Algae and protists form the largest part of the diversity of organisms with true cell nuclei (i.e. of all living organisms except bacteria), but their potential has hardly been exploited. Increasingly, however, these organisms are attracting the interest of applied research, e.g. with regard to biomass production, natural products research and the removal of contaminants and pollutants. The most important factors for a sustainable implementation of algae technologies are access to robustly cultivated and efficiently growing strains, their adaptation to desired cultivation systems and a sound know-how regarding the determination of quantification and characterisation rates. The algae research infrastructure applied for therefore relies on a process-optimised and automated screening of algae cultures under standardised light and temperature conditions and predefined culture systems that can be used as flexibly as possible. For the planned application for the removal of nutrients and pollutants as well as biomass production, a high growth efficiency of the algae culture under wastewater conditions is particularly important. The use of suitable strains can then be pursued in cooperation with industrial partners, up to an upscaling to the desired scale.

However, the algae research infrastructure for process-optimised screening of the algae collection, as well as the planned expansion of the UDE-affiliated and world's most comprehensive algae collection (former Cologne site), are not only of primary interest for the topic-related research projects of water treatment and purification at the FutureWaterCampus. The research infrastructure and the data collected enable further "smart services", e.g. as a starting point for bioprospecting approaches and further biochemical or molecular biological process optimisations. It is thus an important strategic interface for the development of innovative biotechnological processes and is also of interest to a whole range of companies outside of water research. Interfaces with the other research fields arise, for example, in the customised development of energy-efficient membrane processes for separating algae or in the use of suitable algae strains as a test system for evaluating photocatalytic transformation processes.