On August 29 2024, Saxony’s Science Minister Sebastian Gemkow, Regional Development Minister Thomas Schmidt, CTC Founding Director Prof. Peter Seeberger, North Saxony District Administrator Kai Emanuel and Delitzsch’s Mayor Dr. Manfred Wilde presented the next steps for developing the future CTC site at a citizens’ meeting on the site of the former sugar factory in Delitzsch.

The Free State of Saxony and the municipal special-purpose association, consisting of the district of North Saxony and the town of Delitzsch, have now acquired the site of the old sugar factory. The purchase of the land by the municipal special-purpose association is the first part of the project to receive around 17 million euros in funding from the federal and state governments under the Coal Regions Investment Act (InvKG). The funding decision was presented to the special-purpose association by Regional Development Minister Thomas Schmidt and Science Minister Sebastian Gemkow during the event.

“This is the prerequisite for turning the research vision into reality,” said Science Minister Sebastian Gemkow. “A beacon of science with top international scientists will be built on the site, which will develop global visibility and attractiveness for the entire scientific state of Saxony. On the other hand, the CTC’s strong focus on innovation, technology and knowledge transfer within the framework of direct partnerships with other scientific institutions and industry will create innovations and thus added value here in the region.”

The CTC team itself has achieved a great deal in recent months. “Many things are currently running in parallel,” says Prof. Seeberger. “We have grown considerably in past months and currently employ 33 people. Our scientists are honing in on the topics to be researched, expanding their network and working on first research projects. But for us to really take off, we need to become an independent institution. To do this, we need support from the federal and state governments. And we urgently need laboratories for chemical research. We are therefore delighted that progress is being made on the sugar factory site.”

To support the scientific work on site, the municipal special-purpose association will build an office and laboratory building on part of the sugar factory site. The first tenant will be the CTC itself before it moves into its own buildings. After that, the building will be available for start-ups.