Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin expands its solar fuel research: Kathrin Aziz-Lange starts with her new Helmholtz Young Investigator Group

<div id="infowindow_7baf4b2e2c_2d5f6a_2d11d2_2d8f20_2d0000c0e166dc_7d" class="infowindow_7baf4b2e2c_2d5f6a_2d11d2_2d8f20_2d0000c0e166dc_7d infoValueContainer">
<div class="readOnlyInfoValue">Dr. Kathrin Aziz-Lange</div>
<div class="readOnlyInfoValue">Foto: HZB / B. Schurian&nbsp;</div>
</div>

Dr. Kathrin Aziz-Lange
Foto: HZB / B. Schurian 

Dr. Kathrin Maria Aziz-Lange has won approval to set up a Helmholtz Young Investigator Group (YIG) addressing the topic of solar fuels at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB). She will receive 250,000 Euros in annual support for a period of five years, with half from the Initiative and Networking Fund of the Helmholtz Association and half financed by HZB. The YIG will investigate materials that enable water splitting using sunlight and thereby store solar energy chemically in form of hydrogen.

The Helmholtz Association selected a total of 17 excellent Young Investigators to set up their own research groups out of a field of 250 international competitors at the end of October. “We are pleased that Kathrin Aziz-Lange convinced the jury of her research plans in the highly competitive selection process, and that she will now expand the research on solar fuels at HZB”, says Prof. Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla, Scientific Director of HZB.

Aziz-Lange is especially interested in the role of defects such as voids in the structures of novel systems of materials. These voids can lead to desirable as well as undesirable properties. She therefore wants to observe how the voids originate in catalysts and light-absorbing materials, and investigate “in operando” as to how the voids behave when subjected to electrical voltage and illumination while in contact with electrolytes. She will be able to bring to bear a diverse arsenal of spectroscopic methods available at BESSY II, EMIL@BESSY II, and at the Berlin Joint Lab for Electrochemical Interfaces (BelChem) along with partners from the Max Planck Society and Technische Universität Darmstadt.

Moreover, the programme enhances networking of Helmholtz Zentrums and universities. Kathrin Aziz-Lange, for example, is also active at Bielefeld University preparing for a university career.

About theHelmholtz Young Investigator Group

The funding programme for the Helmholtz YIGs is oriented toward highly qualified young scientists who have completed their doctoral dissertations during the previous two to six years. All the groups undergo interim reviews after about four years. If these reviews are positive, the heads of the groups generally receive long-term offers at the respective Helmholtz research centres.

Half the costs of the YIG are covered by the Initiative and Networking Fund of the President of the Helmholtz Association. The other half is contributed by the Helmholtz centres. The heads of the YIGs can generally finance three to four positions for their group as well as conference trips and portions of the required equipment and materials costs, in addition to their own positions.

For further information:
http://www.helmholtz.de/en/jobs_talents/funding_programs/helmholtz_young_investigators_groups/

arö

You might also be interested in

  • Quantum physicist Jens Eisert receives ERC Advanced Grant
    News
    30.03.2023
    Quantum physicist Jens Eisert receives ERC Advanced Grant
    Prof. Dr. Jens Eisert conducts research at the Dahlem Center for Complex Quantum Systems at Freie Universität Berlin and heads the joint research group with HZB for quantum computing and simulation. With his award-winning research project "DebuQC", he wants to explore the metaphorical boundary of the classical and quantum worlds. It is already his third ERC grant that Jens Eisert has received. The professor of theoretical quantum physics and his team want to clarify essential research questions about quantum technology and also explore the limits of this promising technology.
  • Catherine Dubourdieu receives ERC Advanced Grant
    News
    30.03.2023
    Catherine Dubourdieu receives ERC Advanced Grant
    Prof. Dr. Catherine Dubourdieu heads the Institute “Functional Oxides for Energy-Efficient Information Technology” at HZB and is Professor at the Physical and Theoretical Chemistry division at Freie Universität Berlin. The physicist and materials scientist specialises in nanometre-sized functional oxides and their applications in information technologies. She has now been awarded a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant for her research project “LUCIOLE”, which aims at combining ferroelectric polar textures with conventional silicon technologies.
  • Green hydrogen: How photoelectrochemical water splitting may become competitive
    Science Highlight
    20.03.2023
    Green hydrogen: How photoelectrochemical water splitting may become competitive
    Sunlight can be used to produce green hydrogen directly from water in photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells. So far, systems based on this "direct approach" have not been energetically competitive. However, the balance changes as soon as some of the hydrogen in such PEC cells is used in-situ for a catalytic hydrogenation reaction, resulting in the co-production of chemicals used in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The energy payback time of photoelectrochemical "green" hydrogen production can be reduced dramatically, the study shows.