NCCR Catalysis

​Home institutions: ETH Zurich, EPFL

Chemistry is essential for Switzerland and societal well-being in general. Remaining competitive requires reducing the footprint of chemical and fuel production to stay within planetary boundaries. The National Centre of Competence in Research “Sustainable chemical processes through catalyst design” (NCCR Catalysis) is dedicated to developing transformative technologies that will allow the conversion of renewable resources in industrial processes. This will make chemical production more sustainable and promote circularity.

The interdisciplinary team, comprising researchers from chemistry, engineering, data sciences, and environmental and social sciences, focuses on catalytic strategies for producing renewable platforms (WP1) and transforming them into tailored complex molecules (WP2). The researchers leverage advanced tools (WP3) and digitalization (WP4) to enhance fundamental science while determining sustainability (WP5) standards to guide their research decisions. The NCCR aspires to build strong partnerships (WP6) with stakeholders from industry, spin-offs, centres of excellence and policy-makers.

Through the structure-related areas, the NCCR cultivates essential competencies among the next generation of leaders, with expertise spanning the chemical sciences, sustainability assessment and data-driven methodologies. Embracing diversity in all forms, NCCR Catalysis fosters a culture of communication and collaboration, ensuring knowledge and technology transfer to a broad range of audiences.

Further information on the NCCR:

Website NCCR Catalysis