March, 01, 2016 - Having met with a huge response at its premiere at K 2013, the Science Campus at K 2016 from 19 to 26 October will be further intensifying the dialogue between research and industry in an enlarged area and with an increased number of participating scientific organisations. Supplementing the presentations of universities and colleges, institutes and sponsoring organisations, the Science Campus will focus on the four key themes defined by the K 2016 Innovation Circle – a panel made up of experts from science and representatives of K's Exhibitors Council.

The Science Campus enables exhibitors and visitors at K 2016 to gain a concentrated overview of scientific activities and findings in the plastics and rubber sector and promotes an exchange of experience between companies and universities. The following participants will be represented at the Science Campus in Hall 7.0 of the Düsseldorf exhibition centre:

• Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences Institute of Plastics Engineering (ikd)
• Johannes Kepler University Institute of Polymeric Materials and Testing, Linz, Austria
• Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (IPF)
• Chemnitz University of Technology Cluster of Excellence MERGE, Institute of Lightweight Structures
• Dresden University of Technology Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology (ILK)
• University of Stuttgart Institute of Polymer Technology (IKT)
• A total of ten institutes or chairs of macromolecular and technical chemistry
• Fraunhofer Society for the advancement of applied research with a total of eight institutes
• Kunststoff-Institut (plastics institute for SMEs in North Rhine-Westphalia) (KIMW)
• Beteiligungs- und Kunststoffverwertungsgesellschaft mbH (BKV) – investment and plastics-recycling company
• Climate-KIC GmbH – Climate Innovation Initiative of the European Institute of Innovation & Technology
• Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. (FNR) – coordinating institute for renewable materials activities - German Chemical Society (GDCh)
• VDI – The Association of German Engineers
• Scientific Alliance of Plastics Technology (WAK)

All of them will be presenting pioneering materials and technologies and responding to the central challenges of plastics and rubber technology.

At the Science Campus Center, the discussion and communication forum, attention will be focused on the following key themes:

• innovation drivers of global change focusing on resource efficiency
• Plastics Industry 4.0
• new materials, and
• lightweight engineering

Scientific training in macromolecular chemistry and plastics technology will also be a focus of attention. Scientists of K 2016's Innovation Circle and teams from their institutes will prepare the key themes and present them in different formats. Expected to have a lasting impact on market development of the sector in the coming years, these themes will not only be the focus of the Science Campus at K 2016 but will also be reflected in the presentations of the exhibitors, the special show "Plastics Shape the Future" and the Innovation Compass.

At K 2016, over 3,000 exhibitors from all continents will be presenting their latest developments in the fields of machinery and equipment for the plastics and rubber industry, raw materials and auxiliaries, semi-finished products, technical parts, and reinforced plastics products. The fair, which will be open from 10 am until 6 pm from Wednesday, 19 October, until Wednesday, 26 October, is expected to attract some 200,000 trade visitors from all over the world.