Whether in medicine, battery research, or materials science, researchers everywhere are seeking innovative substances. In the process, they can often predict the desired chemical and physical properties in great detail, right down to atomic level. However, the range of all potential chemical compounds alone is so vast that it would take years to find the appropriate substance. An interdisciplinary research group at the Berlin Institute for the Foundations of Learning and Data (BIFOLD) at Technische Universität Berlin has now developed an algorithm which uses AI to implement inverse chemical design and thus generate targeted molecules based on their desired properties. The research group's publication titled "Inverse design of 3d molecular structures with conditional generative neural networks" has now been published in the renowned journal Nature Communications.

The search for suitable molecules for specific medical or industrial applications is an extremely complex and expensive process. "Hypothetically, there are an incredible number of possible structures. However, only a tiny fraction possesses the specific chemical or physical properties required for a particular application," explains Dr. Kristof Schütt, BIFOLD Junior Fellow at TU Berlin. A wealth of methods has been developed in recent years capable of predicting the chemical properties and energetic states of given substances using AI. But even using these efficient methods, the search for molecules with specific properties has proven difficult in practice, as it is still necessary to search through an overwhelming number of candidates.

Since 1991, the DBU has funded more than 10,000 projects with € 1.84 billion. At the same time, the foundation capital (€ 1.28 billion at the beginning) was increased to around € 2.32 billion.

Funded projects should achieve sustainable effects in practice, give impulses and lead to a “multiplier effect”. It is the objective of the DBU to contribute to the solution of current environmental problems, in particular, which result from unsustainable business practices and lifestyles. The DBU sees the crucial challenges primarily in the areas of climate change, biodiversity loss, unsustainable use of natural resources, and harmful emissions. The funding topics are linked both to current scientific findings on the Planetary Boundaries and to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

The Board of Trustees

The DBU is chaired by the Board of Trustees whose members are appointed by the Federal Government. It is composed of federal and state politicians as well as representatives of other socially relevant groups.

More than 20 innovative demonstrators and test systems in our application center illustrate the current state of logistics research for the no.1 future industry

Within the context of our virtual tour we give you an insight into the future of production and logistics, for example:

... how autonomous transport vehicles can organize themselves highly dynamically with up to 10m/s in a swarm, accept orders independently, negotiate and link up for transport orders thanks to artificial intelligence.

... how virtual reality (VR) can be used to provide new employees with the knowledge they need quickly and without disrupting ongoing operations and how such virtual reality learning environments can become part of a training, further education and planning room for logistics experts.

... how smart glasses and scanner gloves help retail workers carry out the daily stock control quicker and more economically.

... how digital assistance systems in intelligent shelves support employees in the picking process.

A good number of the materials found in everyday products are now referred to as "critical". This means that there is a risk of failure in their supply and that they are also critical in terms of economic importance. Many metals, for instance, are already critical or could become critical in the near future due to their limited availability and the growing demand for products worldwide. Think of the newest electronic products that contain critical metals such as gallium, which is used in integrated circuits; beryllium, used in electronic and telecommunications equipment and permanent magnets and germanium found in infra-red optics. Innovative product design and reusing, recycling and remanufacturing products can help to deal with a raw materials shortage. But this can only provide an integrated solution if we keep CRMs in the loop through smarter CRM management. The starting point is to identify CRMs in products. It is not always clear what materials are in which products. It is, therefore, necessary to keep all metals in the loop for as long as possible. Scarcity in the supply chain can not only damage businesses but also negatively impact economic development and the environment. For this reason, the course will also discuss environmental issues and electric and electronic waste regulations.

Length: 6 weeks, Effort: 4-6 hours a week by TU Delft

Germany consumes some 1.3 billion tonnes of fossil fuels, minerals, ores and biomass per year. UBA's Use of Natural Resources Report claims that the majority of raw material consumption is non-metallic minerals (45%), fossil fuels (29%) and biomass (21%). Although raw material consumption in Germany is becoming more and more efficient thanks to industry efforts and total raw material productivity has increased by 26% since 2000, Germany has an excessively high level of raw material consumption compared to other countries: 10% higher than the average in Europe, and even 100% higher than the global average. More than half of the raw materials consumed for the production of goods is sourced from abroad.