Association of Friends of DWI Aachen e.V.
The association consists of committed companies, associations and private individuals. It provides valuable support for the research of the DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials.
How does the association support the DWI?
- The association finances selected research projects of the DWI.
- The association promotes young scientists at the DWI.
- The association supports scientific exchange and knowledge transfer in the subject area of 'interactive materials'.
Reasons to become a member of the Association of Friends:
- You support cutting-edge research at the DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials and thereby invest in the development of future materials and technologies.
- You expand your professional network with valuable contacts within the DWI and the Association of Friends and come into contact with talented young scientists.
- You will receive up-to-date information on scientific activities as well as on the specific professional expertise at the DWI.
- You benefit from a rich portfolio of events organized by the DWI.
The Executive Board
- Dr. Thomas Förster (Henkel AG & Co. KGaA), Chair
- Dr. Heike Heckroth (Covestro), Vice Chair
- Dr. Jürgen Omeis (Altana AG)
- Dr. Stefan Dreher (BASF SE)
Company members (selection)
Altana AG - BASF SE - CHT Germany GmbH - Covestro Deutschland AG - Evonik Industries AG - Demcon Life Sciences - Henkel AG & Co. KGaA - Lubrizol Advanced Materials - Momentive Performance Materials - Rudolf Chemie - TRI Princton
Annual fee
Annual fee full membership
- Company / Association: 5.500 €
- Natural person: 100 €
Annual fee sponsoring membership
- Company / Association: 550 €
- Natural person: 60 €
The association is recognized as a non-profit organization; membership fees and donations are tax-deductible. Full memberships include voting rights in the general meeting.
Further information and admission form
Funded measures
Women Interactive Materials Award (WIMA)
With the financial support of the Association and the ALTANA Group, a leading global supplier of speciality chemicals for innovative technologies, we launched the "Women Interactive Materials Award" for talented, creative and passionate young female researchers working in the field of active and interactive materials.
SEAminar
Once a year, the DWI doctoral students' retreat takes place over several days. Here, current research results are presented and discussed. The association financially supports the retreat.
DWI participation in the Max Planck School 'Matter to Life'
The DWI participates in the Max Planck School 'Matter to Life', a supraregional research and education network. The Association of Friends financially supports the organization of the Max Planck School at the Aachen site.
Projects within the framework of joint industrial research
The association enables the submission of selected DWI project applications to the IGF (Industrielle Gemeinschaftsforschung) by providing the necessary co-funding commitments.
Information about IGF project 'ProSwabs'
Information about IGF project 'Magnetically heatable hollow fibers'
Information about IGF project 'Polyelektrolyte fibers'
Project '3D Full Skin Model'
The project is concerned with the development of a three-dimensional full skin model with integrated blood vessels, which can be used to mimic clinically relevant pathological reactions. The project was awarded the Aachen Animal Protection Prize for innovative scientific work in March 2021.
Project 'Anchor peptides'
In this project, anchor peptides are identified or developed that specifically attach to the surface of hair without binding to skin cells. The scientific findings of this project may be of future relevance in hair cosmetics research.