IFAF Berlin marks 10th anniversary

©IFAF

22.11.2019
IFAF Berlin marks 10th anniversary

Brain City Berlin

Interdisciplinarity is a central characteristic of science and research in Berlin. This was most recently proven when the Berlin University Alliance was awarded the title of Excellence University. IFAF Berlin, the Institute for Applied Research supports the interdisciplinary, application-focused cooperation of four Berlin universities of applied sciences. It is currently marking its tenth anniversary.

Four Berlin universities belong to the IFAF network: Alice Salomon (ASH), Beuth Berlin (BHT), HTW University of Applied Sciences Berlin, and the Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR). IFAF was founded in 2009 as an institute for applied research, tasked with addressing two main questions: "How can universities of applied sciences intensify their research activities?" and: "How can companies and society benefit from the knowledge found at universities of applied sciences?"

A lot has since changed: the four universities have collaborated intensively on more than 80 projects over the last ten years. At the same time, more than 280 partners in industry and the wider society have answered various application-oriented questions. IFAF-funded research covers a wide range of topics: optimizing 3-D printing, logistics issues related to eCommerce, transmission of data to solve bicycle thefts, gendered differences in start-ups, the potential for low-emissions mobility, and issues relating to care work.

"In the 10 years since the founding of IFAF Berlin, the research activities at the IFAF universities have become significantly more interdisciplinary," Professor Olaf Neumann, Chairman of IFAF Berlin and Vice-Rector of Alice Salomon Berlin, explains. He clearly attributes this intensification of cooperation to IFAF funding.

Michael Müller, Berlin's Governing Mayor and Senator for Science and Research, said at the IFAF anniversary celebration that Berlin's universities of applied sciences today provide important impetus in application-oriented research and are thus driving innovation: "IFAF Berlin is also an example of the spirit of cooperation that drives Berlin's scientific community. I hope that IFAF Berlin will continue to be a strong partner at our side," said Müller.

IFAF Berlin funds an average of eight research projects per year. In each of these projects, two of the four universities work with at least one partner in business or the wider society. The Berlin universities' cross-institutional research is funded by Einstein Foundation Berlin, also launched in 2009 by the State of Berlin. (vdo)

IFAF Berlin marks 10th anniversary

Funding for around 85 projects
€16 million invested by the State of Berlin
Networking of: over 20 practice partners with around 200 professors, more than 160 researchers and 250 students