Construction Kick-off: „Chemical Invention Factory“ | Brain City Berlin

© Christian Kielmann

30.09.2025
Construction Kick-off: „Chemical Invention Factory“

Brain City Berlin

Europe’s largest laboratory infrastructure for transfer teams in the field of Green Chemistry is being built on the campus of Technische Universität Berlin. The “Chemical Invention Factory – John Warner Center for Start-ups in Green Chemistry” is scheduled for completion by the end of 2027. TU Berlin and the State of Berlin are jointly financing the construction with a total of approximately 20 million euros.

Reducing environmental impact, conserving resources, making production processes safer – in the late 1990s, American chemist John C. Warner and his colleague Paul Anastas defined “The 12 Principles of Green Chemistry.” With this, the two scientists initiated a new way of thinking worldwide. However, Green Chemistry still faces challenges in implementation. Research transfer teams especially lack laboratory space and financial support. This is where the “Chemical Invention Factory – John Warner Center for Start-ups in Green Chemistry” (CIF) comes in. Last week, the first groundbreaking ceremony took place in Brain City Berlin for Europe’s largest laboratory infrastructure for transfer and pre-start-up teams in Green Chemistry. It will be built by the end of 2027 on the Charlottenburg campus of Technische Universität Berlin.

Free infrastructure for innovative pre-seed start-ups in the field of Green Chemistry

The Chemical Invention Factory aims to further advance the transfer of innovations from Berlin’s scientific community into green applications in the field of materials chemistry.

Up to twelve teams from around the world will be able to develop their research findings into market-ready products at the CIF.
The teams will be integrated into Berlin’s innovation ecosystem greenCHEM. This ecosystem is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) as part of the program “T!Raum – Transfer Spaces for the Future of Regions”. It brings together chemical companies in the capital region, universities, non-university research institutions, and public administration with start-ups. The “push” from research is complemented by a “pull” from practical application.
39 fume hoods for chemical laboratory work make the CIF building the largest of its kind in Europe.
On approximately 1,000 square meters of usable space, the teams will have access to state-of-the-art analytical equipment such as high-performance liquid chromatographs and gas chromatography-mass spectrometers.
The laboratory areas will be secured to ensure the protection of intellectual property.
Each funded team will be supported by a professor serving as an “InnoDirector.” These professors are affiliated with one of the three universities of the Berlin University Alliance and connect the CIF with research and teaching in the capital.
On the ground floor of the CIF, a café will offer space and opportunity for exchange and interaction. A “Demolab” will also be located on the ground floor, where systems can be tested at the next larger scale.

Brain City Berlin gains international appeal through the CIF

The Chemical Invention Factory originates from an initiative of the Berlin catalysis excellence cluster “Unifying Systems in Catalysis” (UniSysCat). In addition to Freie Universität Berlin, TU Berlin, and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin with Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, UniSysCat’s partners include the University of Potsdam, the Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max Planck Society (FHI), the Max-Planck-Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (MPI-KG), the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB), and the Leibniz Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP).

“I am pleased that Berlin now has an infrastructure in the form of the Chemical Invention Factory that supports spin-offs in the complex field of chemistry free of charge for two to four years,” said Dr. Ina Czyborra, Berlin’s Senator for Higher Education and Research, Health and Long-Term Care. “I am confident that this will further enhance the attractiveness of our science hub for national and international talent and bring us a good step closer to our goal of establishing Berlin as a centre for Green Chemistry.”

Prof. Dr. John Warner, namesake of the CIF and honorary professor at TU Berlin, emphasized the great potential of the CIF. Seventy percent of the technologies needed for the transformation of chemistry have yet to be invented. “Catalysts play a central role in this, as they are used in more than 80 percent of chemical reactions in industry,” Warner explained. “That’s why the opportunity for start-ups at the CIF to engage with catalysis experts at TU Berlin is so ideal.” (vdo)

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That is how the Chemical Invention Factory in the TU Berlin campus will look like. Rendering © sehw Architektur

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