainable solutions for nitrogen emission control and N2O mitigation.

The IJRL N-SUSTAIN especially aims at finding sustainable solutions that address nitrogen cycle concerns, and at the same time bridging natural sciences and engineering.

Prof. Dr. Susanne Lackner, Water and Environmental Biotechnology (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering)
Prof. Dr. Jörg Simon, Microbial energy conversion & biotechnology (Department of Biology)
Prof. Dr. Torsten Frosch, Biophotonics – Biomedical Engineering (Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology)
Prof. Dr. Chrisoph Schüth, Hydrogeology (Department of Materials and Earth Sciences)
Prof. Dr. Kay Knöller, Isotope Geochemistry (Department of Materials and Earth Sciences)
Dr.-Ing. Shelesh Agrawal, Water and Environmental Biotechnology (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering)

International Partner Institutions

Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan

Prof. Akihiko Terada, Environmental Biotechnology
Prof. Shohei Riya, Chemical Engineering
Prof. Megumi Kuroiwa, Environmental Science
Prof. Shin Okazaki, Environmental Microbiology

Main Contact at the TU Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. Susanne Lackner
Water and Environmental Biotechnology
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

The IJRL Sustainable Road and Air Mobility conducts research in the field of methodological principles and innovative concepts for sustainable mobility on the road and in the air. This includes application-oriented research of efficient and lightweight drives and structural technologies for the mobility of the future. A reduction in mass generally leads to a higher sensitivity to vibrations, which may cause an increase in sound radiation and noise. Therefore, additional vibration and vibroacoustic aspects are considered in order to maintain the comfort of conventional solutions. In addition to the structural-mechanical topics, fundamental fluid mechanic aspects are also investigated such as aerodynamic phenomena that occur in modern vehicles. This basic research serves to deepen the understanding of specific non-linear phenomena in fluid flows from which procedures are derived that should enable a numerical simulation of these fluid phenomena. Overall, a comprehensive examination of vehicles in air and road traffic takes place in various aspects, from which measures for the sustainable design of the mobility of the future can be derived. The IJRL serves to strengthen the already existing scientific relationship between the École Central de Lyon and the Technical University of Darmstadt and aims to expand the scope of scientific cooperation.

(International) Partner Institutions

École Centrale de Lyon, Frankreich
Fraunhofer-Institut für Betriebsfestigkeit und Systemzuverlässigkeit LBF, Deutschland

Main Contact at the TU Darmstadt

Prof. Dr. Stephan Rinderknecht
Institute of Mechatronic Systems
Mechatronics (MEC)