Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg appoints Olga Kasian
Olga Kasian has accepted a professorship at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU).
Dr. Olga Kasian is investigating why catalysts for hydrogen production by water electrolysis are limited in efficiency. The chemist has now accepted a professorship at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). The W2 professorship is entitled "Materials for Electrochemical Energy Conversion" and is located at the Faculty of Engineering.
Olga Kasian completed her doctorate in 2013 at the State University of Chemical Technology in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, and was awarded as best young scientist of Dnepropetrovsk region in field of chemical technology. After a first postdoctoral stay in Germany, she joined the Max Planck Institute for Iron Research in Düsseldorf as an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow in 2015. That year she got the Award of the President of Ukraine for Young Scientists. Since May 2019, she has been leading the Helmholtz Young Investigator Group 'Dynamic Electrocatalytic Interfaces' at HZB and the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nuremberg for Renewable Energies (HI-ERN).
Together with her team, she is investigating how the catalytically active surfaces change under reaction conditions, using a wide range of methods including state of the art spectroscopy techniques available at the EMIL-Lab at the synchrotron radiation source BESSY II.
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- Hydrogen storage in MXene: It all depends on diffusion processesTwo-dimensional (2D) materials such as MXene are of great interest for hydrogen storage. An expert from HZB has investigated the diffusion of hydrogen in MXene using density functional theory. This modelling provides valuable insights into the key diffusion mechanisms and hydrogen's interaction with Ti₃C₂ MXene, offering a solid foundation for further experimental research.
- Excellent work-life balance continuesOn 17 June 2025, the certificates for the ‘berufundfamilie’ audit were awarded in Berlin. HZB received an award with distinction for its long-standing efforts to promote a work environment that supports work-life balance. The audit is regarded as a seal of quality for the systematic design of family- and life-phase-conscious HR policies.