The HIF at the Open Labs Day
- When: August 23, 2025, 10 am - 4:30 pm
- Where: Research Campus Dresden-Rossendorf, Bautzner Landstraße 400, 01328 Dresden
- Program
- Directions
The HIF is the largest institute of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf and is based in Freiberg. We will of course be participating in the Open Labs Day and will be presenting ourselves with the following offers:
- From experiment to discovery: look behind the scenes of our laboratories
We take you on a half-hour tour through the laboratories of the Biotechnology Department of the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology and the biogeochemistry laboratories of the Institute for Resource Ecology. We demonstrate small experiments and you can try your hand at the pipetting station and make exciting discoveries under the microscope. We are happy to answer your questions about our work, current research topics, our training, opportunities for training and further education as well as our personal experience for professionals.Building: 801, Meeting Point in the basement foyer, Period: 10:00-16:00 o'clock
- Little helpers in nature – with biotechnology to a circular economy
Biomolecules, bacteria and other microorganisms influence a variety of processes in nature. They bind to mineral surfaces or transform mineral components through metabolic processes. Together with modern biotechnologies, these mechanisms can also be used to develop energy-efficient, environmentally friendly and economical technologies that are essential for a real circular economy. Researchers in the Department of Biotechnology at the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology are developing biotechnological processes for the (re-)extraction of important industrial metals from primary and secondary raw material sources. At their hands-on stand, the scientists will explain which processes are used and how metal recovery works in detail.Building: 801, Room: P115, Period: 10:00-16:30 o'clock
- On hot or wet paths to pure metal
The Process Metallurgy department at the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) deals with the challenges of energy and recycling. The main focus here is on processes for recovering metals from e-waste, for example, using either pyro- (with high temperatures) or hydrometallurgical (with aqueous solutions) processes. The balance between the use of materials and energy is particularly important in order to avoid energy losses and negative environmental impacts and thus contribute to a sustainable circular economy. In small experiments, we demonstrate leaching and extraction processes for the recovery of metals. Samples produced during pyrometallurgical processes can be admired.Building: 801, Room: P115, Period: 10:00-16:30 o'clock
- Everyday objects are treasure troves of raw materials
Almost all everyday objects contain metals – but which ones are they, and in what quantities do they occur? We reveal the answers.Building: 801, at the entrance of the building, Period: 10:00-16:30 o'clock
- The Resource Puzzle
Where do the raw materials for an electric car come from, and what happens to the components when the car reaches the end of its life? We explain it to you with a puzzle.Building: 801, at the entrance of the building, Period: 10:00-16:30 o'clock
- Smartphones are a treasure trove of raw materials: Help us by handing in your old cell phones.
The Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) aims to develop innovative technologies for recycling raw materials in an environmentally friendly way. On the Open Labs Day, you can drop off your old cell phone at our institute and thus contribute to recycling research. The batteries from the collected cell phones are processed so that the black mass can be recovered and used for new batteries. The cell phone bodies are dismantled using mechanical separation processes and also recycled.
