Leibniz Institute for Catalysis

Over 60 years of know-how in catalysis serve as the foundation for the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT Rostock). In 1952 the Rostock-based professors Günther Rienäcker and Wolfgang Langenbeck, in founding the Institute for Catalysis Research in Rostock, created the first research institute in Europe to be dedicated solely to catalysis.

Today the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis is one of the largest publicly-funded research institutes in Europe in the area of applied catalysis. Its areas of expertise are arranged both according to the various methods employed and according to the materials being studied.

By using high-performance catalysts, chemical reactions take place in a way which spares resources, increasing the yield, avoiding by-products and reducing the specific energy requirement. It is only possible to meet the global demand for an efficient use of all resources by making use of efficient catalysis research. Already, four out of five chemical products undergo a catalysis cycle during their manufacture. To an increasing degree, applications of catalysis – apart from their use in chemistry - are also to be found in the life sciences and in the sourcing of energy, as well as in the protection of the environment.