Research for the Future

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

The Markets Beyond Tomorrow research program delivers answers to existing challenges

Übermorgen-Projekte

In recent years the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has changed its approach to strategy development and shifted the perspective from supply to demand-driven needs. Whereas the focus used to be on technologies, the emphasis is now on future challenges. In five Beyond Tomorrow projects scientists are working on solutions to issues we will face in the years to come that must urgently be addressed now.

Affordable health

  • »SteriHealth« – For better hygiene in medicine

    Poor hygiene, dirty operating instruments, hospital germs – reports on infections are becoming more frequent, and the consequences for patients are in some cases severe. New technologies for sterilization should lower the risk of infection in hospitals, doctor’s offices and rest homes. Fraunhofer researchers are working on solutions in the Beyond Tomorrow project “SteriHealth.”

  • »SKIN HEAL« – Healing skin in a Petri dish

    Researchers at five Fraunhofer Institutes want to make the treatment of chronic wounds more effective and enable patients themselves to check whether their open wounds are healing or have become infected with bacteria. The researchers are pooling their expertise in the Beyond Tomorrow project “SkinHeal.”

Recycling of materials in production

  • »Molecular Sorting« – Perfectly separated for resource-efficient production

    Shrinking raw material resources, rapidly growing demand in the newly industrializing countries, stricter environmental requirements – all these factors are responsible for the explosion of raw materials prices. Without an improved and more efficient approach to recycling the situation will not be solved. Research scientists are developing new separation and sorting techniques for resource-efficient production.

Low-loss generation, distribution and use of electricity

  • The transition to renewable energy is set to deliver an economic pay off as well in the years to come. Various studies show that a shift to alternative energy sources will raise the GNP in the coming decade and create new jobs, as Prof. Eicke Weber, spokesperson for the Fraunhofer Energy Alliance, points out. Fraunhofer scientists are developing concepts and solutions for the transition as it takes shape.

  • »Supergrid« – Efficient generation, storage and distribution of electricity

    Sun, wind, biomass, water – tomorrow’s electricity will come from many different sources and from various countries. In just a few decades, part of Europe’s electrical energy needs could be met by energy produced in northern Africa. But this will require new transmission and storage technology. In the innovative project “Supergrid,” Fraunhofer researchers are developing components and systems for the reliable generation, storage and distribution of electricity.

  • Hybrid energy storage system for urban use

    In the future, electricity may not only be stored in large-scale centralized systems, but in decentralized storage systems in consumers homes – directly in lithium batteries or indirectly using intelligent appliances that generate and store electricity. The system will be controlled using a combination of software and hardware under development by Fraunhofer scientists within the scope of the project “Urban hybrid storage systems.” The concept of hybrid storage encompasses the production of both electricity and heat.