09.03.2011: Transfercafé - building bridges between science and economics

Making use of a broad and varied spectrum of potential cooperative projects between science and economics

Straight from the "ivory tower" to the city - with this goal in mind, the Transfercafé in the Proviant-Magazin building was opened by Professor Gerhard Muth, the President of Mainz University of Applied Sciences, Günter Jertz, the Executive Director of IHK in Rheinhessen, Professor Reinhard Urban, the Scientific Chair of Mainz University Medical Center, Professor Peter Orth, the Rector of Catholic University of Applied Sciences Mainz, and Mayor Jens Beutel. "Researchers at Mainz universities have a lot to offer. The Transfercafé is intended to illustrate the benefits for entrepreneurs in small and mid-sized companies in cooperating with research institutions," said Professor Gerhard Muth, President of Mainz University of Applied Sciences, who coordinated the establishment of the Transfercafé.

"The spectrum of possible cooperation between business and science is wide and diverse," explained Professor Georg Krausch, the spokesman of the MAINZ RESEARCH ALLIANCE and President of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. "The new transfer point facilitates partnerships that may extend from research contracts to cooperation in training and continuing education, and even joint research projects. The MAINZ RESEARCH ALLIANCE facilities offer an excellent and powerful infrastructure - companies are invited to benefit from this research environment."

Mayor Jens Beutel added, "Our city has more than 4,000 scientists and almost 41,000 students - thus a high potential of knowledge. The Transfercafé is an attractive offer that makes it more likely that this knowledge will be applied in day-to-day operations or for special problems and challenges faced by Mainz companies. Larger Mainz companies, in particular, already appreciate the potential, as the best-practice examples in the Proviant-Magazin newsletter show. Small and mid-sized companies will surely also be able to profit from this new service."

The transfer representatives of the Mainz science institutions provide a permanent presentation of examples for successful cooperation, an information stall concerning the possibilities for cooperation and opportunities for personal consultation meetings. They are available at fixed times and at corporate discussions held on-site in the Proviant-Magazin building.

Projects of Mainz University of Applied Sciences and Mainz University that were carried out in cooperation with industry were presented at the opening: For example, Professor Bernd Benninghoff from the Department of Interior Design at Mainz University of Applied Sciences has already initiated several joint projects with industrial partners under the title, "Material As A Design Stimulus." The goal of these semester projects is always the experimental research examination of selected materials and the search for new applications and design solutions for the divisions between products and space. Another example of successful cooperation is the genetic technology project that is headed by Professor Erwin Schmidt of the Institute of Molecular Genetics at Mainz University. The development of molecular genetics has revolutionized the life sciences over the last 30 years. The "invention" of rapid DNA sequencing has played a major part in this process. For some time now, the Mainz institute has been operating a "Next Generation Sequencing" facility that allows a person's entire genetic material to be fully decoded within a period of only a few days. This means that the new technology has an extremely wide range of applications, from human medicine to the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries.