Center for Economics of Materials CEM

With applied, socio-economic research, the experts at Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy IMW in Leipzig develop solutions for the long-term success of customers and partners from business, industry, research and society. In order to complement the portfolio of the Fraunhofer IMW and to bundle the competencies of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in the fields of techno-economic and socio-economic research, the Center for Economics of Materials CEM in Halle, previously located at the Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS, has now been transferred to the Fraunhofer IMW, which is a perfect fit in terms of expertise. With this affiliation, Fraunhofer also takes into account the special social significance of structural change in Central Germany.

Partners from industry and politics support the Center for Economics of Materials with the combination of materials science and techno-economic expertise, for example in the field of technology and regulatory impact assessment, sustainable value creation systems (Total Design Management) or global value chains (Global Value Chain Analysis). The systemic view of integrated value creation, development strategies in material processes and the relevant economic framework conditions are focused on here. Further research focuses on criticality analyses of raw materials and in particular materials, possibilities for their substitution, transformation impact research and the digitalization of materials and processes.