Impressions of the year 2024

At the beginning of the year, Prof. Brook Kennedy, an internationally highly respected designer, visited the TUMCS. The award-winning pioneer of industrial design was a guest at the Chair of Biogenic Polymers of Prof. Cordt Zollfrank for three weeks and explored possible collaborations with the researchers in Straubing. Prof Kennedy works at the renowned Virginia Tech University in the USA, where he conducts research into sustainable design and the circular economy. He is particularly interested in the potential of biodesign, biomaterials and new uses for archaic technologies.

The TUMCS and the city of Straubing were one of four regions in Germany to successfully apply to participate in this so-called Bioeconomy Changemakers Festival. The campus and other partners took part in this bioeconomy festival week with several events in Straubing. The aim of the festival week was to win over young people as drivers of sustainable transformation. In total, more than 200 interested people attended the events – an outstanding success for the TUMCS, the city of Straubing and the region of renewable resources.

In May and November, the second and third Straubing Sustainability Talks took place at TUMCS – a joint format of Hochschulstadt Straubing e.V. and the TUM Campus. The colloquium in May focused on ‘Sustainable Land Use’ and in November, the topic was ‘Water: Elixir of Life’. Hundreds of interested people attended the events and listened to the presentations by representatives from science, business and politics. Bavaria's Environment Minister Thorsten Glauber (Freie Wähler) also took part in the third event.

Which path should I take after graduation? Which sustainability-related careers are right for me? At the second career day at TUMCS, international corporations and regional companies presented their sustainable jobs and provided answers to the most pressing questions from students about their professional future. The TUM Sustainability Career Day was aimed at students and doctoral candidates from the Technical University of Munich (TUM). More than 500 young men and women from the TUM locations in Straubing, Munich and Freising visited the exhibitors.

In the fairy tale of Rumpelstilzchen, straw is to be spun into gold. Matthias Tobler's master's thesis in the field of Chemical Biotechnology was not about the precious metal, but about the substance isobutanol. It is an important intermediate product for Synergy Fuels, which could be used to make air travel carbon-neutral – a kind of modern gold. The TUMCS graduate received the Hochschulpreis, worth €5,000, from the city of Straubing, the district of Straubing-Bogen and the Sparkasse Niederbayern-Mitte bank.

The European Research Council is funding two projects by TUMCS researchers with ERC Grants: Starting Grants are aimed at researchers at the beginning of their careers and are endowed with up to 1.5 million euros. Prof. Wenwen Fang (Professorship for Particle and Fibre Technology for Biobased Materials) is the recipient of one of these grants. In addition, a LED project by Prof. Rubén D. Costa (Chair of Biogenic Functional Materials) is being supported with a Proof of Concept Grant, which is awarded to researchers who want to test the potential of their projects for marketable innovations.

TUMCS has gained high-level expertise in the field of materials science: Since the beginning of September, Prof. Wenwen Fang (36) has been teaching and conducting research in Straubing, where she holds the professorship of Particle and Fibre Technology for Biobased Materials. The professorship, which specialises in the integration of biogenic materials, has a high potential for innovation in both basic research and industrial application. One of the areas Prof. Fang focuses on is the use of cellulose and proteins.

The university campus is pleased to welcome a large number of new students: At the beginning of October, TUMCS welcomed around 230 first-year bachelor's and master's students to Straubing for the winter term 2024/25. This means that more than 1200 young women and men are now studying and conducting research at TUMCS. The campus welcomed its new students at a special event in the large lecture hall. Rector Prof. Volker Sieber said: „Our students learn how to make the future more sustainable and thus better. Stay brave and curious, enjoy your time in Straubing.“

A team of students from TUMCS convinced the committee of international jurors at the renowned ‘iGEM’ competition in Paris in the field of synthetic biology and performed successfully. The TUMCS team, supported by Prof. Henrike Niederholtmeyer, was able to place in the top 10 of the best universities with its project ‘Bluebear Bio - Making Cell-Free Expression Systems Accessible’ in comparison to 400 teams from all over the world and won a gold medal for excellence in synthetic biology.

TUMCS bid a festive farewell to its graduates at the beginning of November. Around 120 bachelor's and master's students received a certificate and a flower as a small gift from Rector Prof. Volker Sieber, Prorector Prof. Anja Faße and Dean of Studies Prof. Cordt Zollfrank. Guillermina Boragno and Samuel Rychetsky, both students of economics, spoke of a „formative and unforgettable time” at TUMCS and thanked their families and friends for their support.