Bundling resources expertise from science and industry

Credit/Quelle: Fraunhofer-Projektgruppe IWKS

The signatories of the articles founding the non-profit association “German Resource Research Institute” (left to right): Dr Andreas Stegmüller, Daniel Voigt, Prof. Dr Rudolf Stauber, Dr Elinor Rombach, Helene E. Köpf, Prof. Dr Dr Markus Reuter, Kai Rasenack, Prof. Dr Bernd Friedrich

Credit/Quelle: Fraunhofer-Projektgruppe IWKS

Since its founding in 2015, the virtual institute “GERRI” has been working to strengthen raw material research for the German economy in international competition. Now the founding members and partners have officially registered the network as a non-profit association based in Freiberg, Saxony. The Association of the “German Resource Research Institute” includes as members the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, RWTH Aachen University, TH Nürnberg, TU Bergakademie Freiberg and TU Clausthal. New members from industry, research and public institutions are to follow. The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) and the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) joined the network at the beginning of the year.

The promotion of science and research in the field of resources is one of the most important goals of the association. „We represent the interests of German resource research in Germany and abroad and steer strategic research cooperation. By networking players and pooling expertise, we are a decisive point of contact for raw materials, which are becoming an increasingly important topic for industry and society alike,“ explains Prof. Markus Reuter, Director of the Helmholtz Institute for Resource Technology (HIF) at the HZDR and first chairman of the association. Prof. Daniel Goldmann, head of the Institute for Processing, Landfill Technology and Geomechanics at Clausthal University of Technology, was elected second chairman.

The overall goal of GERRI is to establish a technologically advanced and resource-efficient circular recycling system for metal-bearing and mineral raw materials. The platform has a broad spectrum of expertise in raw material research and mediates research infrastructures for German stakeholders. By using the platform, companies and research institutions benefit from direct access to a broad pool of experts as well as assistance in imparting the appropriate know-how. In particular, GERRI is characterized by the following fields of competence: Exploration and extraction, processing, hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy, material development, waste management, modelling and special analysis. Within these areas, GERRI gathers expert knowledge on a wide variety of material streams and elements. With the admission of new partners, the existing fields of competence are to be further deepened and expanded.

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