On July 14th 2021, the inauguration of the new HI ERN research building took place on the university campus of the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) after a construction period of almost three and a half years. The Helmholtz Institute for Renewable Energies HI ERN is a branch of Forschungszentrum Jülich and is operated in close cooperation with FAU and Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin.
The aim of HI ERN is to develop material- and process-based solutions for climate-neutral energy production and to combine excellent research in the fields of materials, energy and process research. Around 115 scientists will conduct interdisciplinary research here into the energy supply of future generations, which should be climate-friendly, sustainable and affordable.
This approach characterises the research building that has now been inaugurated. The HI ERN is grouped around a narrow but long green inner courtyard. The physical and chemical laboratory areas on the 1st and 2nd floors form large interconnected laboratory areas for interdisciplinary exchange. With its tactile surface reminiscent of microscopically enlarged nanostructures, the horizontally structured aluminium façade conveys a technoid character.