Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD
National Research Center for Applied Cybersecurity ATHENE
Digitalization is in full swing. A fundamental prerequisite for its success—and thus a central condition for maintaining a leading position in international competition in the future—is cybersecurity. To develop solutions for the challenges of the future, the new National Research Center for Applied Cybersecurity ATHENE has commenced its work as an institution of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft with the participation of the Technical University of Darmstadt and Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. ATHENE is the largest research center for applied cybersecurity research in Europe and a key component of the federal and state of Hesse’s cybersecurity strategy. On the occasion of its opening, Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek and Hesse’s Minister for Science and the Arts, Angela Dorn, visited the new research center.
Opportunities and risks are closely intertwined in the digital world. Anyone who is online is vulnerable. The more complex the structures, the more susceptible they are. It is the task of cybersecurity research to minimize risks in order to better harness opportunities. For this reason, experts from the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology (SIT) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research (IGD), together with researchers from the Technical University of Darmstadt and Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, are developing solutions for greater digital security under the umbrella of ATHENE, the largest research center for applied cybersecurity research.
Pillar of the German Cybersecurity Strategy
During their visit to the new National Research Center for Applied Cybersecurity ATHENE, Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek and Hesse’s Minister for Science Angela Dorn gained insights into selected research results from Europe’s largest research institution for applied cybersecurity.
Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek states:
“The security of data networks affects all of us in our daily lives. Central infrastructures for power grids, transport routes, hospitals, and public administration depend on secure data networks. We must strengthen our technological sovereignty—for the people in our country and for the economy. With this goal in mind, the Federal Government supports the national research center ATHENE.”
“We are very proud that Europe’s largest research center for applied cybersecurity research has been established in Darmstadt,” explains Hesse’s Minister for Science Angela Dorn. “As a state government, we recognized security in the digital world early on as a key future issue and therefore strongly supported the development of the center as early as 2008 through the Hessian research funding program LOEWE. This created the conditions that led the Federal Government to decide to support this center in Darmstadt. This is also a gain for the young researchers at the two participating universities and thus for Hesse as a science location, because—unlike other purely non-university cybersecurity centers—we have succeeded in strongly integrating the universities. I would like to thank the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the universities very much for this.”
“Cybersecurity is a cornerstone of digitalization. Without it, the digital transformation of business and society cannot succeed,” says Prof. Reimund Neugebauer, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. “At the ATHENE research center, together with the Technical University of Darmstadt and Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, we will research and develop effective solutions that help to fully harness the potential of digitalization for the benefit of all.”
The President of the Technical University of Darmstadt, Prof. Tanja Brühl, confirms this and adds:
“The expansion of the National Research Center for Applied Cybersecurity ATHENE is a major success for the Darmstadt research location and the Technical University of Darmstadt. It permanently institutionalizes cooperation between TU Darmstadt and Fraunhofer in the field of cybersecurity. The long-standing research excellence of TU Darmstadt can thus be further developed jointly within ATHENE. Thanks to ATHENE, there is no other university in Europe with a larger or better-developed cybersecurity profile than the Technical University of Darmstadt.”
“Within this unique center, Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences is very pleased to contribute to transferring the latest findings in the field of applied cybersecurity to society. Our participation in this important center is also proof of the excellent application-oriented research and development work we carry out at h_da,” says Prof. Dr. Ralph Stengler, President of Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences.
The cooperation model at ATHENE provides, in addition to the participation of the universities within an institution of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, for agile, rapidly initiable research projects that make it possible, for example, to respond quickly to new types of vulnerabilities or attacks. The federal and state governments plan to increase funding for ATHENE from currently €12.5 million in 2019 to €37 million in 2026.