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Collaboration Catalyst Program

Joint initiative of ZEISS and KIT

The Collaboration Catalyst Program of ZEISS and KIT aims at strengthening and intensifying the strategic partnership and fostering research-oriented industry-academia cooperation by addressing the broader research community at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). For this purpose, a fund has been created to finance seed projects in fields of interest of KIT and ZEISS.
Each year, the focus area of the call will address applications of one of the four segments of the ZEISS Group, related to KIT research focus.

Facts & Scope

  • Establishing new long-term collaborations between ZEISS and KIT

  • Program funds seed-projects with new partners, that not have collaborated before

  • Fund size: 300 k€ / year - with 100 k€ for max. 3 projects each

  • Project duration: 12 month

  • Call for proposal is published in specific subject areas once a year, addressing one ZEISS segment per year

  • Joint evaluation of proposals by a scientific committee (experts from ZEISS and the KIT)

Focus Areas

The present call targets the area of lithography optics technologies and covers several research fields of mutual interest between ZEISS and the KIT with applications in process technologies in optics manufacturing, Optics- Electronics- & Mechanical Design.
Photomask systems

Process technology in optics manufacturing

Surface analytics:
- Direct, non-destructive chemical analysis of optics/mechanics surfaces for elements like Si, P, Sn, Zn, F etc. w/ a similar accuracy & precision as e.g. XPS.

Material modification:
- Surface modification to avoid corrosion & contamination.
- Contamination suppression during the mechanical processing of surfaces.

Physio-mechanical and electro-chemical interaction w/ cleaning goods in US cleaning technology:
- Impact of various processing states of different materials on ultrasound induced glass erosion.
- Electro-chemical interaction of surfactants on different substrate surfaces.
- Corrosion resistance of metals and plastics used for ultrasound equipment.

Optical Design on a Chip

Optics & Electronics

Electronic architecture
- Architectural design and modeling of the communication layer of a complex HiSpeed FPGA network with a high 3-digit number of participants and with requirements for availability (redundancy).

Position sensors- tracking systems in production
- Real-time localization of product and tooling in production.
- GRS (Global Reference System) light for different accuracy classes in vacuum operation.

Distance Measurement Sensor

Mechanical Design & Mechatronics

New materials/ material analysis
- Low-outgassing and PFAS-free elastomeric damping materials.
- Dimensional stability of materials at room temperature.
- Materials and material models for dynamic construction materials.

Fluid dynamics
- Flow simulation for sliding flows and micro-channels.
- Diluted gas experiments to validate numerical methods.
- Contamination model for particles in vacuum systems.

Thermal architecture
- Fractal concepts and entropy minimization for sizing heat sinks.
- Study on thermally insulating metallic and non-metallic materials.

Mechatronics Design & Testing
- Hardware-in-the-Loop test methods for mechatronic modules
- Test tools for control design de-risking

Project Selection Process

  • Preferred projects are feasibility investigations in preparation of larger long-term research projects. Although the ZEISS fund is reserved to KIT, the project may include external partners if needed. External partners’ activity will not be funded directly by the ZEISS fund.


    The proposal should include the following elements:
    • The topic proposed for the specific call.
    • The expected outcomes of the Project.
    • The expected timeline/duration and possible milestones.
    • The estimated budget (calculated for contract research).
    • The KIT researchers and research groups involved with a clearly identified KIT researcher as the PI and possible additional external partners, if any.

  • Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
    • Fit to the call topics
    • Scientific quality
    • Relevance of the problem for application
    • Prospect of proposal (realistic plan, likelihood of collaboration and potential follow-up

  • The submission process following the Calls for Proposal will be a two-step process that includes an exchange between the principal investigator (PI) and the scientific committee (SC):
    1) Informal submission of a first project idea (500 – 1000 characters) to the Scientific committee with a rough outline of the project idea and scope.
    2) Pre-selection of ten proposals by the Scientific committee that will be invited to the expert round table at the ZEISS Innovation Hub @ KIT. The expert round table will consist of the Scientific Committee, ZEISS experts and PIs and aims to sharpen and discuss the proposed projects goals.
    3) Submission of proposals using a dedicated short template. The proposals will then be discussed during a meeting of the Scientific Committee.
    4) Once the winning proposal(s) has(ve) been selected by the Scientific Committee, a specific contract (contract research) according to the Framework Agreement between ZEISS and the KIT will be prepared for approval by both parties. The contract has to be finalized and signed from both parties until 30th June 2025.
    5) The project must start before 31st August 2025

  • The Scientific Committee consists of each 4 permanent representatives of KIT and Zeiss, according to the topic additional committee members might be appointed.

    The role of the SC is to:
    • Launch the Call for Proposals, typically once a year
    • Evaluate, suggest changes to and select the projects to be funded by ZEISS
    • Follow-up of the research results and advice for potential continuation.
ZEISS Innovation Hub@KIT

Timeline

09. August 2024: Publication of the call for Proposals

27. September 2024: Submission deadline letter of intent  (send to CoCat@zeiss.com)

21. October 2024: Expert round table – ZEISS Innovation Hub @ KIT

09. December 2024: Deadline for the submission of proposals (send to CoCat@zeiss.com)

16. December 2024: Information on decisions by the Scientific Committee

Call for Sumission

Due date is September 27, 2024

Send us your project idea (500 - 1000 characters). We will get back to you as fast as possible.*

Call for proposals
General contact ZEISS Sophia Schmitt

CoCat@zeiss.com

General Contact KIT Innovation and Relations Management

https://www.irm.kit.edu/english/116_1681.php

Impressions from previous calls

  • Expert round table
  • Expert round table discussion
  • Expert round table
  • Expert round table discussion

Collaboration Catalyst 2023

Already in 2023, the Collaboration Catalyst Program started as a joint project of the KIT and ZEISS with the main goal of establishing new long-term collaborations between the partners.

In 2023 the Call for Proposal focused on the areas of medical diagnostics & visualization, simulation technologies and digital health. After a joint evaluation by KIT and ZEISS, the following four projects received funding:

  1. HighVis – A novel method for non-invasive optical imaging of blood viscosity in vivo / Dr. Simonis & PD Dr. Krause, Institute for Applied and Numerical Mathematics (IANM), Prof. Dr. le Noble, Zoological Institute (ZOO)
  2. VisioPrintTech: Transforming Vision through Direct Cornea Print Innovation / Prof. Schepers, Institute for functional Interfaces (IFG)
  3. Exploration of Earable Health Applications / Prof. Beigl, Institute ofTelematics (TECO)
  4. Digital Surgical microscope concepts / Prof. Albers & Prof. Düser, Institute of Product Engineering (IPEK)
     
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    *If you want to have more information on data processing at ZEISS, please refer to our data protection notice.