GRK 1572: Bionics - Interactions across Boundaries to the Environment

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Bionics as a scientific discipline deals with the technological conversion and application of designs and procedures of biological systems. This Research Training Group concerns a highly promising branch of bionics: interactions across boundaries to the environment. In biological systems, the boundary between the inner world and the physical environment is implemented by structurally and functionally diverse specialised interfaces. Based on biological models for structural functions (protection, reflection, mechanics, adhesion) and sensor-based functions (vision, infrared detection, electric location, flow detection, information processing), innovative technical systems will be conceived and developed. The central concern is to train a group of doctoral students as bionics graduates in a trans-disciplinary fashion in order to overcome the disadvantages of the functional and conceptual specialisation of mainstream university courses of study. In particular, the doctoral students will simulate and test solutions for tangible technical problems with respect to structural functions and sensor-based boundary functions by means of conversion and application of biological know-how. The team of teachers and doctoral students will found a bridge of science, with one bridge head each in biology and in applied technology. For this purpose, specialised research groups in technology and biology at the University of Bonn, the RWTH Aachen and the Forschungszentrum Jülich will jointly learn with partners from industry to identify directed solution models from biology for specific technological challenges and to develop from it novel technological solutions. It is intended that the bionics graduates will be regularly active on both sides of the bridge, produce internationally acknowledged research results, and thus qualify themselves for future jobs in research and industry. Accordingly, both a trans-disciplinary team work among biologists and technologists and an arrangement of the dissertation projects in a wide methodical and topical range about the common research theme of interactions across boundaries are required. The new post-graduate programme will establish the core for a new research focus in Bonn.