Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS and HSZG exchange ideas at DLR_School_Lab on the future strengthening of the Free State of Saxony in innovation and technology.
In spring, the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (HSZG) met with the Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS for talks at the DLR_School_Lab in Zittau. The aim: to strengthen the Free State of Saxony in innovation and technology, for example in the quantum sciences. And even if the field of so-called quantum science is complex. "Quanta" determine research, development and innovation - and have always been future technologies since their discovery and also one of the current and future fields of cooperation between the HSCG and the Fraunhofer Institutes.
Whether quantum physics, quantum mechanics or quantum science. "Quantum physics is not just a step forward, it is a new way of understanding reality," director Christopher Nolan quotes Danish physicist and Nobel Prize winner Niels Bohr in his Oscar-winning film "Oppenheimer" (2023). What was true in the 1930s is still highly topical almost 100 years later - regionally, nationally and internationally, including for research at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences.
Quantum science and quantum applications are rapidly developing into key technologies for secure communication, powerful computers, new materials and high-precision sensor technology. The Saxon research network for quantum technologies SAX-QT "Quantum Saxony" was launched in December 2025 to specifically advance these future technologies and transfer them into industrial applications. The network is coordinated by the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, the Fraunhofer Institutes for Photonic Microsystems IPMS and for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU as well as the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research IFW Dresden. Is the Fraunhofer Institute ENAS also interested?
The aim of Quantum Saxony is to strategically bundle and further expand the expertise in the Free State of Saxony in the field of quantum technologies and make it internationally visible. The Quantum Saxony network sees itself as an open platform that continuously integrates further partners and intensifies the exchange between research, industry and politics. Saxony's interdisciplinarity - from materials science to micro- and nanoelectronics to software development - is thus specifically promoted in the direction of commercial use.
"Quantum Saxony" was one of the selected projects that scientists from the HSZG presented to their research colleagues from the Fraunhofer Institute ENAS at the end of January. Other current research projects and research centers of the HSZG were presented and discussed: The Science Center Oberlausitz (SCO-TTi) of the HSZG, the EKI-Saxony project (energy self-sufficient communication & information technologies from Saxony for industrial applications), topics from the Institute of Process Engineering, Process Automation and Metrology (IPM) such as RoSA-ReCycle (Robotic Sorting and Automation for Recycling), CircEcon (Center for Green Circular Economy) or the HSZG projects ZukLOS (Future Learning Location Upper Lusatia) or Green Zitty with the aim of a scientific state garden show in the region of Upper Lusatia in the coming years.
In the Darwinian "Struggle of the Fittest", people either work alone or strategically together as a species. What applies to biology also applies to political economy. Alone: "Only by working together with partners can we get lucrative contracts in Saxony. While we are discussing this in this round, there are other players internationally and nationally who have already landed the relevant contracts from politics or industry. We must look to attract funding for research and industrial contracts to Saxony. And we need to be proactive and have a good narrative for research funding from state and federal politics," said the participants.
For example, in the field of quantum communication or in the interface or interplay between cooperation and competition - a so-called "coopetition" (cooperation and competition). This refers to a strategy in which competitors consciously work together to achieve common goals such as innovation, cost reductions or market development, while at the same time competing in other areas. It promotes synergy effects, shares risks and is often found in industries with a high level of interdependence in order to expand the market. Are there therefore also several so-called "coopetitions" in the Free State of Saxony between different players from business, industry and science in order to specifically strengthen Saxony and eastern Germany as a business location?
"What is missing in East Germany, and this is an important point from an economic point of view, also for the lower productivity, are large companies and company headquarters. These are the ones that do research and development and create economic power," says economist Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln, President of the Berlin Social Science Center, in the ZDF program "Markus Lanz" in mid-February 2026. The overarching theme of the program: the economic and political development of eastern Germany: "We need an (overall) German economic policy that brings more vision, more strength for new things and more momentum. This will benefit eastern Germany in particular," says Fuchs-Schündeln.
It is precisely this lack of dynamism that the HSZG and the Fraunhofer Institute ENAS want to contribute to future collaborations - e.g. in the fields of quantum science or quantum communication. After the degree of the dialog meeting between the HSZG and the Fraunhofer Institute ENAS, the participants wanted to use the momentum of the fruitful exchange in February and March and outline the necessary next steps in a further project meeting. In concrete terms, these included: concretizing the cooperation plans, dovetailing the project plans, identifying the political Contact Persons and possible new innovative fields of research.
The meeting between the HSZG and the Fraunhofer Institute ENAS on specific topics such as quantum science also fits in internationally. The United Nations proclaimed 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Quantum Technologies. And Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences is proactively involved with its research projects in 2026.
Text: Frank Leberecht
Photos: HSZG, Leberecht
