Research Group 1 addresses questions of technology and infrastructure based on systemanalytic view. In the fields of energy and mobility the research group explores what technical and social innovations will facilitate the transition to sustainable structures, what implications this process has and what chances it offers.

Research Group 2 focuses on strategies and instruments for effective and integrated energy, transport and climate policies at the local, regional, national and international level. A central theme is the synergy effects of policy strategies that support the sustainable development of energy and transport systems as well as climate protection generally. Policy instruments in the field of energy end-use efficiency are a further focus.

Research Group 3 investigates material flows from extraction of raw materials through to final disposal, taking account of the global "ecological rucksack" model as well as the land use involved. It develops concepts, strategies and instruments to improve resource productivity and sustainable resource management from the regional and sectoral levels to the international level.

Research Group 4 analyses material flows in value chains of industrialised societies and their interdependencies with the environment, economy and society. The focus is set on approaches decoupling the flourishing of human well-being from natural resource use through innovations in value chains in the production and consumption system.