Saarland, a place for innovation – science and industry on the same wavelength
The application-oriented interplay of research, business and policy makes the Saarland Informatics Campus (SIC) the leading IT location in Europe, with outstanding importance for Germany as a place for innovation. With over 30 research fields and 1,000 employees, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, the Center for Bioinformatics, the Cluster for Multimodal Computing and Interaction, and Saarland University cover the entire range of topics in computer science. Superbly trained young talent, in particular for IT firms, is therefore guaranteed. Through its exceptional breadth, the SIC is able not only to continually expand its worldwide research network, but also to take part in a multitude of collaborations with industry partners both inside and outside of Germany. Within Germany these include Siemens, Adidas, Deutsche Post, Airbus Operations and the BMW “Research and Technology” group in Munich. Internationally, the Saarland Informatics Campus works together with major global concerns such as Microsoft, Adobe, Intel and Google – and with success, as the most recent establishment of the ZF Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity Center on the campus impressively demonstrates.
An IT Incubator on campus, more than 80 spin-offs in the last 10 years, and membership in the Software Cluster, a nationwide network of businesses and research facilities for business software development, also make the SIC attractive for entrepreneurs. Saarland University is ranked second for start-up funding by the Stifterverband der Deutschen Wissenschaft (Donors’ Association for the Promotion of Humanities and Sciences in Germany), and has been designated as an “EXIST Start-up Campus” by the Federal Ministry for Business and Technology.
Great things always start small.
The team at SIC is happy to advise and support all interested parties at any time!
Technology Transfer: Collaboration and Investment
In order to transform research results into products and licenses, all institutes of the Saarland Informatics Campus work closely with the entrepreneurship organizations of the state and federal governments. The Competence Center also makes businesses aware of opportunities to collaborate with scientists. The on-site IT-Incubator, supported by the university, the state, and the Max Planck Society, helps scientists to protect their ideas with patents and to make them usable by business and industry, and supports the establishment of new IT businesses that provide numerous jobs for the region. This breadth makes the campus highly attractive for top international companies.
Our expertise for you
IT Security
Spectacular security holes are making daily headlines. With the Center for IT-Security, Privacy and Accountability (CISPA) on campus, companies have the best conditions to benefit from numerous synergies in security research.
Big Data Science
Sensible and efficient search through enormous quantities of data, as well as meaningful linking of data in order to find desired information, already offer great potential for commercial applications. Saarbrücken computer science is also very well positioned in this discipline, with research groups in the Department of Computer Science, the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, and the Cluster of Excellence.
Visual Computing
The Max Planck Institute for Informatics, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, the University with the Cluster of Excellence “Multimodal Computing and Interaction” and the Visual Computing master’s degree program as well as the founding of the Intel Visual Computing Institute: Outstanding, wide-ranging collaborations between research and industry create a highly attractive environment for additional partnerships and new facilities.
Semantic Web
Getting computers to understand information as quickly and robustly as humans do is a challenge that companies like Microsoft, Google, and IBM have been taking on for decades. Saarland University and the Max Planck Institute for Informatics have already established intensive industry contacts in this area, through doctoral stipends and joint projects.
Automotive Industry
Both in large collaborative research projects as well as in the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, there very are close connections with the most important representatives of the German and European automotive industry. Here the specialized expertise of Saarbrücken researchers comes into play.
Pharmaceuticals
In particular through the Center for Bioinformatics, there are close connections to the pharmaceutical industry. Cooperative efforts deal with algorithms-based analysis and diagnostics, but also overlap with the field of Visual Computing, including via so-called visual screening.
Selected Start-ups
Start-up for high-calibre data analysis
Four renowned computer science experts of Saarland University have founded the consulting firm “D:AI:MOND”. Their “Data Science Consulting” is based on the latest research findings. In this way, the scientists want to provide their customers with sound advice.
Extracting knowledge from Big Text
Ambiverse GmbH began in July 2016 as a spin-off from the Max Planck Institute for Informatics. The four active founders develop a cloud service that automatically analyzes and understands large quantities of text, such as the Panama Papers.
Capturing reality
Recognizing how multiple people are moving, within only milliseconds? The technology of the Captury, founded in July 2013 through the Max Planck Institute for Infomatics, helps animation specialists in Hollywood, as well as doctors and athletes.
Research Institutes
Several world-renowned computer science institutes are located on the Saarland Informatics Campus at Saarland University – often only a few steps apart from one another. The researchers working here make Saarbrücken a unique European site for computer science.
Research Highlights
Scientists at the Saarland Informatics Campus (SIC) carry out top-level research. Their projects are presented at renowned international conferences, as well as at trade fairs such as the international computer expo CeBIT in Hannover.
Press Releases and News – The Latest Bits and Bytes
Journalist Award for Informatics 2020 – Application possible until 13 September
Researchers use mathematical analyses to track down images that look deceptively real but are artificially created. IT experts can make photos unusable for facial recognition software or reveal vulnerabilities in supposedly secure electronic documents. Topics like these illustrate the challenges of technical progress. Educating the public about this is a responsibility of the media. In […]
Saarland in the focus of theoretical computer science
Two world renowned computer science conferences were to take place in Saarland in July: the “ACM/IEEE Symposium on Logic in Computer Science” and the “International Colloquium on Automata, Languages and Programming”. Due to the Corona Pandemic, however, the events were moved to a digital format. Nonetheless, about 1200 scientists from all over the world have […]
Zwei Informatikerinnen der Universität des Saarlandes gewinnen Frauen MINT-Award
Wie können Drohnen verschiedener Hersteller mit anderen Endgeräten kommunizieren und zum Beispiel Videoaufnahmen unkompliziert übermitteln? Wie lässt sich verhindern, dass die Arme ermüden, wenn Bedienelemente in Industrieanlagen falsch angebracht werden? Mit diesen Fragen beschäftigten sich die Saarbrücker Informatikerinnen Marlene Böhmer und Noshaba Cheema in ihren Masterarbeiten. Ihre herausragenden Forschungsergebnisse wurden jetzt mit dem Frauen MINT-Award […]
IT Theme Nights – Entrepreneurs, Citizens and Researchers Exchange Ideas
With the “IT Theme Night” event series, the Competence Center for Computer Science, the Knowledge and Technology Transfer Liaison Office (KWT), the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), and the Zentrale für Produktivität und Technologie Saar e.V. (ZPT/saar.is) facilitate interchange among scientists, citizens, and technology users in small and medium-sized businesses from the region. These events link the latest findings from computer science research with the the needs of professional end-users.
