Professorship at the University of Augsburg for Felix Büttner
Prof. Dr. Felix Büttner has been called at the University Augsburg. He heads now a joint research group at HZB. © Uni Augsburg
Felix Büttner has led a junior research group at HZB. Now he has accepted a call to the University of Augsburg. As head of a joint research group, he will continue his studies of magnetic skyrmions at BESSY II.
Felix Büttner has been leading a junior research group at HZB since the beginning of 2020, funded by the Young Investigator Grant of the Helmholtz Association. In spring 2022, he was awarded the Walter Schottky Prize of the German Physical Society for his pioneering achievements in the field of magnetic skyrmions. Since July, he holds a professorship at the Institute of Physics, University Augsburg.
Felix Büttner studied in Göttingen and received his doctorate in 2013 for his work at the interface of magnetism and X-ray physics. After a stint in industry at Daimler AG, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 2015-2020.
Prof. Dr. Büttner investigates nanotextures in magnetic thin-film materials and drives the development of ultrahigh-resolution X-ray microscopy techniques. The aim is to understand the particle-like dynamics of such topological textures and to prepare their application in information technology.
Under a cooperation agreement between the University of Augsburg and HZB, Büttner will work one day a week at HZB, where he runs laboratories in Wannsee and carries out measurements at BESSY II. His research group will remain in full size.
- 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 25 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.