The Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Technical University of Dresden (TUD) collaborate to establish a 6G research center. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding 6G-life, a joint project of the two Excellence Universities, with 70 million euros. 6G-life will create technologies for the new wireless communications standard, contributing significantly to Germany’s digital sovereignty.
“With these resources, we will build on the 6G Future Lab Bavaria initiative at TUM, supported by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, and join forces with TUD. Together we will help to shape the wireless technology of the future.”
TUM President Thomas F. Hofmann.
The next-generation wireless communication standard, 6G, will be critical to the digital transformation. The BMBF invests up to 250 million euros in four 6G research hubs to help them participate in this global transformation. TUM and TUD will collaborate on the 6G-life project to shape these future technologies. The project, which will receive 70 million euros in funding, will involve approximately 40 senior researchers from the two Excellence Universities.
People and their communications and interactions with machines and virtual worlds are at the heart of 6G technology. 6G-life will concentrate on two application areas already being investigated in many high-profile TUM projects: Industry 4.0 and digital medicine. Both are essential areas of research for TUM’s Munich School of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MSRM), which will play a vital role in the 6G-life project.
The project will focus on four key areas: latency (delay – how can we make communications faster? ), resilience (how can we make communications more failsafe? ), security (how can we protect the privacy and defend against attacks? ) and sustainability (how can we significantly reduce the high energy consumption of digital communications? ). The 6G requirements will present technical challenges that can be solved with new theoretical approaches. Basic research in areas such as information theory will thus be an essential component of 6G-life.
Concerns are growing in Germany and Europe that digital technologies have become overly reliant on foreign firms. As a result, 6G-life will play an active role in shaping digital transformation. In collaboration with technology companies and network operators, the project will develop critical technologies and provide research results incorporated into global 6G standards. As with all new technologies, 6G raises essential societal questions. As a result, the project will incorporate contributions from the humanities and social sciences into its research to ensure that ethical questions and concerns are adequately addressed.
With 10 million euros set aside to support young companies, 6G-life aims to leverage the innovative power of start-ups. The goal is to create at least ten new start-ups over the next four years and support a large number of existing ones. TUM is in an excellent position in this regard: TUM generates approximately 80 technology-focused spinouts each year. Unternehmer and TUM, the Center for Innovation and Start-ups, assists start-ups with programs tailored to the various stages of establishing a new business. TUM Venture Labs, a unique initiative for research-based start-ups in Europe, will be critical to 6G-life. The Venture Labs provide entrepreneurs with a diverse ecosystem.
More: 6G-life project website
The BMBF program “6G Research Hub: Platform for future communication technologies and 6G” falls under the German federal government’s economic stimulus and future package, from which it will receive up to 250 million euros in funding
