HZB is involved in the Helmholtz exchange programme with China
With regard to Chinese institutions, the Helmholtz Beijing Office (photo) wants to promote the Helmholtz Association and its outstanding research environment and facilities as an attractive location for the training of young scientists. Photo © Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
The Helmholtz Association and the Office of China Postdoctoral Council, OCPC, are establishing a common exchange programme for Chinese postdocs. The young scientists will be researching at eight Helmholtz centres for two years before returning to China. HZB is also involved in the exchange programme, which runs from 2017 to 2021.
Two Chinese postdocs have recently started working at HZB, funded by a stipend from the programme. Dr. Junming Li is researching in the young investigator group “Materials and Interfaces for Stable Perovskite Solar Cells”. This group is headed by Dr. Antonio Abate, who is presently at Fuzhou University in China as a visiting professor. The second postdoc, Hongtao Yu, is working in the group of Prof. Dr. Yan Lu, an expert for colloid chemistry. Two more postdocs will be arriving at HZB at the beginning of 2018 in the scope of this exchange programme.
For their research stay, the postdocs are receiving a scholarship equally co-funded by the Chinese OCPC and the host centre. In total, 50 young researchers this year have received the opportunity to research at the Helmholtz centres under the supervision of experienced scientists, and to acquire valuable international experience.
The exchange programme between the Helmholtz Association and OCPC is the first of its kind on this scale. Previously, only very few young OCPC postdocs from China would be given the opportunity to research in another country. The postdoctoral exchange programme is intended to create a basis for long-term, sustainable cooperation between the two countries in science and education.
Helmholtz Centres involved:
FZJ (coordination), DESY, HZB, HZI, GFZ, GSI, KIT and HMGU
Also involved is the Helmholtz office in Beijing.
- Key technology for a future without fossil fuelsIn June and July 2025, catalyst researcher Nico Fischer spent some time at HZB. It was his sabbatical, he was relieved of his duties as Director of the Catalysis Institute in Cape Town for several months and was able to focus on research only. His institute is collaborating with HZB on two projects that aim to develop environmentally friendly alternatives using innovative catalyst technologies. The questions were asked by Antonia Rötger, HZB.
- 5000th patient treated with protons for eye tumoursFor more than 20 years, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) have been jointly offering proton radiation therapy for eye tumours. The HZB operates a proton accelerator in Berlin-Wannsee for this purpose, while Charité provides medical care for the patients. The 5000th patient was treated at the beginning of August.
- Iridium-free catalysts for acid water electrolysis investigatedHydrogen will play an important role, both as a fuel and as a raw material for industry. However, in order to produce relevant quantities of hydrogen, water electrolysis must become feasible on a multi-gigawatt scale. One bottleneck is the catalysts required, with iridium in particular being an extremely rare element. An international collaboration has therefore investigated iridium-free catalysts for acidic water electrolysis based on the element cobalt. Through investigations with various methods, among them experiments at the LiXEdrom at the BESSY II X-ray source in Berlin, they were able to elucidate processes that take place during water electrolysis in a cobalt-iron-lead oxide material as the anode. The study is published in Nature Energy.