Monash University awards three HZB-scientist with adjunct professorships
Prof. Klaus Lips, Prof. Emad Aziz and Dr. Alexander Schnegg (f.l.t.r) have been awarded with adjunct professorships by Monash-University. © HZB
Cooperation between Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, is thriving. Now, Monash University has awarded three HZB-scientists with adjunct professorships: Prof. Klaus Lips, Dr. Alexander Schnegg and Prof. Emad Aziz have been working several years already with Prof. Leone Spiccia, an internationally renowned chemist at Monash University, on energy materials science.
Spiccia is investigating artificial photosynthesis in order to develop solutions to convert solar energy into easily storable hydrogen. In 2011 and 2014 he spend time as a guest scientist at HZB working with teams of Lips, Schnegg and Aziz. Numerous publications in high impact journals have been the result of this fruitful collaboration.
As adjunct professors the HZB-scientists are entitled to organise workshops and seminars at Monash University and to further common research projects. To do so, they are given access to the resources of ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science at Monash University.
.
- New contact material boosts the efficiency of perovskite solar cellsA newly developed material for the electron contact improves the efficiency of single perovskite solar cells and perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells. The new material is based on a carborane molecule. It offers several advantages over the standard material C60, as shown by the study led by Steve Albrecht’s team. The new material has since been patented and is already commercially available.
- BESSY II: New sample environment allows glimpse into thermocatalytic processesA novel measurement cell allows, for the first time, soft and hard X-ray investigations under high pressures of up to 20 bar and temperatures of up to 400°C. This provides new insights into thermocatalytic processes, such as the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis for producing synthetic fuels. The development of the measurement cell is considered a significant achievement within the Care-O-Sene project.
- From Colombia to Berlin: Finding My Way in a New WorldIt was almost 11 p.m. when I arrived in Berlin. After a long journey from Colombia, all I wanted was to get to my accommodation, take a shower, and finally sleep.
Instead, I missed my train. Thinking it would follow the same route as the previous one as it would in my hometown of Medellín I confidently boarded the next train. About twenty minutes later, I realized something was wrong. I was heading in the wrong direction.
As if that was not enough, my phone battery was almost empty. Suddenly, I found myself alone in a city I had never visited before, late at night, speaking a language I did not understand, with no idea how to get back.
This was not how I had imagined the beginning of my first international trip....