KIT has raised over EUR 5.8 million from the ERDF to construct new analysis infrastructure for manufacturing know-how, local weather analysis, battery recycling, and quantum communication. (Photo: Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT)
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) was extremely profitable in Baden-Württemberg’s present spherical of competitors for funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). KIT obtained a complete of EUR 5.855 million for 3 initiatives as an applicant and for one more as a accomplice. The funds shall be used for a focused enlargement of recent analysis infrastructure in strategic future fields.
As introduced by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts on On February 18, 2026, Baden-Württemberthe state g’s Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts introduced that it’s going to present ERDF funding for brand spanking new analysis platforms at state universities s totaling EUR 12.6 million to analysis platforms at state universities. A considerable portion of the funding, over EUR 5.8 million, will go to KIT.
“Turning scientific insights into specific solutions requires modern research infrastructures,” saysid Professor Anke-Susanne Müller, Vice Provost Research Infrastructures at KIT. “As The University in the Helmholtz Association, we unite basic research and applications. The ERDF supports us exactly where our excellence can lead to social and technological benefits.”
Overview of Funded Summary of Supported Projects
At the Future Mobility Innovation Campus, KIT and the University of Stuttgart are organising ModuLaF (Modular AI-assisted Laser know-how platform for autonomous, versatile, and resilient Fabrication), a scalable laser know-how platform. The modular techniques on the two areas are networked to type an entire system wherein built-in, self-optimizing sensors, and AI algorithms management additive, becoming a member of and separating processes. “We’re setting up a unique research platform for autonomous laser material processing. Networking across locations with AI-assisted process intelligence enables resilient, flexible production systems and boosts the technological competitiveness of Baden Württemberg and Europe,” saysid Professor Frederik Zanger from the wbk Institute of Production Science at KIT.
At the Sustainability Innovation Campus, the 4SURE (Smart Sensor System for Sustainable Urban Regions) mission is organising a dense community of measuring stations for local weather resilience and transformation analysis. In Karlsruhe, Freiburg, and different municipalities in Baden-Württemberg, high-precision sensors will collect real-time information on excessive climate occasions comparable to warmth, aridity, and heavy rainfall and their affect on people, timber, and infrastructure. “In the 4SURE project, we’re working with the University of Freiburg to establish a basic data set for fair and sustainable urban development,” stated Professor Jan Cermak from KIT’s Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research – Atmospheric Trace Gases and Remote Sensing says.
The Center for Electrochemical Energy Storage Ulm & Karlsruhe (CELEST) is dwelling to a different mission receiving funding: CERL (Circular Economy Recycling Lab), which is able to develop infrastructure for analysis on closed materials cycles for battery know-how. The mission’s goal is to develop progressive recycling processes for lithium and post-lithium techniques in order that supplies might be effectively recovered on the finish of their life cycles and recycled into new batteries. Later on, the mission’s findings will even be utilized in analysis on “design for circularity” approaches, i.e. designing batteries for recyclability from the outset.
KIT can also be a accomplice (with the University of Stuttgart and Ulm University) within the QuantumBW.Net mission on the QuantumBW Innovation Campus. The mission’s aim is to allow quantum-secure communication and quantum-specific performance in actual networks, an essential step towards a quantum web. “With QuantumBW.Net, we’re connecting local test facilities to make the first multi-site quantum network between Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, and Ulm,” saysid Professor David Hunger of the Physikalisches Institut at KIT. “That will open up new development and application scenarios for quantum-secure communication, with a national network as the long-term goal.”
Funding by the European Regional Development Fund
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) promotes innovation, development, and employment in Europe. In Baden Württemberg, its focus is on the vital sectors addressed by the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), an EU initiative.
With the ERDF funds, Baden Württemberg is systematically investing in key applied sciences, platforms, and fashionable large-scale tools. The new infrastructure is offered to be used by the assorted innovation ecosystems, boosting Baden Württemberg’s competitiveness as a science and know-how location.