xchange refers to multidimensional exchange with our partners. We want to address the major challenges our world faces as much as the needs and problems of our partners. Our partners come from all walks of life: business, civil society, politics and culture.

Are you interested in working with us?

Don’t hesitate to talk to us about our different cooperation formats, or contact our xchange Office directly.

Strategic Partnerships with companies and organisations

The potential of a university partnership for companies, other organisations or institutions often cannot be fully exploited where individual projects are used. In such cases, TU Darmstadt aims to forge longer-term collaborations in what are called Strategic Partnerships. These not only involve various areas of cooperation and working groups at TU Darmstadt, they also normally include several departments.

A strategic partnership includes a range of formats, such as research and development projects, professional development, recruiting and joint events. The aim of a strategic partnership is to develop cooperation in all three core areas of our university, i.e. research, teaching and xchange.

Deutsche Bahn and TU Darmstadt have a long-standing partnership. The cooperation has already been relaunched once, in 2009, as an innovation alliance. In the alliance, Deutsche Bahn and TU Darmstadt aim to jointly overcome technical and technological challenges related to mobility by creating innovations that can be used in transport networks.

The partnership between our university and Deutsche Bahn AG is based on the three pillars of teaching, research & development and talent recruitment.

Merck and TU Darmstadt have been strategic partners since 2006. Until 2020, a close research partnership was maintained in a jointly-run Merck Lab at TU Darmstadt, in addition to a range of bilateral cooperative research arrangements. Since 2020, the focus has been on future-focused sustainability projects as part of the ‘Sustainability Hub’ joint research platform. Joint learning environments outside the classroom are operated in the form of junior laboratories, with the aim of raising the interest of school pupils in science-related topics. Merck is the main funder of the ‘Deutschlandstipendium’ scholarship at TU Darmstadt.

TU Darmstadt and Continental AG have worked together closely since 1986 on the development of driver assistance systems and the creation of comprehensive concepts for accident-avoidance systems for future vehicles. Beyond this, a scholarship was also established as part of the strategic partnership. The Future Leaders Scholarship helps students to attend the University of Tokyo for several months, before they subsequently complete an internship at Continental Automotive Technologies GmbH.

Bosch and TU Darmstadt can look back over a long history as partners, with joint research projects in the form of commissioned and collaborative research. For example, Bosch Rexroth AG has invested in the ETA model factory (ETA Home – ETA-Fabrik) since 2013, which aims to shape the industrial production of tomorrow in a way that is energy-efficient, energy-flexible and resource-efficient. As part of the partnership between Robert Bosch Taiwan Co. Ltd. and TU Darmstadt, the Future Leaders Scholarship assists students to go to Taiwan for eleven months to study at the National Cheng Kung University in Tainan.

Since 2018, the Association of Hessian Metal and Electrical Companies (HESSENMETALL) and TU Darmstadt have maintained a Strategic Partnership to intensify xchange between HESSENMETALL member companies (particularly medium-sized firms) and TU Darmstadt. For this purpose, TU Darmstadt and HESSENMETALL initiate research and technology projects in which companies and academics participate. The partnership also includes professional development, start-up funding, events and recruiting.

Partnerships with regional institutions

We believe we have an obligation to discuss, exchange and apply academic knowledge and technologies with partners from science, business, civil society, politics and culture, with the aim of creating innovations for society. Members of civil society and cultural creators involved in the partnership are able to deepen their understanding for the diversity and complexity of academia, technologies and methods. Accordingly, in the xchange partnership our audience includes civil society institutions, political and cultural institutions, as well as private companies. Institutions in Darmstadt are particularly important.

Since 2014, leaders from universities, politics, companies with research arms, cultural institutions and academic institutions have come together under the coordination of the Schader Stiftung in Darmstadt to discuss the self-perception and potential of the ‘City of Science’. The Round Table in Darmstadt, City of Science was initiated by the then TU Darmstadt President, Hans Jürgen Prömel, Darmstadt’s mayor Jochen Partsch and Alois Schader from the Schader Stiftung.

TU Darmstadt has cooperated with the Deutsches Polen Institut (German Polish Institute) since 2006 on issues relating to degree programs & teaching, professional development and research. The Department of History and Social Sciences heads the partnership for TU Darmstadt. An example is the academic project on the guardsmen regiment 115 that was once based in Darmstadt.

Since 2018, the Technical University of Darmstadt and Darmstadt, City of Science have worked to build the digital city of Darmstadt. TU Darmstadt is contributing its wide range of skills to the partnership, particularly in the field of information and intelligence, but also in the mobility, logistics, education and industry 4.0 areas that are relevant to the digital city. The focuses of the partnership include mutual networking and setting of priorities. Darmstadt, the City of Science supports TU Darmstadt research projects. Joint projects are also developed and implemented.

The Odenwald-Akademie (Odenwald Academy), a co-operative institution of TU Darmstadt and the Odenwald district since 1991, promotes two-way communication between science and the public. It brings schools, companies, politicians and interested citizens together with researchers. The Friends of the Odenwald Academy regularly awards a prize of 3,000 euros to TU students for outstanding Master's theses.

Partnerships in entrepreneurial activities

The Technical University of Darmstadt is an integral partner of the RheinMain Startup Factory, a joint initiative of the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) — comprising TU Darmstadt, Goethe University Frankfurt, and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz — as well as the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management and the Polytechnische Gesellschaft Frankfurt. The RheinMain Startup Factory aims to develop the Rhine-Main region into a leading European hub for technology- and knowledge-based entrepreneurship.

This joint initiative is supported by Futury – The Future Factory.

Futury is an innovation and sustainability platform that offers programs for entrepreneurs and industry partners to jointly develop solutions. By connecting start-ups, talents, and companies, Futury fosters sustainable innovation and drives transformative change. Through tailored networks and acceleration programs, Futury supports collaboration and the implementation of disruptive ideas for lasting sustainable impact.

Beyond the RheinMain Startup Factory, TU Darmstadt works closely with other stakeholders in the Rhine-Main start-up ecosystem to provide its students and researchers with access to a comprehensive ecosystem and thereby foster entrepreneurial activity.

The Center for Satellite Navigation Hesse (cesah) is a competence center for the application of space technologies and serves as a central point of contact for innovators, investors, as well as aspiring technology ventures and start-ups seeking expertise, market knowledge, and connections to the start-up ecosystem in Hesse and Darmstadt. The partnership between TU Darmstadt and cesah makes it possible to transfer scientific findings in the field of space technology into practical applications, while at the same time strengthening the regional innovation ecosystem.

HUB31 is a technology and start-up center in Darmstadt that has been supporting start-ups since its founding in 2017. In November 2023, TU Darmstadt joined HUB31 as a shareholder. This partnership aims to strengthen the links between the start-up ecosystem and university and research activities, provide access to an innovation network, and thereby reinforce Darmstadt as a center of innovation.

LAB³ e.V. is an organization with its own infrastructure that enables the success of transfer and development projects as well as access to research beyond the university context. With its focus on transdisciplinary working groups and laboratories, as well as exchange between research, industry, and society, LAB³ e.V. plays a key role as a hub for innovation. Through TU Darmstadt’s membership in LAB³ e.V., students and researchers at TU Darmstadt gain access to LAB³’s diverse resources and networks, supporting the development of innovative ideas and their implementation in successful start-ups.

The ryon GreenTech Accelerator in Gernsheim is an initiative that supports start-ups and young companies in the fields of chemistry, biotechnology, materials science, and engineering. Through tailored programs and modern laboratory infrastructure, ryon offers ideal conditions for the development of innovative ideas. TU Darmstadt is actively involved in ryon as a shareholder and, together with partners such as Goethe University Frankfurt and the science and technology company Merck, supports entrepreneurial activities. This collaboration makes it possible to translate scientific findings into practical applications and strengthens the innovation ecosystem in the Rhine-Main region.

TechQuartier, based in Frankfurt, is a central point of contact for companies from both the financial sector and the real economy and represents a dynamic start-up scene. As the ecosystem manager of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main metropolitan region, TechQuartier promotes networking among local start-up initiatives and supports business creation. With its facilities, TechQuartier offers ideal conditions for innovation and collaboration.

TU Darmstadt works closely with TechQuartier to strengthen its entrepreneurial activities. The TechQuartier community includes more than 550 start-up members as well as over 30 partners from the financial industry, technology sector, universities, and other institutions.

Joint professorships at the Technical University (TU) Darmstadt are secondary employment positions that enable scientific collaboration between TU Darmstadt and external organizations, such as companies or research institutions. The holders of such professorships combine their primary employment outside the university with a secondary position at TU Darmstadt. This collaboration promotes the exchange and transfer of knowledge between the university and the external institution. Joint professorships are intended to contribute to providing a current range of courses and to strengthen research and support for young academics at TU Darmstadt. These joint professorships are typically limited to three to six years.

Department of Chemistry

Department of Materials and Earth Sciences

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology

Department of Computer Science

  • Prof. Dr. Arjan Kuijper, Mathematical and Applied Visual Computing
    Cooperation partner: Fraunhofer Institute for Computer graphics Research

Partnerships in research and teaching

In addition to activities related to xchange purposes, TU Darmstadt also maintains partnerships for teaching and research. Examples include cooperation with the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research and the Fraunhofer institutes based in Darmstadt.

At the international level, TU Darmstadt has cultivated strategic partnerships with three selected universities. TU Darmstadt also maintains partnerships with more than 300 universities worldwide.

Alliances and networks – a selection

 
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