Press / Newsroom

Wood, we come into close contact with it daily. Children play around on wood floors, and wood furniture plays an important role in our work and sleep habits as well. To keep this natural material from aging prematurely, it’s important to protect it effectively against ultraviolet (UV) radiation. At the same time, people want to retain the look and feel of natural wooden surfaces, but the transparent protective coatings that are currently widely commercially available often contain harmful chemical compounds. To avoid using these substances, the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV and Naturhaus Naturfarben GmbH are working together to develop a formula that provides harmless, transparent and 100 percent organic UV protection for wood.

Working together to expedite technological innovations in the fields of battery cell and semiconductor technology: That is the aim of a comprehensive international collaboration program funded by the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE). The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, with eight of its institutes, is their partner in Germany. On Wednesday, the collaboration was sealed with a letter of agreement and the opening of a coordination hub.

In an effort to further develop the portfolio of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in both subject-specific and commercial terms and ensure the research organization’s future viability, the executive board has adopted a package of measures involving the partial closure of the Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy IMW and the elimination of the center’s independence. The remaining departments are to be integrated into the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI. In addition, the Fraunhofer Institute for Technological Trend Analysis INT is to be integrated into the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics FKIE. These decisions are subject to the approval of the senate of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

Fungal mycelium as a construction material, ecofriendly concrete and smart recycling solutions pave the way for climate neutrality.

The weapons available for fighting dangerous bacteria are losing their edge, and life-threatening infections are increasingly resistant to treatment. There are hardly any substitutes available so far, making it high time someone took action.

Fraunhofer-Forschende entwickeln Quantensysteme für verschiedene Anwendungen und Branchen, um damit Antworten auf die großen Herausforderungen unserer Zeit zu finden – ob Klima, Gesundheit, Verkehr oder Sicherheit.

The next stage in the evolution of technology is coming up: Artificial intelligence is poised to turn robots into all-around self-learners, helping out in industry, logistics, nursing, and private households. Will smart machines radically reshape our lives – and especially our working lives – not long from now?

The collapse of the Carola Bridge in Dresden has demonstrated how important it is to identify infrastructure weaknesses at an early stage. Indeed, roads and bridges, railways and power lines in Germany are showing their age, and some of them have significant structural defects. According to the latest condition survey from 2022, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV), 7,112 kilometers of highway, 8,000 highway bridges and 17,630 kilometers of rail are classified as in need of repair. Innovative Fraunhofer solutions can help simplify, expedite, and cut costs of maintenance, analysis and servicing work − an overview.

During this year of back-to-back elections, reality is catching up with the warnings experts have been making for years: deepfakes and disinformation have been supercharged by artificial intelligence. With fakes now so convincing, more and more people are asking themselves: Can I believe my eyes and ears?

Sometimes there’s too much, sometimes too little: Water, the most important factor in our survival, doesn’t make it easy for us. How can we ensure an adequate water supply even amid climate challenges?