"Sustainable IT requires collaboration across disciplines"

Prof. Sinzinger, digitalization and the increasing use of artificial intelligence are rapidly increasing our energy requirements. What impact is this having on our environment?

According to expert estimates, digital media now account for around 40 percent of the global CO₂ budget. This is enormous, especially because this proportion is continuing to grow dramatically due to new technologies and AI applications. Forecasts predict that by the mid-2030s, we will need our entire electrical energy production for electronic media alone. This is in direct contradiction to our climate targets.

However, energy consumption is only one aspect. There is also the high demand for critical materials, water consumption and the harmful gases produced during the manufacture of electronics. Some of these gases, such as those used in lithographic production, have a much higher climate impact than CO₂. All of this shows that we can no longer view electronics as a resource without consequences.

What approach is the Ilmenau School of Green Electronics taking to make electronics more environmentally friendly?

We have set ourselves the goal of thinking about electronics in a sustainable way - from production to recycling. We look at the entire value chain. One focus is on developing components in such a way that they can be integrated into a recycling loop. One example is the Go gRIEn project, which deals with microstructuring processes that require fewer harmful chemicals and resources. Another topic is the development of new polymer-based electronic materials that are easier to recycle. On the algorithmic side, we are researching novel architectures such as neuromorphic structures, which are based on the human brain and work more efficiently than conventional transistor technologies.

This holistic and interdisciplinary concept is very exciting.The research teams network and pool their expertise in their specialist areas, and there are always two project leaders from different disciplines within a team.

We deliberately opted for this concept because sustainability requires collaboration across disciplines. This is a challenge because each discipline speaks its own language. But this is precisely where our strength lies: we bring together expertise from electrical engineering, IT, microtechnology and natural sciences and address the whole. This interdisciplinarity, coupled with an outstanding technological infrastructure and experience in our specialist areas, is what makes TU Ilmenau special. This enables us to develop comprehensive solutions.

This has also been recognized by the Carl Zeiss Foundation, which has intensively examined our concept. It confirmed that sustainable electronics is not addressed in this comprehensive form at any other German university. This shows that we are creating a real locational advantage with the ISGE, which offers great potential both scientifically and strategically.

What opportunities does the ISGE offer for young scientists?

Very great! We offer doctoral candidates stable prospects and interdisciplinary training. We attach great importance to combining theory and practice so that they acquire technological and algorithmic skills. These skills are increasingly in demand in research and industry.

How does the ISGE strengthen the reputation of TU Ilmenau?

ISGE makes TU Ilmenau visible - nationally and internationally. We position ourselves as a pioneer in sustainable electronics research and show that we not only propagate interdisciplinarity, but also put it into practice. We will not be able to revolutionize electronics in the four years of funding. However, my strategic goal with this initiative is to create a crystallization point that shows that this topic is central to the university: This topic is of central importance to the university and we are excellently positioned in terms of expertise. This crystallization point should give rise to follow-up consortia that will continue to drive the topic forward, submit new project proposals and make a major contribution to solving global challenges in the medium term.

Read more about the official kick-off of the ISGE here.