20 June 2022 | Tübingen

Foundation stone laid for new Cyber Valley building

Structure to become part of the Innovation Campus in Tübingen

Laying of the foundation stone for the first Cyber Valley building in Tübingen © Friedhelm Albrecht/Universität Tübingen

Finance Minister Dr. Danyal Bayaz joined Science State Secretary Petra Olschowski, Mayor Boris Palmer, Prof. Bernd Engler (President of the University of Tübingen) and Prof. Bernhard Schölkopf (Director at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems) on Monday (June 20) to lay the foundation stone for the new Cyber Valley I building of the Cyber Valley innovation campus in Tübingen.

“Cutting-edge research is part of our country’s DNA,” said Finance Minister Dr. Danyal Bayaz. “We are creating an innovative building for innovative technologies in the field of artificial intelligence. We want to tap sources of future prosperity. Cyber Valley is a great example of that.”

Science State Secretary Petra Olschowski added: “Excellent research on artificial intelligence will take place in the new Cyber Valley building. And the Cyber Valley ecosystem is growing and thriving – more and more AI activities are being added. The new building will provide the much-needed space to accommodate these initiatives. In the Cyber Valley I research building, AI scientists from the University of Tübingen and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems will interact with Cyber Valley business partners, junior groups and startups – an inspiring coexistence of young talents and experienced researchers. The research topics cover a broad spectrum in the fields of machine learning, computer vision and robotics.”

Construction work on the new Cyber Valley I building, located on the western edge of the “Science and Technology Park,” began back in January. This will be the first time that Cyber Valley on the “Obere Viehweide” in Tübingen will have purpose-built space to provide a home for artificial intelligence (AI) research. The new building will be available to part of the university’s computer science department and the research groups of Cyber Valley, a consortium of science and business. The building will house approximately 7,000 square meters of office space, laboratories, lecture halls, seminar rooms and a conference area, among other facilities. Large accessible experimental laboratories are located at ground level.

The five-story new building will form a building ensemble with the planned second construction phase and a common open-air area. The new building is a prelude to the targeted expansion of the Cyber Valley innovation campus, which celebrated its successful fifth anniversary in December 2021. Planning for the next two construction phases is already underway.

The state is investing around 55.8 million euros in the new building. The building is scheduled to be ready by the end of 2024.

Mayor Boris Palmer, State Secretary Petra Olschowski, Finance Minister Dr. Danyal Bayaz, Prof. Bernhard Schölkopf, Prof. Bernd Engler, Andreas Hölting (Head of the Property and Construction Office; from left) © Friedhelm Albrecht/Universität Tübingen

“In recent years, Cyber Valley has developed into one of the world’s most important research locations for artificial intelligence,” said Professor Bernd Engler, President of the University of Tübingen. “This impressive development is the result of a tremendous effort on the part of the scientists involved, but also of the consistent commitment of the state and federal governments, the companies involved and private donors such as the couple Hans-Werner and Josephine Hector.” In the coming years, he said, the network will have to enter a phase of stabilization and further expansion. “The construction of the first of a total of three Cyber Valley buildings, which is now beginning, will make a significant contribution to this.”

“Artificial intelligence is changing our world. We founded Cyber Valley to actively shape this change from us in Baden-Württemberg, Germany and Europe,” said Prof. Bernhard Schölkopf, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. “The new buildings will provide excellent research conditions to further deepen our work both regionally in Cyber Valley and internationally in ELLIS. I thank all those who have worked with foresight to make this happen.”

Further information:

Sustainability and resource efficiency are high priorities at the new Cyber Valley campus. For example, extensive use of renewable energy and high energy efficiency are important features of the new Cyber Valley I building, which will feature an extensive green roof and a photovoltaic system. The electricity from the roof and facade photovoltaics will benefit the building’s own power supply.

In addition to the new Cyber Valley I building, which was approved in 2016, the overall concept for the Tübingen site includes two more new buildings for the Cyber Valley Campus. With the two new buildings Cyber Valley II and III, a total of around 14,800 square meters of additional top AI research space will be created on the campus of the University of Tübingen.

The AI innovation campus Cyber Valley is a research focus for artificial intelligence and intelligent systems that is unique in Europe. Founded in 2016 in the Stuttgart-Tübingen region, the artificial intelligence research consortium connects partners from politics, business and science.

Note to editors:

A visualization of Cyber Valley I can be downloaded from the Ministry of Finance’s media library and used free of charge for editorial purposes with photo credit. Photos of the event can be downloaded here and used free of charge for editorial purposes with the photo credit “Friedhelm Albrecht/Universität Tübingen”.