Germany is as an international leader in research, development, and application of advanced ceramics and has a long-term distinguished network of universities, research institutes, and industrial laboratories. During the past decade, a joint committee on high-performance ceramics of the German Ceramic Society (DKG) and German Materials Science Society (DGM) in collaboration with the Association of German Ceramic Industry (VKI) initiated an intensive dialogue among ceramic experts. The aim was to identify substantial trends in R&D and industrial applications of ceramics, develop a roadmap until the year 2025, and describe the future potential of high-performance ceramics to stimulate governmental research funding in Germany and increase awareness of these materials in industry and society.

As a follow-up to publication of the German Ceramic Roadmap in 2008,¹ experts published a study in 2014, “Future potential of high-performance ceramics,”² and several summary articles in 2015.³ The roadmap and study were based on a multistep procedure from questionnaires, interviews, and application-oriented workshops with more than 60 academic, governmental, and industrial ceramic experts. The 2008 roadmap identified valuable application and research needs for meeting the challenges of global megatrends. The 2014 study focused on industrial impact and primary future applications of high-performance ceramics. In accordance with the German definition of ceramics, the study did not include carbon, glass, cement, or semiconductor materials.