The University of Birmingham today extended an agreement with Germany’s Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –prüfung - BAM) that will see the partners create a joint research centre for Chemistry and Materials Science.

The Joint Centre will initially focus on research into materials characterization, catalytic chemistry and corrosion, but will later expand to cover a number of key research fields.

The partnership will also see experts at BAM and the University continue to collaborate in a number of other areas: Environmental Sciences, Energy, Additive Manufacturing, and Infrastructure - including resilience monitoring, buried resources and railways.

University of Birmingham Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International) Professor Robin Mason and President of BAM, Professor Dr. Ulrich Panne signed the agreement extension at a special ceremony in Berlin.

Professor Robin Mason said:

“Europe continues to be a region of key importance for the University of Birmingham research and we continue to build and strengthen partnerships with major institutions across the European Union, such as BAM.

“We have enjoyed a productive first year of partnership with BAM and our ongoing work together will provide an excellent basis for developing exciting collaborations - benefiting the advancement and use of scientific knowledge in the UK, Germany and beyond.”

The agreement extension provides an ongoing framework for discussion and interaction leading to a range of activities that will help to demonstrate the technology, manufacturing or regulatory readiness levels of scientific developments.

Professor Ulrich Panne stated:

“BAM is looking forward to deepening the collaboration with our strategic partner University of Birmingham and strengthening the ties with our British partner in key research fields.”

Over the next three years, the partners will continue to collaborate on joint activities including research experiments, staff exchanges, seminars, joint publications and reports, as well as exchanging data, materials and samples.