ThWIC draws a positive interim balance

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Wastewater treatment plant in Jena-Zwätzen. The »ThWIC« consortium is committed
Wastewater treatment plant in Jena-Zwätzen. The »ThWIC« consortium is committed to the sustainable use of water as a resource. Image: Jens Meyer (University of Jena)

    The Thuringian Water Innovation Cluster »ThWIC« is taking stock a good two and a half years after its foundation: on 17 September, cluster stakeholders will meet with representatives from politics and business at the Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences in Jena to present and discuss the results of the first project phase.

    Media representatives and other interested parties from politics and business are welcome to attend the event. The programme and a link to registration can be found here  de.

    Powerful alliance for transformation topics

    The innovation cluster »ThWIC« initiated by the University of Jena, the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS and the Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences Jena 2023 is an interdisciplinary alliance of 28 university and non-university research institutions, companies and associations. The aim of the consortium is to develop new solutions for the sustainable use of water as a resource and to sensitise society to the far-reaching importance of the topic. The consortium is one of 14 future clusters nationwide in the »Clusters4Future« programme. It is supported by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space with up to 15 million euros per funding period.

    With »ThWIC«, says cluster spokesperson Michael Stelter from the University of Jena, the region is proving that it can successfully tackle the really big transformation issues. »We have created a very powerful alliance to transfer cutting-edge technology from the university and institutes to the regional economy and to sensitise society to water issues«, continued the Professor of Technical Environmental Chemistry. »We are also demonstrating how important the humanities and social sciences are alongside scientific excellence. We are not only learning how to analyse and purify water, but also how to value it and how to translate this appreciation into good decision

    judgement and economic optimism.«

    Key results of the first project phase of »ThWIC«

    • One of the promising chemical-technical results of the first project phase is a digital, electrochemical sensor for the organic contamination of wastewater. The patent for the University of Jena has already been licensed out to
    • In addition, several patents have been registered for an automated, modular and scalable treatment platform for different water samples.
    • In collaboration with »ThWIC«, in

      stead GmbH, a company offering surface coatings for textiles and technical materials, has been spun off from the University of Jena. The coatings are biodegradable and non-toxic. They enable the materials to repel water or bind pollutants.
    • In addition to numerous presentations at specialist conferences and the organisation of scientific events, which have ensured growing national and international visibility for the topic of water, a certification programme and a lecture series on sustainability were established at the university during the first phase of the project.

    More than one million in additional funding raised

    In addition, »ThWIC« has raised a total of over one million euros in further funding for projects and for the symposium »Water as a Public Issue - Water Literacy«. According to »ThWIC« spokesperson Stelter, this will enable competences and structures to be built up in order to bring innovation processes into society better than before. In the new funding period that will now follow, which starts in 2026 and runs until 2029, »ThWIC« is set to become even more practice-orientated. In addition, the cluster area will be extended beyond Thuringia to the metropolitan region of Central Germany.