New Opportunities for students in energy research:
Leading scientists presented the research programme for the two new graduate schools, HZB is organising together with HUB and UP.
© Jennifer Bierbaum/HZB
HZB starts two Graduate Schools with Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Universität Potsdam
Friday, 27 March 2015, the start of two new graduate schools on solar energy research was celebrated at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB). Hybrid4Energy, the Graduate School of Hybrid Materials for Efficient Energy Generation and Information Technologies, is a joint venture of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HUB) and HZB. The Graduate School HyPerCell focuses on a new type of thin film solar cells based on hybrid perovskite absorber materials and is organised by Universität Potsdam (UP) and HZB.
Opened by Prof. Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla, Scientific Director HZB, Prof. Jan-Hendrick Olbertz, President HUB and Prof. Robert Seckler, Vice President for Research and Junior Academics at UP, leading scientists of HZB and both universities gave overviews about the research programmes.
Hybrid4Energy, the Graduate School of Hybrid Materials for Efficient Energy Generation and Information Technologies, is a coordinated programme of the HUB and the HZB. It offers a structured, three-year period of multidisciplinary lectures and research on hybrid organic/inorganic systems for electronic, optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices. The knowledge gained will then be applied to the fields of renewable energy and next generation information technology. The programme embraces the full range of experiments and theory, physics and chemistry, as well as fundamental and applied research. This will allow the participants to bridge commonly separated disciplines of research, which will enable novel research approaches and concepts. The research-based training will be supplemented by measures to support the provision of key competences, under the guidance of the Humboldt Graduate School (HGS) of the HUB.
The Graduate School on Perovskites, HyPerCell, is organized by Universität Potsdam (UP) and HZB. Students will work on a new type of thin film solar cells based on so-called organometallic perovskites. Despite the recent achievements reported for perovskite-based solar cells, many basic material properties including charge transport and recombination processes are not yet understood on a fundamental level. Currently, the highest efficiencies for these solar cells are achieved using a lead-based compound. Therefore a partial or complete replacement of this metal by a non-toxic alternative will be one of the goals of the research programme. Since research on perovskite solar cells is highly interdisciplinary, the school will provide PhD students with comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the chemistry and physics of perovskite-based tandem devices during a structured, three-year curriculum. The programme comprises lectures, lab-courses, workshops and seminar, offered by renowned specialists in their respective field. The research-based training will be supplemented by measures to support the provision of key competences, under the guidance of the Potsdam Graduate School (PoGS) of the UP.
More Information on Hybrid4Energy
More Information on HyPerCell
- BESSY II: Evaporated perovskites in tandem solar cells improvedPerovskite-silicon tandem solar cells achieve significantly higher efficiencies than silicon solar cells on their own. One particularly attractive method is co-evaporation of the perovskite precursor molecules on top of the silicon subcell. Scientists at HZB have analysed film growth on the nanoscale at BESSY II and found a new way to improve the quality of the perovskite layer: adding a thin seed layer of caesium chloride between the two sub-cells promotes uniform perovskite growth and suppresses the formation of undesired lead iodide at the interface.
- Hatice Mutlu appointed to the Helmholtz Institute HIPOLE in JenaProf. Dr Hatice Mutlu is the new professor of sustainable polymer chemistry at HIPOLE Jena, the Helmholtz Institute for Polymers in Energy Applications. On 17 August 2026, she visited the HZB campus in Berlin-Adlershof including the BESSY II lightsource and discussed future collaboration with researchers and the board of directors.
- Green hydrogen with PEC electrolysers: New insights into transport processesOne method of storing solar energy is to use PEC electrolysers to produce hydrogen. However, scaling up this technology remains challenging. Now, a team at the HZB Institute for Solar Fuels has used 2D fluorescence imaging and particle velocimetry to observe the movement of ions and dissolved gases within the electrolyte during electrolysis. These new insights may prove useful in the development of larger PEC electrolysers.