New HZB magazine lichtblick is out
The new HZB magazine lichtblick is out! Topics are: green hydrogen, construction projects and green construction for Ukraine, ... We invite you to browse through the online edition.
> Link to the English online edition
> Link to the German online edition
Excellent job: Michelle Browne was recently honoured with two awards: the Curios Mind Award from Manager Magazine and 3rd place in the Academic Young Talent Award. The lively Irishwoman is working hard towards her dream of producing inexpensive green hydrogen. Michael O. R. Kröher from Manager Magazin portrays the HZB researcher in the cover story of lichtblick.
The green reconstruction of Ukraine: As a candidate for EU accession, Ukraine must initiate a series of reforms and develop a reconstruction plan, all in the midst of the Russian war of aggression. A German-Ukrainian-Polish project aims to help make Ukraine's climate and energy policy fit for EU accession.
There is a lot to do: HZB's first detailed greenhouse gas balance sheet is now available. Climate and Energy Manager Carina Hanke explains in an interview which are the biggest CO2 emitters and what we need to do now to achieve our goal of becoming greenhouse gas neutral by 2035.
Many construction sites: a lot of building work will start in 2024, especially at the Adlershof site. The construction department provides a brief insight into new building projects.
Here’s to good collaboration: How can we work well together at HZB and advance our work culture? The Diversity Officers invited people to discuss these questions. Many employees contributed great ideas.
"We still have to keep banging away at it" This is what our new Equal Opportunities Officer says in an interview. " A lot of people shut their eyes and act as though everything’s just fine. Equality has not been achieved yet, despite all our efforts."
We hope you enjoy reading the latest lichtblick issue!
As always, we are very happy to receive topics, suggestions, and feedback!
- Israel Ibukun Olaniyan receives the Helmholtz Doctoral Award 2026At Helmholtz, more than 8,000 doctoral candidates conduct research. Eleven of them have now been honored for their original and outstanding work, among them Dr Israel Ibukun Olaniyan from the HZB. His doctoral thesis "Ferroelectricity at the nanoscale in epitaxial BaTiO3 on silicon" in the group of Professor Catherine Dubourdieu represents a step towards a new nanoelectronics based on topological defects, that can potentially help to create an energy efficient information technology.
- Does African Architecture exist?The world’s first Pan-African Architecture Biennale took place this September in Nairobi, Kenya. People from the worlds of architecture, art, academia and politics from 54 African countries and the diaspora had travelled to Nairobi to exchange ideas on traditional and contemporary building methods, materials, experiences and projects. Samira Aden co-organised this biennial as lead curator. We spoke to her about it.
- Nanosilver as an electrocatalyst for CO₂ reductionVia electrolysis, CO2 can be reduced to CO, a raw material for further chemical products such as fuels. Within the GreenQuest Project, an internation team led by HZB chemist Prashanth Menezes has now systematically investigated catalyst layers made of silver nanoparticles, varying both the size of the particles and their density. The best yield was achieved with nanoparticles with diameters of around 10 nm, which were loosely distributed. Furthermore, they demonstrated how the economic efficiency of the electrochemical cell can be enhanced by integrating an additional chemical reaction at the anode, enabling the simultaneous production of a valuable formic acid, hydrogen, and CO in one device.