Providing energy in a clean, affordable and sustainable manner and securing its availability on the required scale is one of the greatest challenges of our society. If we fail to develop solutions, massive losses in living standard and political conflicts over resources are expected. Currently available technology will not achieve these goals. It is also unlikely that one single technology can meet the future energy needs. Interdisciplinary collaborations are therefore necessary to develop and pursue a variety of new concepts.
The Center for Energy Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen, CER.UDE, bundles research activities in the field of energy research in natural sciences, engineering, economics, and the humanities. Associated research institutes and industrial partners play an important role to transfer findings from the laboratory into the application and to develop viable technology.
CER.UDE aims to contribute to the realization of a sustainable energy system. Such a system is environ-mentally friendly, reliable, of low risk, economically viable, and socially compatible.

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The commercial exploitation of nanotechnology still falls way short of expectations. The reason is a glaring gap in technology. To date there has not been enough research done into the production of nanomaterials in large volumes or the processing stages required to generate an end product. Consequently, no-one knows how suited nanomaterials are to use in volume production. The combination of these deficits, the insufficient availability of materials and the lack of knowledge of related processes, means that turning nanoresearch into technical reality represents an incalculable risk for companies. The NanoEnergieTechnikZentrum (NETZ) is working to resolve this.
The aim of NETZ is to develop materials and also processes which allow nanotechnology to be used in industry. The first stages of processes are to be developed in the center itself. As the materials at this stage must be transported in a closed system from one step to the next and in-situ characterization is also essential, the corresponding processes can only take place within the same specialized lab building. The further stages of added value, culminating in end products, are undertaken in cooperation with partners. Currently, research focuses on developing materials and processes for use in fuel cells, battery technology, catalysis, thermoelectrics and photovoltaics.

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The Center for Nanointegration Duisburg-Essen, CeNIDE, is based on the strongly interdisciplinary research excellence in the area of Nanotechnology at the University of Duisburg-Essen. This includes an exceptionally broad knowledge base in fundamental nanoscience, unique fabrication facilities for nanoscale materials in large quantities, and experience in questions of scalability and reliability.

The scientific know how is based on a number of coordinated research networks, such as Collaborative Research Centers (SFB) and DFG Research Training Groups (GK) funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG):

• SFB 445 "Nanoparticles from the Gas Phase"
• SFB 491 "Magnetic Heterolayers"
• SFB 616 "Energy Dissipation at Surfaces"
• GK 1240 "Nanotronics"

as well as several additional third-party projects and joint ventures with industrial partners.

CeNIDE promotes the interdisciplinary education at the Universität Duisburg-Essen in the area of Nanotechnolgy, such as the newly established "Nanoengineering" study program. CeNIDE incorporates 36 research groups with over 200 scientists.

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Throughout engineering, complex numerical simulation strategies are indispensible. Numerous research groups in the school of engineering therefore use various aspects of scientific computing, modeling and simulation to solve problems in applications from energy to nano-material synthesis, from ship technology to structural rigidity and modeling and real-time control of highly-dynamic systems in automotive applications. The Center for Computational Sciences and Simulation (CCSS) forms a platform that allow a joint development of simulation and computational strategies as well as a coordinated usage of high-performance computing facilities for a wide range of applications in engineering and natural sciences.

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