HZB re-certified as a compatibility-friendly company again
The new audit logo for long-time certified companies © berufundfamilie Service GmbH
HZB has been certified as a family-friendly employer since 2011. Now the research centre has successfully completed the re-auditing process and developed further measures to promote a life phase conscious working culture. The certificate is considered a seal of quality for the company's compatibility policy and is awarded by the board of trustees of berufundfamilie Service GmbH.
In autumn 2020, HZB conducted an employee survey which showed that most employees are aware of and appreciate the numerous options HZB offers: flexible working hours, mobile working, part-time models, advice and practical help for employees with care responsibilities or small children.
At the same time, the survey made it clear that the needs of many employees in terms of compatibility have increased - not only, but also because of Corona. The need for support, especially for people with family responsibilities, has increased in the past year. Anja Seehrich, who heads the Office for Work and Life (OWL) at HZB, has also noticed this in her consultations. "Most are glad to work at HZB because they can count on a lot of understanding and practical support here."
Over the next three years, HZB will establish further measures that employees and managers worked out together. These include, among other things, reviewing the existing rules on home office, management guidelines and raising awareness of mental and physical diseases.
- Industrial Research Fellow at HZB: More time for discussionsThe South African chemist Denzil Moodley is the first Industrial Research Fellow at HZB. He is playing a leading role in the CARE-O-SENE project. The Fellowship program aims to further accelerate the development of an efficient catalyst for a sustainable aviation fuel. An interview about the CARE-O-SENE project and why it is so important for scientists from industry and public research to work together.
- Electrical energy storage: BAM, HZB, and HU Berlin plan joint Berlin Battery LabThe Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), and Humboldt University of Berlin (HU Berlin) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish the Berlin Battery Lab. The lab will pool the expertise of the three institutions to advance the development of sustainable battery technologies. The joint research infrastructure will also be open to industry for pioneering projects in this field.
- Battery research: visualisation of aging processes operandoLithium button cells with electrodes made of nickel-manganese-cobalt oxides (NMC) are very powerful. Unfortunately, their capacity decreases over time. Now, for the first time, a team has used a non-destructive method to observe how the elemental composition of the individual layers in a button cell changes during charging cycles. The study, now published in the journal Small, involved teams from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), the University of Münster, researchers from the SyncLab research group at HZB and the BLiX laboratory at the Technical University of Berlin. Measurements were carried out in the BLiX laboratory and at the BESSY II synchrotron radiation source.