Successful business couple Christa and Manfred Fuchs (OHB System AG) has agreed with the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft to fund an endowed professorship at the University of Bremen. The sponsors are providing follow-up financing in an annual amount of €165,000 over the next ten years. The funding is for an endowed professorship in the field of “Applied Space Technology” at the Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM), which is embedded in the Faculty of Production Engineering. The endowed chair has been created in cooperation with the Institute for Space Systems (DLR) in Bremen, which is likewise providing half of the funding. The professorship is also connected with running the Department of System Enabling Technologies at the DLR in Bremen.

This development is in continuation of an established trend. Over the past few years the endowed professorships at the University of Bremen have proven exemplary for successful cooperation between the enterprise sector, the City of Bremen, and the University. The goal is not only to strengthen teaching in the field of space research, but also to build up substantial systems engineering competencies and make Germany attractive for large-scale science missions like those planned by the European Space Agency . For satellite missions necessitate close cooperation in the areas of scientific preparation, special technological development, and industrial implementation.

“The endowed professorship will give a considerable boost to applied space technology in Bremen and contribute towards the promotion of young research scientists”, stress Christa and Manfred Fuchs, co-owners of OHB System AG. The University President, Professor Wilfried Müller, is pleased “that the University of Bremen is able once again to demonstrate its role as an active innovative partner for Bremen’s strengths. Especially the peaceful aims pursued by applied space technology, one of the region’s key strategic focuses, make this type of cooperation between the University and industry all the more gratifying.”