Recognition for Research on Smart Microgel Particles: Chemist Dr. Sebastian Seiffert Recipient of Reimund Stadler Award
The chemist Dr. Sebastian Seiffert has been chosen to receive the prestigious Reimund Stadler Award for his work in polymer science. Seiffert does research at Freie Universität and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin on “smart” microgel particles. The selection board on behalf of the German Chemical Society (Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker, GDCh) recognized Seiffert’s achievements in this field of research and also praised the interdisciplinary synergy between the university and the Helmholtz Center. The award has a monetary value of 2500 euros and will be presented in the fall of 2014. The recipient is expected to write trend reports for the GDCh on developments in the field of macromolecular chemistry for two years.
The microgels studied by Sebastian Seiffert have promising potential for applications in medicine, for example, as artificial environments for cells, or as self-healing materials in materials technology. The development of such applications requires an understanding of how the behavior of these materials depends on their nanoscopic structure. The Seiffert Group studies these properties at Freie Universität Berlin with the support of the Nanoscale Focus Area. For his research Seiffert uses the large-scale facilities of the Helmholtz-Zentrum, both at the research reactor BER II in Wannsee and at the electronic storage ring BESSY II in Adlershof. He continues the work of various pioneers, including that of the ground-breaking Mainz chemist Reimund Stadler himself.