Transfer News


July – September 2022


Emil Ramann Medal 2022 awarded to UFZ soil scientist

Medaille & Foto Prof. Vogel Prof. Dr. Emil Ramann (1851-1926), a German soil scientist, forest scientist and site scientist is considered one of the founders of soil science as an independent scientific discipline in Germany.

In memory of the researcher, the German Soil Science Society (DBG) honours scientists for their outstanding achievements in the field of soil science with the Emil Ramann Medal. A maximum of two Ramann Medals are awarded each year. The names of the award winners and the titles of the research papers for which the award is given are published by the DBG in scientific publications.

UFZ scientist Prof. Dr. Hans-Jörg Vogel was awarded the Emil Ramann Medal at this year's annual conference of the DBG. He received the award for his significant achievements in the field of soil research and excellent publications in national and international journals. Further awardees can be found here.

Hans-Jörg Vogel heads the Department of Soil System Science at the UFZ site in Halle and holds the professorship for soil physics at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. He is concerned with water and mass transport in soils and with modelling soil processes and their interactions.

September 2022


"Climate Change - What Can We Do, What Must We Do?": Natural Resources Cluster Team discusses with Employees For Future

Logo NEU e.V. The climate crisis is a global problem that is affecting regions in very different ways. What does this mean for my company, for my community and for myself? How can I prepare myself and my company or my municipality for the future?

Elena Berger from the Employees For Future Initiative presented the companies at the meeting with analysis tools that can be used to make companies more sustainable. In the discussion with the companies, a variety of starting points for cooperation with the initiative became clear and concrete impulses for transformation were given.

The Natural Resources Cluster Team in the Netzwerk Energie & Umwelt e.V. (Energy & Environment Network NEU e.V.) of the City of Leipzig, led by Sachsen Wasser GmbH and the UFZ, addresses companies in the field of water and environmental technologies that are active or want to become active in Leipzig and the region. The aim of the cluster team is to network these companies regionally and to promote the exchange with science and administration.

The next topics will be "Sponge city - the urban format of the future?" and "The CO2-NEU-tral SME - starting points & challenges".

If you have any questions or are interested in future business talks, please contact joachim.noeller@ufz.de , Knowledge and Technology Transfer (WTT), UFZ.

Employees For Future (in German) is a social movement of committed employees and freelancers that emerged in September 2019 in the context of the global climate strike in Leipzig.
The goal is to support employees in organisations and companies in actively promoting climate protection in the workplace and making it a matter of course. Employees for Future show how sustainable business can work - not tomorrow, not in a year - but now!

September 2022


UFZ research presented at Saxony-Anhalt Trade Fair

Veranstaltungshinweis Transfermesse The 3rd Saxony-Anhalt Trade Fair took place at the Festung Mark in Magdeburg on 14 September. 32 exhibitors from the SAFE-VERBUND of the federal state of Saxony Anhalt, including Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and Harz University of Applied Sciences, as well as the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, presented research results, innovations and prototypes with exploitation offers for business, science and society. More than 250 visitors had technical discussions at the exhibition stands and in the networking area and attended pitch presentations.

The UFZ presented processes for the production of biofuels from whey and for the production of citric acid at its stand and was able to make important contacts. Initial information on the processes can be found in the exhibitor catalogue on pages 16 and 26 respectively. For further information, please contact Dr Joachim Nöller, Head of the Knowledge and Technology Transfer Department at the UFZ ( joachim.noeller@ufz.de , tel. 0341 235 1033).

Next year, the fourth edition of the transfer fair will take place, again with the aim of making the results of top research from universities, colleges and research institutions usable for the state of Saxony-Anhalt.

September 2022


Green roof research – UFZ knowledge for adapting cities to climate change

Foto vom Forschungsgründach, UFZ Green roofs are multifunctional. They can absorb and store water, cool the environment and serve as a pollutant sink for CO2 and particulate matter. They also provide habitat to many plants and animals and are therefore of significant importance for the adaptation of cities to climate change.
Since spring 2020, a green roof research consortium (Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, University of Leipzig, Office for Environmental Protection of the City of Leipzig, Blumberg Engineering Office, ZinCo GmbH and UFZ) has been working in four working groups to provide interdisciplinary answers to current questions about the impact of green roofs in urban areas. Research focuses on the optimisation of urban green roofs for rainwater and greywater management as well as inner-city climate improvement.
For this purpose, a green roof has been installed on the roof of a UFZ research building with three areas - an intensively greened, an evaporation-optimised and an extensively greened section of approximately 80 m² each - which were equipped with the necessary measurement technology. A gravel surface serves as a reference site.
Stay informed and subscribe to the UFZ Research Green Roof Newsletter  UFZ Green Roof Research newsletter or join the next UFZ Green Roof Research meeting on 08 September 2022 at the ZOO in Leipzig!
Contact: Dr.-Ing. Lucie Moeller ( forschungsgruendach@ufz.de )

More information and UFZ working groups on the green roof

WG Biodiversity – Identification of suitable native plant stands with extensive maintenance and good performance in terms of transpiration and emission reduction

WG Technical Performance Data – Effects of process engineering and performance parameters on the efficiency of green roof variants

WG Pollutant Sink – Information on pollutant uptake, transport and transformation/degradation processes of typical airborne and waterborne urban environmental pollutants from green roofs

WG Climate Modelling – Experimental determination of green roofs energy balance as well as their climate impact on the ambient air under varying environmental conditions

July 2022


RWInnoTec wins innovation awards

RWInnoTec-Team The conventional way of repairing potholes during the winter season is to use costly, short-lived cold asphalt which contains critical solvents. RWInnoTec developed an alternative by applying waves that heat asphalt in a quick and environmentally friendly way. Within only a few minutes, the mobile RWA-24/7 system can heat prefabricated asphalt slabs to the desired processing temperature of about 160°C without affecting the quality of the asphalt or releasing solvents.

On 30 June, the team of the young UFZ spin-off RWInnoTec GmbH won the IQ Innovation Award Leipzig and took 2nd place in the Energy/Environment/Solar Economy Cluster of the IQ Innovation Award of Central Germany.

But this first product from RWInnoTec is not the end of the story. The team plans to develop more products and services which could be of particular interest to small and medium-sized enterprises and craft businesses. Processes for drying damp masonry and chemical-free control of wood pests using radio wave technology are planned to be introduced to the market.
In this way, the company is continuing its success, which began in the 1990s with the use of radio waves that provided thermal support for soil remediation and, after searching for other possible applications for this method, ultimately led to the founding of RWInnoTec in 2021. The spin-off received funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy within the EXIST research transfer programme and was supported by the Knowledge and Technology Transfer Department.
The annual nationwide IQ Innovation Award of Central Germany wants to strengthen innovation and competitiveness in Central Germany with novel marketable products, processes and services. The competition is organised in five sectoral clusters with the evaluation focusing on 3 main criteria: degree of innovation, economic efficiency and marketability. A total of 104 applications were handed in for the award. Furthermore, the Leipzig Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer awards the IQ Innovation Award of Leipzig.

A video about RWInnoTec was produced as part of the IQ Innovation Award of Central Germany. Watch the application video for the Saxon Founders' Award to find out more about the RWInnoTec technology.

July 2022