ThyssenKrupp is providing scholarships for a class of doctoral students at the Graduate School of Logistics in Dortmund. The Graduate School belongs to Technische Universität (TU) Dortmund. It is run by the university in close partnership with the likewise Dortmund-based Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML. The class of scholars is part of the “Competence Center Logistics” initiative launched by ThyssenKrupp to further strengthen its outstanding logistics competencies. The Group intends to support the students on the path to a doctorate with a total of around 1.5 million euros over the next three years.

Three business areas from the Materials division of ThyssenKrupp are involved in the initiative – Steel Europe, Stainless Global and Materials Services. They will be joined later by the Steel Americas business area. Customer-focused logistics processes play a key role in the business areas’ production and distribution operations, and the projects on which the members of the ThyssenKrupp class of scholars will work are accordingly ambitious. The spectrum extends from the supply of raw materials at ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe, to the distribution networks at ThyssenKrupp Materials International, to the planning processes at Stainless Global.

The idea behind the class of scholars is to strengthen the transfer of knowledge between researchers and practitioners. All parties involved will benefit: The students will receive not just financial support but also interesting thesis topics from industrial practice. For the Fraunhofer IML, which is supporting the students academically, the initiative will expand its empirical knowledge of current trends and challenges in industrial logistics. ThyssenKrupp finally will benefit from innovative logistics solutions arising from the results of the research, and the opportunity to interest young talent in working for the Group.

Besides the academic supervision by the Fraunhofer IML, ThyssenKrupp will therefore also be providing a wide range of support for the students. For example, the researchers will take part in the ThyssenKrupp-wide doctoral program “Your Innovation”. Among other things the program offers contacts to other doctoral students in the Group as well as seminars to promote the academic and personal development of the young researchers on the way to their doctoral degrees.