Come to the Long Night of the Sciences in Wannsee: 17.06. from 5-0 p.m.
e will open our doors for the Long Night of the Sciences. Get exciting insights into our energy research, visit laboratories and ask us your questions about the energy transition. Our school lab invites you to take part in hands-on experiments - and a science show will keep you pumped up and amazed! Please bring your identity card!
Saturday promises beautiful summer weather and we will open our green, nature-oriented campus in Wannsee for you. Immerse yourself in the world of research for one night and bring lots of questions! At HZB, we work every day to develop materials and solutions for a climate-neutral society. See how ultra thin solar cells can be made and learn what we are doing to make green hydrogen cheaper to produce in large quantities in the future. We are also researching new batteries that can store more energy than conventional ones in Wannsee.
Twelve different laboratories alone are open to you. Experience our research up close: whether crystal structures, atomic layers, solar cells or our high-tech microscopes - there is something interesting for everyone. A guided tour for children "The fantastic properties of light and how to explain them" and a tour of the orchard meadow are also on the programme. In addition, there are exciting lectures, among others on the plastic flood or photovoltaics in building facades.
On the Science Street there are many information stands with experiments. Here you can talk directly to our researchers. Among other things, we will show you how the decommissioned research reactor BER II is to be dismantled in the coming years. In addition, we will present the therapy of eye tumours with protons - this is also carried out at the Wannsee site.
Feel free to take a break in between. Our canteen offers delicious food and drinks. We also cook for you with a solar cooker (when the sun is shining) and invite you to taste our nitrogen ice cream.
When and where?
17.06.2023 from 5-0 op.m.
Helmholtz Centre Berlin
Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1
14109 Berlin
To be reached by shuttle buses from S Wannsee
Access regulations:
For security reasons, the following regulations apply to visits to the HZB: Persons aged 16 and over must present their valid original identity card (alternatively passport). Admission for persons under 16 years of age is only permitted when accompanied by a person of full age.
Tickets:
Adults: €14, reduced €9, family €27 (other ticket types here). Combined ticket with use of public transport and special buses for the Long Night. Tickets for the Long Night can be purchased here. There is also a box office at our Wannsee location.
- Prashanth Menezes awarded prestigious VAIBHAV Fellowship by Government of IndiaThe Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, has announced the recipients of the Vaishvik Bhartiya Vaigyanik (VAIBHAV) Fellowship, a flagship initiative aimed at fostering collaboration between the Indian STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine) diaspora and leading research institutions in India. Among the 2025 awardees is Dr. Prashanth W. Menezes, Head of the Department of Materials Chemistry for Catalysis at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB).
- Porous Radical Organic framework improves lithium-sulphur batteriesA team led by Prof. Yan Lu, HZB, and Prof. Arne Thomas, Technical University of Berlin, has developed a material that enhances the capacity and stability of lithium-sulphur batteries. The material is based on polymers that form a framework with open pores (known as radical-cationic covalent organic frameworks or COFs). Catalytically accelerated reactions take place in these pores, firmly trapping polysulphides, which would shorten the battery life. Some of the experimental analyses were conducted at the BAMline at BESSY II.
- Metallic nanocatalysts: what really happens during catalysisUsing a combination of spectromicroscopy at BESSY II and microscopic analyses at DESY's NanoLab, a team has gained new insights into the chemical behaviour of nanocatalysts during catalysis. The nanoparticles consisted of a platinum core with a rhodium shell. This configuration allows a better understanding of structural changes in, for example, rhodium-platinum catalysts for emission control. The results show that under typical catalytic conditions, some of the rhodium in the shell can diffuse into the interior of the nanoparticles. However, most of it remains on the surface and oxidises. This process is strongly dependent on the surface orientation of the nanoparticle facets.