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06/09/2022 | Campus-Meldung

REACT-EU invests in important infrastructure for science

Special funding from the European Commission for science to combat the Corona pandemic and its consequences, and to support sustainable and digital transformation, totaling around €52.7 million has been approved for Hesse in 2022. This was announced now by Science Minister Angela Dorn. Around 4.5 million euros will go to the University of Kassel.

Campus Holländischer Platz of the University of Kassel.Image: University of Kassel.
Campus Holländischer Platz of the University of Kassel.

The Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts is giving universities, university hospitals and universities of applied sciences, as well as non-university research institutions, the funds under the REACT-EU (Reconstruction Aid for European Cohesion and Territories) initiative to procure research and innovation infrastructure.

"We owe it to science that we have the Corona pandemic so far under control, and we need science to develop solutions for many other major challenges of our time," explains Science Minister Angela Dorn. "That is why the focus of the investments on the one hand on the Corona context and on the other hand on sustainability and climate-related research is exactly right. The fact that so much additional EU funding is flowing to Hesse via the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) confirms and supports research at the science location and enables substantial investments in central research infrastructures. We expect this to result in many more innovations made in Hessen."  In total, more than 50 million euros will be spent in Hessen.

Around 4.5 million euros of this will go to the University of Kassel. Among other things, the funds will go toward three large long-term field experiments on innovative cultivation systems in organic farming. They are designed to store more carbon and emit fewer climate gases than conventional organic farming systems. Samples from different fertilizer options and crop rotations will be studied. The university is also using the latest technologies to measure climate gases in cattle farming.

Another complex funded at the University of Kassel concerns engineering sciences. For example, a so-called rheocasting unit is to be used to produce and process an already partially solidified aluminum melt with solids contents of up to about 50 percent in a metallurgically reproducible manner. The significantly reduced processing temperature combined with improved casting­quality reduces energy consumption by up to 40 percent. There are also plans to purchase a 3D mold printer for the environmentally friendly production of sand casting molds. Further funds are flowing into infra structure for the characterization of materials, structures and processes to build sustainable infrastructures and energy systems.