International summer school Quantsol conveys basics of photovoltaics and solar energy conversion
For the sixth year in a row, future solar researchers are invited to attend the HZB’s International Summer School on Photovoltaics and New Concepts of Quantum Solar Energy Conversion – Quantsol. The summer school program is scheduled for September 8th through the 15th in Hirschegg, Austria, and has been organized jointly by the Helmholtz Centre Berlin and Ilmenau Technical University. All interested parties are welcome to apply before May 26, 2013.
“Over the last few years, Quantsol has established itself as a definite must for future solar researchers,” says HZB’s Prof. Dr. Klaus Lips. “The program’s intended audi-ence includes master's students in their last year of study, Ph.D. students, and post-docs and is an excellent introduction to pertinent photovoltaic topics.”
Experts from leading international research institutes and universities will be presenting the processes underlying the conversion of solar energy into chemical and electrical energy. At the same time, they are also addressing their technical application potential. Yet another focus is on different types of materials for photovoltaics. The researchers will also be presenting special analytic tools for characterizing solar cells and discuss them in-depth with participants.
All who are interested are encouraged to register for the Quantsol summer school program no later than May 26, 2013. Additional information about the program and the registration process can be found on the school's homepage.
- AI agents deliver results – but do they reason scientifically?A research team co-led by Kevin Maik Jablonka from the Helmholtz Institute for Polymers in Energy Applications Jena (HIPOLE Jena) and N. M. Anoop Krishnan from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi has developed Corral, a new benchmark for AI agents in science. The preprint “AI scientists produce results without reasoning scientifically” has been published on arXiv (https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2604.18805). The analysis shows that current systems can execute scientific workflows and deliver results; however, they often do not follow the basic principles of scientific testing and reasoning.
- Magnetic field during catalyst synthesis triples ammonia yieldApplying an external magnetic field during the synthesis of CoFe₂O₄ electrocatalysts triples the ammonia yield during electrocatalytic conversion. The magnetic field alters the surface states of the spinel oxide thin films, making catalytically active sites more accessible. In the journal 'Advanced Functional Materials', a team led by Marcel Risch at HZB and Sanjay Mathur at University of Cologne demonstrates a scalable strategy for developing next-generation electrocatalysts for efficient and sustainable chemical production.
- Materials chemistry shapes the future of catalysisThe synthesis of materials can serve as a tool for developing smart, adaptive electrocatalysts. This rapidly evolving field of research involves in-situ analytics, data-driven discoveries and autonomous robotics. These new approaches could accelerate the discovery of long-lasting and efficient catalysts for future energy conversion and the decarbonisation of the chemical industry. A recent article by Dr Prashanth Menezes and his team in the renowned journal Angewandte Chemie provides an overview of this research.