A first part of the institute's permanent building on the edge of the University campus was completed in autumn 1988 and consists of a working area of 10,000 m2 Of which laboratories comprise 5,500 m2.
The objectives of the Institute are directed on the one hand towards the synthesis and exact physico-chemical characterization of macromolecular systems and on the other hand towards understanding the relationship between macroscopic and microscopic properties of polymeric materials.
The institute is also part of the center of excellence 262 "Glassy State and Glass Transition of Non Metallic Amorphous Materials," which is supported by the GermanScience Foundation.
The ‘Technology panel’ is the forum where experts from science, industry,administration and politics are cooperating on specific topics, such as climat /energy.
The results of there activities are discussed in the ‘panels for adolescents and adults’ and are subsequently presented to the public within the program of a ‘science and technology week’.
The European Academie of Science and Arts,represented by its Institute of Advanced Studies on Sustainability and IFOK propose to build up a European network based on the conception and the experience gained in the Zukunftswerkstatt.