New Materials for Photovoltaics: HZB starting its first own Graduate School
Prof. Susann Schorr with participants of Graduate School MatSEC
Well-structured Ph.D. program
New HZB Graduate School: Ph.D. candidates to study materials for energy conversion
Yesterday’s workshop was the official starting signal for the opening of the Helmholtz Center Berlin’s new Materials for Solar Energy Conversion (MatSEC) Graduate School. MatSEC is the first HZB graduate training program for the Center’s doctoral students. The school is located at the Dahlem Research School (DRS) of the Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin). Up to ten Ph.D. students will be able to take advantage of MatSEC’s course offerings while working towards their degree.
The MatSEC graduate school’s focus is on the study of kesterites, a new class of materials used in photovoltaics. Kesterites are considered highly promising absorption film candidates for thin-film photovoltaics and could potentially double as photoelectrodes for splitting water using solar energy. The ultimate goal is to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between this connecting semiconductor’s internal structure and its properties. This knowledge could aid researchers in developing customized materials for use in more cost-effective and efficient solar cells.
Prof. Dr. Susan Schorr, head of the Department for Crystallography at the HZB and a professor at FU Berlin, is the new graduate school’s spokesperson. Research groups at FU Berlin, the Technical University of Berlin, the Humboldt University of Berlin, and the Brandenburg University of Technology in Cottbus are all partners of the new graduate school. “It is precisely in this interdisciplinary research structure that MatSEC’s strengths lie,” says Schorr.
Doctoral students attend lectures that are relevant to their research at the different participating university campuses. Workshops, study abroad programs, and course offerings at the Dahlem Research School complement the program. “We’re thrilled that we’re able to offer seven additional spots for students as part of our graduate program,” says Gabriele Lampert, Ph.D. coordinator at the HZB.
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- Bernd Rech elected to the BR50 Board of DirectorsThe Scientific Director at Helmholt-Zentrum Berlin is the new face behind the "Natural Sciences" unit at Berlin Research 50 (BR50). Following the election in December 2025, the constituent meeting of the new BR50 Board of Directors took place on 22 January 2026.
Its members are Michael Hintermüller (Weierstrass Institute, WIAS), Noa K. Ha (German Centre for Integration and Migration Research, DeZIM), Volker Haucke (Leibniz Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology, FMP), Uta Bielfeldt (German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin, DRFZ) and Bernd Rech (HZB).
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