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2013|14 Annual Report Fraunhofer IGB

25 PROJECTS AND PROJECT GROUPS IPF and IGVT become IGVP At the beginning of 2013, our partner institute at the Univer- sity of Stuttgart, the Institute for Interfacial Engineering IGVT, was expanded through integration of the Institute for Plasma Research IPF, by resolution of the Senate and the University Council of the University of Stuttgart. The merged body has been renamed the Institute of Interfacial Process Engineering and Plasma Technology IGVP. Research activities at the IGVP are organized in two newly formed departments. The Interfacial Engineering Department comprises groups working in the five areas Medical Interfacial Engineering, Biological Interfacial Engineering, Physical Inter- facial Engineering, Chemical Interfacial Engineering and Envi- ronmental Interfacial Engineering – while the Department of Plasma and Interfacial Physical Processes is subdivided in the groups Plasma Technology, Microwave Technology, Plasma Dynamics and Diagnostics, and Interfacial Physics. The inte- gration of the IPF means that the institute has rounded off its basic research capability in the field of plasma physics and can combine this with activities in the fields of plasma chemistry and plasma process engineering. Straubing Fraunhofer Project Group BioCat positively evaluated Since its inception in 2009, the Fraunhofer BioCat Project Group – funded by the State of Bavaria for an initial period of three years – has firmly established itself in Straubing. At the end of this term, the group was required to submit itself to comprehensive scrutiny by independent experts from industry and academic research, in order to be allowed to continue its work. By the end of 2012, Professor Volker Sieber and his team had compiled a report of over 60 pages detailing their previous activities and submitted it to the experts. In addition to the scientific and technical aspects, the experts’ remit was to evaluate the financial performance of the group and its links with regional and national partners from industry and research. The panel of experts met in Straubing in early 2013, and came to a very positive finding. In its view, the staff’s performance in setting up and developing the project group has been impressive. Its ambitious goals have been achieved, and the project group is well placed for the future. Thus the group’s temporary status linked to the start-up funding has been lifted and it can continue its activities as a permanent unit of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Center for Energy Storage at the Fraunhofer BioCat Project Group in Straubing “If we want the energy transition to succeed, we must in- crease investment in energy research and the development of technology. New storage technologies are a key component here – with its support for the Center for Energy Storage the Bavarian State recognizes this as the way to go”. So said Ilse Aigner, Bavarian State Minister for Economic Affairs and Media, Energy and Technology and Deputy Prime Minister of Bavaria on November 15, 2013 at the handover of the funding approval to the BioCat Project Group. The Free State of Ba- varia is providing financing of 4.9 million euros over a period of five years for activities in the new field of “Chemical stor- age – catalysis & process” at the Center for Energy Storage, plus an additional 2.5 million euros to partially finance a new 1 2 1 2 + 3

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