Groundbreaking ceremony for Europe's largest chemical innovation factory in Berlin!

Groundbreaking ceremony for Europe's largest chemical innovation factory in Berlin!

The Charlottenburg campus of the Technical University of Berlin will soon be home to the largest laboratory infrastructure for transfer and pre-foundation teams in green chemistry in Europe. The Chemical Invention Factory (CIF), a pioneering project at TU Berlin, aims to translate innovations in the field of materials chemistry into sustainable applications. The CIF is being built with total financing of around 20 million euros, including 13 million euros from the TU Berlin and seven million euros from the state of Berlin. Construction is expected to be completed by 2027, and a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony took place on September 24, 2025. On this day, among others, were Dr. Ina Czyborra, Prof. Dr. Geraldine Rauch and Prof. Dr. John Warner present, who emphasize the real support for start-ups in the chemical industry.

The CIF will provide space for up to twelve international pre-foundation teams working on the development of marketable products. With 39 hoods for chemical laboratory work, it will be the largest of its kind in Europe. The infrastructure includes modern analysis equipment, including high-performance liquid chromatographs, on around 1,000 square meters of usable space. What is particularly noteworthy is that the laboratories have secure intellectual property protection, which is crucial for start-ups. A café, an exchange area and a demolab for larger systems are planned on the ground floor to promote interdisciplinary exchange.

Innovations for a Green Future

Green chemistry stands for sustainable processes and materials that aim to reduce environmental impact. Prof. Dr. Geraldine Rauch highlights the need to find innovative ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Martin Rahmel, who heads the CIF, explains the integration of the teams into the Berlin innovation ecosystem greenCHEM. This ecosystem was initiated by several Berlin universities and companies with the aim of developing the region into a center for green chemistry. The greenCHEM project supports creative ideas in research and industrial formats and promotes start-ups and scientific spin-offs.

The CIF will be closely linked to the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) and function as part of the UniSysCat catalysis excellence cluster. Each funded team is accompanied by a professor as an “InnoDirector” to provide targeted support. According to Prof. Dr. John Warner, 70% of the technologies needed for chemical transformation have not yet been invented. This underlines the urgency of innovation projects like the CIF.

Event details

Numerous guests from politics and science were also present at the groundbreaking ceremony, which took place at 6:20 p.m. The event began at 5:15 p.m. with a musical supporting program and greetings from the main actors. This was followed by a moderated conversation with start-up representatives to discuss the relevance of innovations in chemistry.

As part of the Green CHEM project, the CIF is not only a building block for the development of sustainable chemical processes, but also an important contribution to positioning Berlin as a leading start-up capital. Those interested can find out about developments in the chemical industry and the various initiatives in Berlin on the TU Berlin website and other platforms.