Many of the topics that will be discussed at the Freiberg University Forum between 3 and 9 June 2026 are not only of interest to the participating researchers, but also put current social challenges on the agenda. How do we make materials CO2-neutral and truly recyclable? How will the circular economy affect transport and logistics in the future? Who is actually allowed to mine the raw materials on the moon? Three of the specialist colloquia are dedicated to these questions, among others, and are exemplary of a dialogue between science and the public that is being conducted at TU Bergakademie Freiberg.
Linus Stegbauer is Junior Professor of Biogenic Engineering Materials at TU Bergakademie Freiberg and is organising the Forum Biobased Materials for the first time. Biobased materials are made from renewable raw materials. They are therefore virtually infinitely available in nature and CO2-neutral - in stark contrast to fossil raw materials, which today usually form the basis for numerous materials, such as adhesives. Junior Professor Stegbauer explains that these conventional raw materials are lost during fuel production: "However, if we no longer think of heating and fuels as petroleum-based, for example through electromobility, these residual materials will no longer be produced and will become much more expensive. Then we need alternatives - and that's where bio-based materials come into play."
Stegbauer is currently researching one alternative: a residual product of citric acid production, black mould. This can be used to produce adhesives, for example for wood-based materials such as chipboard. The bio-based adhesive could be recycled together with the wood at the end of its life cycle. According to Stegbauer, research into renewable raw materials is being carried out in many places in Saxony. The BHT colloquium aims to bring together the various research communities.
Kreisläufe neu denken – auch in der Logistik
Rethinking cycles - also in logistics
Rethinking cycles is also the approach of another specialist colloquium at BHT, the Forum on Sustainable Value Creation: Circular Economy and Logistics, which is chaired by Professor Simon Glöser-Chahoud. How can process and procedural technology be adapted to a circular economy, what influence does this have on value chains, what changes will there be for transport and logistics companies and what can the state do to support companies on their way to an efficient circular economy? Simon Glöser-Chahoud comments: "The transformation towards a functioning circular economy requires a fundamental rethink of industrial value chains. This is not just about new recycling and process technologies, but also about transparent material flows, sustainable logistics solutions and suitable political framework conditions. This is precisely where our forum comes in: We bring together various stakeholders to discuss specific ways to achieve a resource-efficient and competitive industry on an interdisciplinary basis."
Future topic of space mining
The Freiberger Forum on Raw Materials Law is chaired by Professor Dr Robert Frau and brings together experts on space mining. "In space law, private and state actors are developing new dynamics: Anyone who extracts raw materials needs to know clear international cornerstones as well as national laws on space mining - and yet much of this has so far flown under the radar. The Raw Materials Law Forum aims to lift the veil," says Robert Frau.
In total, researchers from TU Bergakademie Freiberg will present their topics in fourteen specialist colloquia. Other topics include geotechnics, robotics and AI and issues relating to the digitisation of collections. Special programmes are aimed at doctoral students and international guests.
The 77th BHT - the Freiberg University Forum 2026 runs from 3 to 9 June 2026 at TU Bergakademie Freiberg.
In addition to the specialist colloquia, the 36th Krüger Colloquium will take place on 3 June in the Schlossplatzquartier. In the public opening event, Professor Reinhard Wagner from Jena will give a lecture on the question "Is there a Freiberg Romanticism? Art and mining around 1800", starting at 6 p.m., Krüger lecture theatre SOQ-1.301, Prüferstraße 4, 09599 Freiberg.
