The Hochschule Niederrhein places a strong focus on surface-relevant technologies and methods due to its history and traditional ties to the textile and chemical industries. As a textile university, spread across four faculties of engineering (Textile and Clothing, Textile Mechanical Engineering, Textile Design, Textile Chemistry) and in combination with the likewise long-established areas of expertise in paint chemistry and surface analysis in chemistry as well as the cleaning and hygiene degree program of the Faculty of Engineering, the HN has always had a strong nucleus of surface science.

This has been constantly expanded, so that today the expertise extends to several institutes and competence centers as well as several individual researchers. In particular, the Institute for Coatings and Surface Chemistry (ILOC), the Research Institute for Textile and Clothing (FTB), the Surface Technology and Applied Research (STAR) competence center and the Institute for Modeling and High Performance Computing (IMH) are increasingly focusing on surface-related topics.

Research and development approaches now range from product design to plasma and nanotechnologies, adhesive technologies, technical textiles and joining technologies, micro-galvanizing and modern cleaning management.

The entire specialization has one of the highest levels of third-party funding at the university. The existing image of the Lower Rhine as an applied surface and textile center is constantly being expanded. Building on our diverse expertise in the field of surfaces, a separate center, the "Hochschule Niederrhein Institute for Surface Technology (HIT)", was founded in 2016 as a central scientific institution. This unique application center for high-throughput technologies will enable us to conduct cross-thematic and interdisciplinary research and, as a public-private partnership, bring us even closer to small and medium-sized companies in the region in the fields of adhesives, paints, coatings, corrosion protection, coating materials for printing, 3D printing and much more.

The core research areas of health and nutrition research represent an optimal combination of many years of experience and expertise and current social challenges. This is clearly visible from the outside in the Competence Centre for Routine Data in Healthcare in the Faculty of Health Care, in the Competence Centre for Microbiology and Biotechnology (CCMB) in the Faculty of Ecotrophology and in the newly founded Competence Centre for Applied Mycology and Environmental Studies (KAMU). The latter brings together the fields of mycology of beneficial fungi (macromycetes) and microbiology with a specialization in molds (micromycetes).

In many fields, such as medical technology, health economics, occupational health and safety, food hygiene, health textiles, health-conscious nutrition, hygiene management in hospitals, optimization of hygiene products, development of rapid bacteriological tests, innovative retinal testing devices and health logistics, the foundation courses of medical and nutritional research are translated into market-oriented innovations.

The Institutes for Occupational, Environmental and Health Protection and Ethics (A.U.G.E.), the Research Institute for Textile and Clothing (FTB) and the Competence Centre for Research for Intelligent Assistance Systems and Technologies (FAST) with numerous individual researchers provide support here.

This specialization has recently been strengthened by the newly founded Competence Center eHealth (CC eHealth). eHealth is an increasingly important pillar of Health Care and poses major challenges for all those involved. The focus of the new competence centre is on scientific analysis and the development of innovative technical solutions that enable new forms of inter- and intra-organizational cooperation and process organization with the help of innovative information and communication technologies.

The Hochschule Niederrhein is located in the middle of the central logistics region in the heart of Europe. For this reason, there is also close cooperation with logistics activities in the immediately neighboring Netherlands.

The Hochschule Niederrhein also has a long tradition in the field of applied computer science in several faculties. IT-related issues are important in research and development in every applied discipline. The focus is on the two research institutes for Business Process Management and IT (GEMIT) and for Pattern Recognition (iPattern) as well as the competence centres for research into intelligent assistance systems and technologies (FAST) and the eWeb Research Centre for research into online trade and eCommerce.

In addition, many other institutes and competence centers at the university also deal with this topic, including the Institute for Modeling and High Performance Computing (IMH). The range of topics extends from IT security to the optimization of data networks and the development of software solutions for almost any application.

Most recently, the Clavis competence centre for information security was founded at The Hochschule Niederrhein, which conducts application-oriented research to ensure and increase the information security of organizations and companies in the Middle Lower Rhine region.

One of the core tasks of a university of applied sciences with an engineering focus, such as The Hochschule Niederrhein, is the applied scientific development of new products and processes with direct commercialization and market relevance.

In particular, the strengthening of the central target group, regional SMEs, for global competition requires rapid applied science-to-business implementation. Product development mainly takes place in technical engineering disciplines, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, textile and Clothing Technology and chemistry.

However, the product development aspects of design are also of enormous importance. Process development is also used in the above disciplines. In addition, process engineering, computer science and industrial engineering also include social factors.

In particular, this specialization is located in the research institutes for modelling and high-performance computing (IMH), for business process management and IT (GEMIT) and for occupational safety, environmental protection, health protection and efficiency (A.U.G.E.) as well as in almost all competence centres. The range of topics extends from mechatronics, plastics technology, object design, the theory of inventive problem solving and process control to strategic patent development.

A new addition is the competence center Intelligent System Solutions for Automation (ISA), which stands for practical, applied developments of intelligent technical systems and solutions and develops innovative apprenticeship and business models through efficient and practical technology transfer.

A large part of the innovative research and development at The Hochschule Niederrhein takes place in the numerous social science disciplines. In addition to the Social Sciences and Business Administration and Economics, the university has social scientists in almost all subject areas who carry out interdisciplinary research and development together with experts from the engineering and natural sciences. The spectrum ranges from direct social science research, including marketing, controlling, SMEs and management, to structural policy analyses, feasibility studies and expert opinions in the technical fields, as well as research areas in education, psychology and gerontology.

Institutes such as Social Concepts (So.Con), the Lower Rhine Institute for Regional and Structural Research (NIERS) and the process-oriented institutes GEMIT and A.U.G.E. build on many years of experience and expertise. Together with competence centres such as the eWeb Research Centre, Early Childhood Education in Motion (KiB) and Resource-Oriented Age(ing) Research (REAL), they are further expanding the university's reputation as a university for needs-oriented social research. The competence center Social Urban Design (SOUND), whose researchers initiate and scientifically and creatively accompany socio-cultural changes to spatial quality of life, teaching and learning spaces, aesthetic education, demographic change, health promotion and integration, also contributes to this.

The most recent establishment of this core research area is the EthNa Competence Centre CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility).

The Hochschule Niederrhein's latest core research areas cover all facets of the topic of energy. On the one hand, innovative energy technologies and new management approaches are developed and designed here. On the other hand, an increasing number of research and development projects in other subject areas deal with energy-related issues. For example, process control and planning tasks are currently always being considered in terms of their energy-saving potential.

The teaching and research center SWK Energy Center E² and the NEW endowed professorship for controlling, especially in the energy industry & business energy management, are mainly concerned with this topic area. The specializations of the SWK Energy Center E² are in the areas of plant engineering and planning, mechanical and thermal process engineering, process technology, statistical methods, environmental technology and process development; those of the NEW endowed professorship are energy cost management, energy-adjusted investment/economic efficiency calculation, integration of energy aspects into corporate controlling and the analysis of the effectiveness of relevant energy regulations.

In addition, there is also a scientific focus on energy efficiency measures at the Institutes of Business Process Management and IT (GEMIT), Occupational Safety, Environmental Protection, Health Protection and Ethics (A.U.G.E.), the Research Institute for Textile and Clothing (FTB) and the Competence Center for Microbiology and Biotechnology (CCMB), among others.