Sustainability in Research

TU Hamburg is excellently positioned in sustainability research. With the Excellence Cluster BlueMat and strong collaborative projects such as the DFG Research Training Group Climate-Informed Engineering, the university develops scientifically sound solutions for climate protection, resource efficiency, and more climate-resilient infrastructures. The TUHH Research Fields as well as numerous additional research initiatives place sustainable technologies at the centre, for example in mobility and logistics (such as sustainable logistics concepts or low-emission transport systems) and in the circular economy (including innovative recycling processes for materials and electronics).

A particular milestone is the United Nations University Hub on Engineering to Face Climate Change, established at TU Hamburg in 2024. It creates a global space for knowledge exchange and cooperation to develop technological solutions that protect natural resources and contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

TUHH research also gives rise to successful sustainability-oriented spin-offs. These include Traceless, which has developed a fully compostable plastic; Colipi, a climate-tech start-up researching and producing a sustainable alternative to palm oil; and lignopure, which uses specialised processes to transform industrial waste products into high-quality, sustainable materials. They demonstrate how scientific findings from TUHH can be translated directly into societal and industrial impact.

CampusLabs@TUHH

Studierende beim CampusLab on Global Soil Health. Das Lab befindet sich auf einer grünen Wiese. Die Studierenden nehmen verschiedene Bodenproben.

The CampusLabs at TU Hamburg are interdisciplinary research spaces in which new technologies and solutions for a sustainable future are developed.

Students work closely with researchers, engage in hands-on experimentation, and directly link their studies to current real-world challenges.

At the same time, the Labs serve as an interface with society: through workshops, outreach activities, and collaborations, research outcomes are made visible and brought into dialogue with industry, policy, and the wider public.

Der Präsident des UNU Hub und der Präsident der TUHH bei der Unterschrift zur Kooperation im UNU Hub. Wissenschaftler*innen aus beiden Organisationen im Hintergrund.

The UNU Hub at TU Hamburg is an international platform for cooperation and knowledge transfer of the United Nations University, based at TU Hamburg. It connects engineering research with the United Nations’ global sustainability goals and addresses systemic challenges such as climate change, resource use, and sustainable development. Acting as an interface between science, policy, and international cooperation, the UNU Hub strengthens knowledge transfer and feeds research insights into global sustainability discourses.

Forschende und Mitarbeitende der TUHH feiern mit Konfetti die erfolgreiche Bewilligung des Exzellenzclusters Bluemat.

In the Excellence Cluster BlueMat, TU Hamburg investigates the fundamental relationships between structure, properties, and manufacturing processes of advanced materials. The focus is on sustainable, bio-based and circular material systems, as well as new materials science concepts whose properties are sustainably modified by water. Insights gained from this excellent fundamental research provide a scientific foundation for long-term innovation and open up perspectives for resource-efficient and climate-friendly industrial development.

Zwei Forschende der Technischen Universität Hamburg arbeiten im Labor an einem Forschungsprojekt im Rahmen des Wissens- und Technologietransfers der TUHH. Foto: TUHH

At TU Hamburg, sustainability is addressed through a wide range of research projects. Across the TUHH Research Fields as well as all schools and departments, researchers work on key questions of sustainable development and on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — ranging from fundamental engineering research to application-oriented projects with clear societal relevance.

TU Hamburg successfully acquires third-party funding for this work from a variety of funding programmes, including the German Research Foundation, the European Union, as well as federal and state ministries. The projects range from large, multi-year collaborative initiatives with budgets of several million euros to smaller, highly specialised research endeavours, reflecting the university’s thematic and methodological breadth.

An outstanding example is the DFG-funded Research Training Group Climate-Informed Engineering, which, since autumn 2025, focuses on educating a new generation of engineers. Its aim is to systematically combine climate modelling with engineering methods in order to research climate-adapted infrastructures, sustainable resource use, and resilient materials — in close international cooperation, including with partners from the United Nations University.

In addition, numerous ongoing projects address topics such as the circular economy, renewable energy, sustainable mobility, the bioeconomy, hydrogen technologies, and AI-supported environmental research. The breadth of these initiatives highlights TU Hamburg’s contribution to sustainable innovation and societal transformation. An overview of all projects is provided by the research information system TORE.

Explore TORE

Sustainable Spin-offs from TU Hamburg

Numerous innovative spin-offs emerge from TU Hamburg, many of which have a clear focus on sustainability and societal impact. Originating from excellent research, they combine technological innovation with environmental responsibility — for example in the fields of bio-based materials, the circular economy, sustainable chemistry, and alternative protein sources. Examples include colipi, traceless, lignopure, Infinite Roots, vilisto, and MicroHarvest, which demonstrate how research outcomes from TU Hamburg are translated into sustainable solutions for industry and society.