Construction work for the Interdisciplinary Research Center for Sustainable Food Production (InFonaL) officially began today with the symbolic ground-breaking ceremony at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences on Campus Köthen. The new center of the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences will be a central location for research into sustainable food production processes - resource-saving, CO₂-reduced and practical.
"With InFonaL, we are creating a research environment on our Campus Köthen that combines science, Economics and sustainability in a special way," said University President Professor Jörg Bagdahn. "Solutions for the food of the future are being developed here - with an interdisciplinary approach and practical implementation."
Whether developing new plant proteins for human nutrition, making better and complete use of by-products from today's production processes, making technologies more climate-friendly or strengthening health through innovation - the new research center addresses the central challenges of our time. Researchers at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences are developing processes to produce food in a resource-saving, energy-efficient and CO₂-reduced manner. They work closely with partners from science and industry. In addition to laboratories, the research center will include a pilot plant where prototype food technology processes can be tested.
Saxony-Anhalt's Science Minister Professor Armin Willingmann also emphasized the importance of the new building: "Food will always be eaten - which is why the food industry, which is particularly strong in Saxony-Anhalt, is initially crisis-proof. However, this industry, which is very important to us, must also focus more on central challenges such as resource and energy efficiency. It is therefore good that solutions for sustainable food production 'Made in Saxony-Anhalt' will be developed at Campus Köthen in future and then transferred to Economics. I hope that the construction work goes smoothly so that this important research can start on schedule."
Landesbetrieb Bau- und Liegenschaftsmanagement Sachsen-Anhalt (BLSA) is planning and implementing the construction project. Andreas Grobe, Managing Director of BLSA, said: "As a state enterprise, we are responsible for the implementation of this new research building, which sets standards - technically, functionally and in terms of design. InFonaL is a place where the food of the future is being researched - and it is also an example of what modern state building in Saxony-Anhalt can look like: efficient, sustainable and forward-looking."
The research and laboratory building is being built between the Technologiezentrum Köthen (TZK - Köthen Technology Center) and the Hugo-Junkers Gebäude (Building 73 - Köthen) on the "Am Hubertus" Campus Köthen. Completion is planned for the end of 2027. The construction project is being jointly funded by the federal government and the state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is based on the "Research Buildings at Universities" program of the Joint Science Conference (GWK).
The InFonaL was designed by the architectural firm heinlewischer in Dresden. It extends over three floors and offers a usable area of around 2,100 m². The total cost of the building is around 36.45 million euros.
Special features of the building are its high technical standards thanks to a complex ventilation, air conditioning and energy supply system, as well as its energy-efficient and sustainable construction. The building technology includes 46 geothermal probes, supported by heat pumps and a solar system.
For more information, please visit www.hs-anhalt.de/infonal
