The Ruhr Area: A Region of Materials Science

Innovative materials have a long and successful tradition in the Ruhr Area. Highly innovative products from the Ruhr Area, such as seamless railway tires, stainless steels or carbides, stimulated Germany’s economic growth. The success story of automotive engineering in Germany, which continues to this day, can ultimately be traced back to developments in the materials- and metal-processing industry and thus to the Ruhr Area.
 
This historically determined focus on materials, additionally supported by natural deposits, still characterizes the academic landscape of the Ruhr Area today. For example, all three Ruhr Area universities, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, TU Dortmund University and the University of Duisburg-Essen, still operate globally recognized research institutions with a focus on materials science. Here,h materials are being re-thought and cutting-edge research on functional and structural materials is carried out.

Specialisation

In recent decades, research progress and specialization in the field of materials science and technology have led to a diversification into many sub-disciplines. This is visible in the highly specified and internationally recognized research activities at the three UA Ruhr universities and their partner institutions. From fundamental research on materials to applied technology, from the knowledge-based design of new materials to their production and processing, and from the basic description of materials at the atomic level to the properties of technical components, a large number of specialized research areas strengthen the Ruhr Area as a globally leading region of materials science and technology.

Synergies

While specialisation is necessary for maintaining an internationally competitive position, it brings a separation of research topics and education that may have an adverse impact on the effectiveness of research on new materials and their path from discovery to implementation into technical components. Therefore, the Materials Chain network brings the sub-disciplines of materials science into dialogue, giving the field momentum for a more effective management of its shared resources.

In an holistic approach to materials science, Materials Chain makes use of the unique scientific environment presented by the Ruhr Area and University Alliance Ruhr in order to reach a complete and concise description of the whole materials chain from atoms to finished technical components and vice versa.