Key Enabler for a Sustainable Circular Economy of Minerals and Metals

The Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) pursues the objective of developing innovative technologies for the economy so that mineral and metalliferous raw materials can be made available and used more efficiently and recycled in an environmentally friendly manner. The institute is a constituent part of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. It researches within the Materials and Technologies for the Energy Transition Program of the Helmholtz Association. HIF works in close collaboration with TU Bergakademie Freiberg and is a core member of the European EIT RawMaterials network.

Research

Infrastructure

Networks

Awards

Career

News 

Three HZDR AI Projects Receive Helmholtz Funding Three HZDR AI Projects Receive Helmholtz Funding: New AI Methods for Science and Real-World Applications

With the projects AIRE, INFUSE-X, and MLGreen, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) has successfully secured funding for three projects in the Helmholtz AI Project Call 2025. Each project will receive up to €250,000 from the Helmholtz Association’s Impulse and Networking Fund (INF). The projects aim to develop new artificial intelligence approaches for scientific applications and thereby advance data-driven research across a range of disciplines. At the same time, they strengthen collaboration both within the Helmholtz Association and with partners from academia and industry.

More

HZDR scientist appointed to BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg

Since April, Franziska Lederer has been a professor at the Brandenburg Uni­versity of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU), where she is strengthening a forward-looking field of research with her newly established professorship in “Biomolecular Resource Security.” The biologist, who holds a Ph.D., has been conducting research for more than 15 years at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) on innovative processes for the circular economy aimed at reco­vering critical raw materials with the help of biomolecules. She now not only passes on her knowledge to students but also aims to expand it together with them.

More

New EU Policy Brief Highlights Role of Earth Observation and Machine Learning in Addressing Critical Raw Material Challenges

The policy brief outlines how Earth Observation enables large-scale and continuous monitoring of mining sites, supporting the early detection of environmental risks, while AI-driven analytics unlock valuable insights from complex geospatial datasets, improving decision-making across the mining lifecycle. It also highlights the role of integrated data platforms in enhancing collaboration between industry, regulators and researchers.

More

Events

Metal-Binding Peptides Conference from 1. - 4. September 2026 in Dresden

The 3rd International Conference on Metal-Binding Peptides is an interdisciplinary congress related to metal-binding peptides, the methodo­logies used and applications specific to these kinds of peptides.

More