Fraunhofer IGB brief profile

Climate change and the excessive use of global resources are threatening our livelihoods, while the world's population continues to grow rapidly at the same time. In the industrialized countries, an aging society and diseases of civilization are dominating the situation, while infectious diseases are on the rise again worldwide – as the Corona pandemic has shown.

Our mission: sustainable technologies for human health and the health of our planet

Fraunhofer IGB develops and optimizes processes, technologies and products in three business areas: Health, Sustainable Chemistry, and Environment and Climate Protection. In doing so, the institute relies on its unique combination of expertise in biology and the engineering sciences, unparalleled within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. This allows us to design resource-efficient, circular processes based on the approach of bioeconomy and bioinspired, biointegrated and biointelligent solutions, in order to contribute to human welfare, a sustainable economy, and an intact environment.

Our vision: we combine biology and engineering

Now more than ever, innovative processes and products call for the convergence or constructive interplay of different disciplines in systems approaches. One such systems approach, which the IGB is continuously enhancing, is bioeconomy. By combining biology and engineering, especially in biotechnology and bioprocess engineering, but also through the genetic engineering of viruses and bacteria, the combination of cell culture and interfacial engineering, or DNA sequencing using bioinformatic algorithms, as well as through the interaction of biological systems with technical materials – the IGB paves the way to new approaches and future-oriented solutions for industrial value creation.

Partnering industry and public authorities – from laboratory to pilot-scale applications

One of the IGB’s main goals is to translate its research findings into economically viable, sustainable processes and products for industrial application. By doing so, the institute is helping to shape the society of tomorrow. Fraunhofer IGB provides its customers and partners with research and development services encompassing the entire material value chain, accompanied by a wide range of analysis and testing services. The ability to deliver end-to-end solutions, from laboratory to pilot-scale applications, and a demonstration of the developed processes, is one of the institute’s strong points.

This all-round service makes the IGB a reliable partner for industrial companies, small and medium-sized enterprises operating in many different sectors, local authorities and special-purpose associations. It also performs contract research for the EU as well as Germany’s federal and regional governments.

Research for the market