Versuchshalle, Mann untersucht Fahrzeugmotorhaube

CARISSMA research and test centre

Leading scientific centre for vehicle safety in Germany on more than 4,000 square metres on the THI campus

Check out our laboratories and test facilities

High Definition test field

At three city centre junctions in Ingolstadt

Real laboratory

Outdoor testing ground

Road tests up to 80 km/h, real traffic situations

Site on the eastern outskirts of the city

Get to know our research options

Find out about the opportunities for a doctorate at one of our institutes

Link to our research

CARISSMA

Center of Automotive Research on Integrated Safety Systems and Measurement Area

The THI research and test center CARISSMA has been designed as leading scientific center for vehicle safety in Germany. The 123 meters long building was opened in June 2016. With more than 4,000 square meters of floor space, it houses a total of ten state-of-the-art test facilities including an indoor test facility for integrated safety systems (crash tests and robot-controlled vehicle tests), a drop tower, a Car2X lab, a safe energy storage lab, a simulation cluster, an HiL lab and a full-vehicle test bench. CARISSMA also has an outdoor test facility for integrated safety systems and a driving simulator with a hexapod movement platform as well as a pedestrian protection lab for developing new testing and sensing methods. When the final expansion stage has been completed in 2018, a total of 85 researchers and test engineers will be working at CARISSMA.

The aim of this facility is to conduct applied research in order to enhance traffic safety in Germany and abroad. To this end, CARISSMA works with car manufacturers, scientists and research institutions all over the world. Working on an interdisciplinary basis, the scientists involved seek to tackle the social challenge of “Vision Zero” – achieving the ultimate goal of zero traffic deaths. Currently some 39,000 people are killed per year on Europe’s roads alone.

CARISSMA News

A digital passport for batteries: Rotary Prize for Dr. Carlos Rufino Júnior

The Rotary Club of Ingolstadt has awarded the Rotary Research Prize 2025 to Dr Carlos Rufino Júnior. The scientist, who conducts research at THI, was… more

Focus on digital accident analysis and safety: THI opens centre for vehicle forensics

How can an accident be digitally reconstructed - or electricity theft in an electric car proven? The new Centre for Vehicle Forensics at the THI will… more

Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt (THI) brings future technology to the road

In the "Automated Mobility Ingolstadt" real-world laboratory, the university is using a self-driving minibus on public roads for the first time. The… more

Impetus for tomorrow's mobility: International lecture series at Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt

The Technical University of Ingolstadt (THI) is once again offering its international lecture series on electromobility in the winter semester, for… more

International Lecture Series on Electric Mobility

Internationale Ringvorlesung zur Elektromobilität more

First doctorate at THI - a milestone for the university

Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt (THI) has completed its first doctorate under its doctoral program. Maximilian Bauder defended his dissertation at… more

Not perfect, but perfectly prepared: How a start-up is rethinking transport

Pascal Brunner sounds surprisingly relaxed when he talks about the past few years: the doctorate, the start-up thireks - and twin girls, born in the… more

CARISSMA launches Horizon Europe-project CERTAIN

On June 17th 2025, the kick-off meeting for the Horizon Europe-project CERTAIN took place at Applus+ IDIADA in Santa Oliva, Spain. more

State Secretary Tobias Gotthardt visits CARISSMA

How can intelligent technology prevent road accidents or significantly mitigate their consequences? CARISSMA at Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt… more

Companies from the district get to know the university

How do companies benefit from the knowledge of universities? What topics are driving research, and where are the specific points of contact for the… more

Three institutes are located at the CARISSMA research and test centre

The CARISSMA Institute of Safety in Future Mobility (C-ISAFE) is concerned with anticipatory accident detection and accident mitigation. It is concerned with global vehicle safety, which uses all the information available, including to guide unprotected road users safely through road traffic. With its predictive accident detection and mitigation it makes an important contribution to the EU's Vision Zero. This includes safety systems ranging from sensors to actuators and their evaluation in the context of automated driving. One focus is on protection in bad weather conditions.

The CARISSMA Institute of Automated Driving (C-IAD) focuses on the development, testing and validation of automated driving functions. In the context of road safety, the focus is on accident prevention. Here the institute is closely networked with the Research Center for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AININ - Artificial Network Ingolstadt) located at the THI. As a cross-sectional topic, the institute is intensively engaged in research on human factors (e.g. trust, acceptance, ethics) as well as user experience/usability evaluation in the field of automated driving.

The CARISSMA Institute of Electric, Connected and Secure Mobility (C-ECOS) is thematically broadly based and pursues the focal points of safe electromobility and accident analysis, Car2X communication in connection with intelligent traffic systems and cyber-physical systems as well as the focus on automotive IT security.

The three institutes use synergy effects both among themselves and with other THI facilities, including in the areas of testing and validation and safe automated driving. The CARISSMA spokesperson is responsible for the further networking and representation of the three institutes.

Speaker

Programme director and Academic advisor "Electrical Engineering and Electromobility" (Master), Research Professor for Vehicle Safety
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Birkner
Phone: +49 841 9348-3404
Room: A112
E-Mail:

Scientific Research Officer CARISSMA

Scientific Research Officer CARISSMA
Thomas Dorsch
Phone: +49 841 9348-3334
Room: H021
E-Mail:

Contact and Information

CARISSMA

Postal Address
PO Box 21 04 54
85019 Ingolstadt

Visitors' Address
Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt
Esplanade 10
85049 Ingolstadt

CARISSMA Outdoor test facility
Marie-Curie-Straße 19
85055 Ingolstadt

Phone: +49 841 9348-6121

E-Mail: info@carissma.eu  

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Location CARISSMA

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