Modern research is interdisciplinary – a principle to which all TU Dortmund faculties subscribe. This is especially visible in four profile areas. In Production and Logistics, TU Dortmund researchers develop innovative ideas for processing materials and shape the management of goods flows and production processes together with experts at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics. Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, the second profile area, brings together several strong partners. Here, Germany's largest Faculty of Biochemical and Chemical Engineering, Dortmund's Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, and the Faculty of Chemistry cooperate with other research institutions. In the third profile area, Modeling, Simulation and Optimization of Complex Processes and Systems, computer scientists, mathematicians, statisticians, engineers and economists work together to model technical processes and economic developments. A fourth key area is Youth, School and Education Research, providing significant impulses for national and international educational policies.
In 2010, TU Dortmund obtained research grants of more than 64 million Euros. This includes funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) for several collaborative research centers, transregional collaborative research centers, research units and priority programs. In these programs, the Faculties of Mechanical Engineering, Biochemical and Chemical Engineering, and Statistics are particularly successful. Researchers use the grants to collaborate with innovative industrial partners and to conduct joint research at specialist facilities. TU Dortmund scientists are performing research at the CERN particle accelerator in Geneva and contribute to large-scale international education studies such as TIMSS.
The grants also support young scientists who come to TU Dortmund for its exceptional PhD programs including DFG research training groups and NRW research schools.