Research at bbw Hochschule
Applied research brings academic expertise together with the real questions of business – and carries the results to where they are needed: into companies, into teaching and into the Berlin-Brandenburg region.
Research that reaches practice
As the university of business, for business, bbw Hochschule does not treat research as an end in itself. Our professors work on questions that come from companies, industries and the region – and deliver answers that can actually be put to use there. Alongside their involvement in larger externally funded projects, they pursue a wide range of their own research topics, from fundamental questions to interdisciplinary projects.
The research strategy follows an integrative approach: current scientific findings are combined with practical relevance, and a deliberate focus on selected research fields produces solutions to the pressing challenges of our time. With the move to the Adlershof Science and Technology Park, the university has sharpened its research profile further and places particular emphasis on the topics of its engineering and industrial engineering departments.
Knowledge and technology transfer
Research results are turned into products, processes and training offers together with companies.
Research-based teaching and learning
Students take part in ongoing projects, write their theses on current research questions and publish together with their lecturers.
Funded and contract research
Publicly funded collaborative projects and research commissions from industry – including smaller assignments at fair conditions.
Visible results
Publications, conference contributions and a biennial research report document the university’s scientific work.
Research focus areas
Research at bbw Hochschule is organised along its three departments. The focus areas reflect the challenges of the regional business network: the sustainable and digital transformation of industry, supply chains, transport and the real estate sector.
Engineering
Control and safety technology in rail transport and beyond, the use of metamaterials in production, additive manufacturing, as well as optics, optronics and measurement technology.
Industrial Engineering
New mobility concepts for transport and logistics, reducing CO₂ in buildings and production processes, smart solutions for lowering energy consumption, AI in industrial production and logistics, and the transformation of the automotive and supplier industry.
Business and Economics
Integrating international professionals into the regional labour market, the transformation of the regional economy, AI-supported university teaching and the transformation of the construction and real estate industry.
Across the departments, the fib research institute concentrates its technology focus on artificial intelligence, data science and machine learning, additive manufacturing with plastic and metal 3D printing, robotics with industrial and collaborative systems, and bioprinting. An overview of the individual research fields of our professors – from digital health to logistics and supply chain management to real estate and project management – is available on the website of the fib research institute (in German).
Our research institutions
fib – the research institute of bbw Hochschule
The fib is the central point of contact for research at bbw Hochschule. It is dedicated to applied research, research-based teaching and learning, and knowledge and technology transfer. As a platform, it brings together professors, early-career researchers and companies to generate new insights and carry them into business practice as well as into education and training.
The institute coordinates all research activities of the university, handles project controlling, advises on applications and contracts, and records the publications of the faculty. It is aimed in particular at small and medium-sized enterprises in the Berlin-Brandenburg region looking for scientific expertise and capacity for their practical questions.
ZENIKPLUS – Centre for Sustainable and Innovative Concepts
With ZENIKPLUS, bbw Hochschule hosts a cross-university research centre that brings together research, teaching and social transfer. It is led by Prof. Dr. Thoralf Buller and grew out of his collaboration with the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE). The German Commission for UNESCO lists ZENIKPLUS as an actor in Education for Sustainable Development.
Its guiding question is the “good life” within planetary boundaries. Four fields of work follow from this: sustainable provision in rural and peripheral areas; democracy, leadership and responsibility in organisations; intercultural communication; and environment, data and transformation. The centre reaches the public through its regular “Mitwelt” talks in the university foyer and, since 2025, through its own publication series, openZENIKPLUS.
Science Lab
The Science Lab opened on the Adlershof campus in the 2024/2025 academic year – the heart of the fib’s applied research. It is less a conventional laboratory than an open innovation space where students, researchers and companies work together on future topics, build prototypes and put ideas to the test.
The lab is used for hands-on teaching projects, for start-up ventures and for preliminary experiments in research projects. Students can use it free of charge, with personal guidance from Prof. Dr.-Ing. René Brunotte. Companies wishing to carry out development work can arrange access through the fib.
Open-source bio 3D printer from the Science Lab
A fully functional bio 3D printer was built in the Science Lab, with every component manufactured at the university. The fib thereby builds on an open-source initiative of Stanford University, among whose participating institutions bbw Hochschule is currently the only German university listed. Design files, parts lists, source code and documentation are publicly available for replication – an open platform for research, teaching and community development in the emerging field of bioprinting.
Externally funded projects
From start-up centre to transformation network: selected projects from the 2024/2025 reporting period.
ReTraNetz-BB
The Regional Transformation Network Berlin-Brandenburg supports the region’s automotive and supplier industry – around 33,000 employees – in the shift towards digitally integrated, climate-neutral and socially responsible production. bbw Hochschule identifies new business models and develops training products such as the “Industry Transfer Manager” foundation course. Following a first funding phase from 2022, the network continues in a second phase until the end of 2029.
bbw PUSH – start-up centre
With funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, the university’s start-up service was professionalised between 2020 and 2024: coaching, bootcamps, matchmaking events and networks with Berlin’s start-up centres. Entrepreneurship has since become an integral part of several degree programmes. Start-up support has continued on a permanent basis since 2025 through the Research and Entrepreneurship Office.
SF1OG Denim
The first EXIST start-up grant awarded to bbw Hochschule in the fashion sector: the aim was customisable, sustainable denim production that involves customers directly in the design and manufacturing process through digital design. The label now works with retailers from New York to Tokyo.
Further ongoing fib projects include the development of a novel passive sampler for determining emission rates and detecting secondary contamination in buildings, as well as an AI-supported platform for connecting and supporting international talent. A current overview is available under ongoing projects of the fib (in German).
Research and teaching go hand in hand
To give students a sound, practice-oriented education, research and teaching at bbw Hochschule are closely interlinked. Taking part in ongoing research and development projects with industrial companies offers insight into scientific work and the chance to test one’s own skills on real tasks. In many degree programmes, students and lecturers also write scientific papers together and submit them to journals and conferences.
Student projects from recent semesters show what this can lead to: a seminar paper on sustainability in laser technology that an alumnus presented together with an industry partner at the Photonics Days 2025; mobility concepts for a supermarket designed on circular-economy principles, developed in a problem-based learning format with a practice partner; or a locally running AI learning assistant, developed in a Bachelor’s thesis, that guides students using the Socratic method.
Research internships
Hands-on laboratory experience, for instance in the 3D printing or robotics area of the Science Lab.
Student research assistant
Working in research projects – from data analysis and literature research to software development.
Theses
Bachelor’s and Master’s theses on topics drawn from the university’s current research projects.
Make Research Award
The student research competition honours projects with a scientifically sound and practically demonstrable research component – data, analysis, experiment or prototype. It continues the poster competition for theses launched in 2020.
What the fib offers students (in German)
Working with companies
Do you have a specific question, a product that needs further development, or are you looking for a scientific partner for a funding application? The fib offers companies several ways to collaborate.
Research consulting
Guidance for companies and cooperative ventures: which question is worth pursuing, which methodology fits, which funding is available?
Project support
From concept to prototype, the team assists with the research question, methodology and planning to solve operational challenges on a sound scientific basis.
Contract research and project partnerships
Joint research projects, pilot applications and studies – including smaller research commissions at fair conditions that combine academic expertise with operational business practice.
Training and workshops
Seminars and in-house training on future technologies such as 3D printing, robotics, artificial intelligence and data analysis.
The location in the Adlershof Science and Technology Park provides an ideal environment for this: with more than 1,200 research-oriented companies from IT, photonics, materials technology, biotechnology and energy and environmental technologies in the immediate vicinity, and membership in the Technologiekreis Adlershof e. V., bbw Hochschule is closely embedded in one of Europe’s most important innovation districts. The university also works with partners such as HNEE, Charité, TU Berlin and Fraunhofer IPK, HWR Berlin and Berlin Partner for Business and Technology.
More about working with the fib (in German)
Research reports and contact
Every two years, bbw Hochschule documents its research activities in a research report: externally funded projects, the work of the individual professors, publications, conference contributions and collaborations. The reports are available for download on the fib website.
Would you like to do research with us, use the Science Lab or initiate a project? The fib research institute is your first point of contact – by email at fib@bbw-hochschule.de or by phone on +49 (30) 3199095-0.
Let’s shape the future together
Whether a research commission, a thesis or a start-up idea – get in touch with us.