RWTH Aachen: Four million euros for groundbreaking NaTech project!

RWTH Aachen: Four million euros for groundbreaking NaTech project!

RWTH Aachen recently announced some good news. The European Commission supports the innovative REUNATECH project, which addresses the challenges of natural disasters and their technological impact. The funding is part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Networks 2024, which underlines the importance and quality of the project. This year, REUNATECH received a rating of 98 percent, making it one of the best rated applications in Europe. In total, the project is funded with around four million euros.

REUNATECH is led by the Center for Wind and Earthquake Engineering (CWE) at RWTH. The official project start is planned for October 2025 and will run for four years. During this time, 13 doctoral students will be trained in the areas of risk assessment, real-time monitoring and resilience-based design methods. The development of scalable solutions is also intended to promote support for the EU Green Deal and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Challenges and solutions

The REUNATECH project specifically deals with NaTech dangers, which are natural disasters that can trigger technical accidents. RWTH Aachen has built up an extensive network with universities, research institutions and industrial partners in order to achieve the project goals efficiently. The application was coordinated by scientists Soumitra Chatterji and Christine Kempchen and is among the top 100 of 1,417 proposals submitted. In the engineering category, only 69 out of 520 proposals were accepted, making REUNATECH one of the top 30 in this field.

RWTH Aachen University leads the coordination of MSCA projects in Germany, as out of a total of 158 proposals submitted, only 24 were accepted. The EU's evaluation of the training program praised the combination of technical and interdisciplinary skills as well as the high quality of the supervision structure, which means that RWTH is considered a leader in the training of future scientists.

Support from the EU

The funding of REUNATECH is part of a larger European Union commitment to research and innovation. Like on the website europa.eu As stated, investments in research are crucial for the future competitiveness of the EU. In addition, collaboration between research teams from different countries is promoted, which increases the diversity of solution approaches. The funding will be made available through multi-annual framework programs to strengthen key technologies, facilitate access to capital and address societal challenges such as climate change.

In addition to REUNATECH, UKRI’s Metascience Grants Program funds projects to improve research and development processes. Proposals will be accepted in the areas of talent and vocational training, as well as the impact of funding methods on the distribution of research resources, among others. The application deadline for this program is July 16, 2024, providing another opportunity for innovative research.

In the next step, prospective doctoral students are now being sought for the REUNATECH project in order to achieve the ambitious goals of the project and contribute to research in this important area.