Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin expands its solar fuel research: Kathrin Aziz-Lange starts with her new Helmholtz Young Investigator Group
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/
- Freeze casting - a guide to creating hierarchically structured materialsFreeze casting is an elegant, cost-effective manufacturing technique to produce highly porous materials with custom-designed hierarchical architectures, well-defined pore orientation, and multifunctional surface structures. Freeze-cast materials are suitable for many applications, from biomedicine to environmental engineering and energy technologies. An article in "Nature Reviews Methods Primer" now provides a guide to freeze-casting methods that includes an overview on current and future applications and highlights characterization techniques with a focus on X-ray tomoscopy.
- Cooperation with the Korea Institute of Energy ResearchOn Friday, 19 April 2024, the Scientific Director of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Bernd Rech, and the President of the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), Yi Chang-Keun, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Daejeon (South Korea).
- Clean cooking fuel with a great impact for southern AfricaBurning biomass for cooking causes harmful environmental and health issues. The German-South African GreenQUEST initiative is developing a clean household fuel. It aims to reduce climate-damaging CO2 emissions and to improve access to energy for households in sub-Saharan Africa.