BAM announces new phase for ‘BlueMat’ excellence cluster

The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) is involved in the Cluster of Excellence "BlueMat: Water-Driven Materials", with which Hamburg University of Technology (TUUH) is applying in the nationwide competition as part of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments. In the first phase of the competition, BlueMat has now been selected as one of 41 draft proposals for the second round of evaluation. BAM is contributing its expertise in computer simulations of material behavior to BlueMat.

The Cluster of Excellence is a research cooperation of 25 core and 20 associated groups, which is led by the TUHH. BAM is involved via its Vice President Prof. Norbert Huber as a member of the BlueMat core team and research area spokesperson. If the event of funding, the application partners would receive around seven million euros per year for seven years from 2026.

The aim of the Cluster of Excellence is to mimic natural processes as observed in animals and plants. They are to be transferred to functions that do not occur in nature: e.g. the control of acoustic and electromagnetic waves, thermal emission and the storage and generation of electrical energy. Applications being pursued include the thermal insulation of buildings and hydrovoltaics for generating electrical energy from waste heat.

The research group, which is jointly funded by TUHH and BAM, contributes to the computer simulation of the micromechanical behavior of three-dimensional metallic network structures in an aqueous environment. These have promising properties for novel sensor and actuator concepts as well as acoustic components with switchable properties. With BAM as a further partner in BlueMat, there are additional synergies in the expansion of research data management and its use for materials science.

To further strengthen the international competitiveness of research at German universities, the federal and state governments have established the Excellence Strategy as a permanent funding program. Researchers and universities enjoy a completely free choice of research fields and profile areas. The annual budget for selected Clusters of Excellence and Universities of Excellence is currently €385 million p. a., with the overall budget having been increased to €539 million per year from 2026 onwards. The key objective of the Excellence Strategy is to strengthen top-level research in areas that are internationally competitive, to institutionally strengthen German universities, and to advance the development of the German higher education system.

This article was first published on 15 February by Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM).