Material development from Würzburg
for energy, environment and health

The Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC (director Prof. Dr. Gerhard Sextl) is one of the leading European R&D centers for material-based research and development in the fields of energy, environment and health. With a permanent staff of about 380 scientists and technicians the Institute works to develop innovative materials and technologies for sustainable products and make essential contributions to solving the major global issues and challenges of the future.

With its parent Institute and the Translational Center for Regenerative Therapies in Wuerzburg as well as its Center for High-Temperature Materials and Design HTL at Bayreuth Fraunhofer ISC combines first-rate expertise in materials science with long-standing experience in materials processing, industrial application and the upscaling of production and process technologies to pilot scale as well as in materials analysis and characterization. The Fraunhofer R&D Center Electromobility, the Center Smart Materials and the attached Application Center "Textile Fiber Ceramics" based at the University of Applied Sciences in Hof-Münchberg, excellently complement this expertise. As part of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the Institute is crosslinked with its sister institutes and a number of other R&D institutions in and outside Europe. It is involved in a multitude of joint projects on national and international scale.

As parent institute to quite a number of different entities, the Fraunhofer ISC is privileged to combine first-rate expertise in materials science with long-standing experience in materials processing, application and analysis. The Institute focuses on effordable health care and regenerative therapies, on resource and energy efficiency, and on sustainability, emphasizing the use of regrowing and economically friendly raw materials, the avoidance of critical materials as well as on smart and sustainable processing techniques.  

In addition to contract R&D, the Fraunhofer ISC can provide analytical services up into production, perform characterization tasks, optimize processes, design customized devices and undertake the upscaling of production and processing techniques to pilot scale. Other R&D priorities include innovative recycling technologies and strategies to secure the supply of valuable resources. The Fraunhofer ISC, with its Translational Center Regenerative Therapies and the Center HTL, is a strong R&D partner for industry whenever it comes to quality ensurance or investments into the future.

The Project Group for Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKS in Alzenau and Hanau, which was founded under the umbrella of the Fraunhofer ISC, will be continued as an independent Fraunhofer facility under the name of Fraunhofer IWKS. Attached to this is the Fraunhofer Application Center “Resource Efficiency” at Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences.