"Chemical Invention Factory" is being built on the Charlottenburg campus of TU Berlin

Plans for the Chemical Invention Factory (CIF) on the grounds of TU Berlin

With the resolution of the Berlin House of Representatives from January 24, 2024, regarding co-financing, the final planning phase for the construction of the "Chemical Invention Factory – John Warner Center for Start-ups in Green Chemistry" (CIF) has now begun at TU Berlin. The chemistry-specific pre-incubation center, which enables the transfer of research results into practical applications for the environment and economy, will be built on the Charlottenburg campus of TU Berlin starting in 2025 and will house offices, laboratories, and analytical equipment. Of the total investment of 20.6 million euros, 7.0 million euros come from the "Special Fund Infrastructure of the Growing City and Sustainability Funds" (SIWANA III) of the Berlin Senate, with the remaining 13.6 million euros covered by TU Berlin.

"With the CIF, essential laboratory infrastructure is being created for successful technology transfer in the field of chemistry. Scientific discoveries in particular are increasingly becoming an important pillar of innovation for the chemical industry," says Martin Rahmel, Managing Director of the CIF. The goal is to enable so-called disruptive innovations, which often find their way into the market through new companies, i.e., start-ups. "Such disruptive innovations will be crucial in realizing the transformation of the chemical industry to achieve carbon neutrality, circular economy, and environmental protection in the material-based products of our everyday life," Rahmel explains.

Berlin is the Silicon Valley of Green Chemistry

Berlin has established itself as a pioneer in the field of green chemistry over the past ten years: with a lively and large start-up scene, with the excellence cluster "Unifying Systems in Catalysis" (UniSysCat), which conducts internationally leading catalyst research and for which TU Berlin is the applying university, and not least with the INKULAB laboratory container on the TU Berlin Charlottenburg campus, which was created as a joint project with the Berlin Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Currently, the Chemical Invention Factory offers the container for start-ups in the pre-incubation phase as well as for technology transfer teams. The founder of green chemistry, honorary professor at TU Berlin and namesake of the new CIF building, Prof. Dr. John C. Warner, already describes Berlin as the "Silicon Valley of Green Chemistry" today.

Start-ups especially rely on infrastructure in the early development phases

With the completion of the CIF in 2026, the necessary infrastructure will be established to harness the existing innovation potential, as discoveries and technology transfer teams in the field of chemistry are particularly dependent on specialized laboratory and analytical infrastructure in the early development phases. "Without this, even the best research results will not find their way into the market," explains Martin Rahmel. "With the approval of the Berlin House of Representatives, an important step towards realizing the CIF has been achieved. We are very pleased that the Berlin Parliament prioritizes the relevance of the project for the capital region and beyond and supports the realization of this unique pre-incubation center in times of tight budgets. This marks a significant milestone in our joint efforts to successfully facilitate technology transfer to solve societal challenges with innovations and to make Berlin an even more internationally recognized and attractive place for innovation and sustainability."

Chemical Invention Factory is part of the transfer project "greenCHEM"

The CIF is based on the initiative of the excellence cluster UniSysCat. Taking into account the specific needs and potentials in chemistry, UniSysCat early on aimed to maximize the added value of results from basic research through successful transfer. The newly planned CIF building is now also embedded in the transfer project "greenCHEM," which brings together the specific transfer activities of the three Berlin universities: Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and TU Berlin in the field of green chemistry. The transfer project, supported by a total of 28 partners, is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with up to nine years and ten million euros within the framework of the transfer program line "T!Raum – Transfer Spaces for the Future of Regions."