A warm welcome for Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font from the HZB management (left: Thomas Frederking and right: Bernd Rech).
© Michael Setzpfandt / HZB
Chilean President visits Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin
Before we start: a quick look at the cookery book "Recipes from the research kitchen". The Chilean head of state is delighted with the gift, which presents recipes from researchers from all over the world.
© Michael Setzpfandt / HZB
A festively decorated lecture hall welcomes the Chileian guests and Bernd Rech introduces Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin.
© Michael Setzpfandt / HZB
Satisfied faces on José Miguel Benavente, Vice President of CORFO (left) and Bernd Rech, Scientific Director at HZB (right), after signing the Memorandum of Understanding.
© Michael Setzpfandt / HZB
The tour of BESSY II light source begins in the control room, here with Antje Vollmer (centre), spokeswoman for the facility.
© Michael Setzpfandt / HZB
The traditional picture on the bridge in the experimental hall with political representatives from Chile and the HZB team.
© Michael Setzpfandt / HZB
After the discovering the experimental hall, Gabriel Boric Font and the science minister Aisén Amalia Etcheverry Escudero take a look inside the Energy Materials in Situ Laboratory (EMIL) and learns more about catalysis research.
© Michael Setzpfandt / HZB
Three tents await guests on the forecourt in front of BESSY II light source.
Here you can find out more about green hydrogen and talk directly to the researchers.
© Michael Setzpfandt / HZB
In the second tent, the guests are welcomed by experts on the topic of research into new types of batteries.
© Michael Setzpfandt / HZB
In the last tent, guests discover next-generation solar cells.
© Michael Setzpfandt / HZB
The HZB team invited the Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation from Chile to this year's Falling Walls Summit in Berlin in November 2024 to deepen the exchange that has already begun. (f.l.t.r. A. Vollmer, B. Rech, A. A. Etcheverry Escudero and Thomas Frederking).
© Michael Setzpfandt / HZB
The President of Chile, Gabriel Boric Font, visited HZB on 11 June with a delegation of 50 people. Among the highlights of the evening were the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Chilean Corporation for the Promotion of Production (CORFO) and HZB and a visit to BESSY II light source.
The official delegation accompanying the Head of State on his presidential trip included representatives of national authorities, parliamentarians, businessmen, academics and researchers plus five ministers. After a short presentation of the research centre, they visited the X-ray source BESSY II and had the opportunity to talk directly to HZB scientists (see picture gallery).
The main topics were thin-film photovoltaics, from basic research to the production process, the development of new types of batteries, the production of green hydrogen and the development of new types of catalyst materials as the key to a climate-neutral industry.
Memorandum of Understanding between CORFO and HZB
During the visit, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between CORFO (Corporación de Fomento de la Producción*) and HZB. José Miguel Benavente, Executive Vice President of CORFO, and Bernd Rech, Scientific Director of HZB, expressed their delight at the future collaboration. The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding is to pave the way for new collaborations in renewable energy research, sustainable technology development and innovation, particularly in areas such as photovoltaics, lithium-based batteries, green hydrogen and sustainable fuels.
Chilean Science Minister invited to Falling Walls
Another highlight of the evening was Bernd Rech's official invitation to Aisén Amalia Etcheverry Escudero, Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, to attend this year's Falling Walls Summit in Berlin. On 8 November, a plenary table organised by HZB and the Falling Walls Foundation will take place on the topic of "Green transformation through innovation with renewable energies and global synergy".
Chilean delegation visits Europe
The Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin in Adlershof was the last stop on the Berlin programme of the Chilean delegation, which was also accompanied by the Chilean ambassador in Berlin. Through official visits to Germany and Sweden as well as the participation of international bodies in the Peace Summit for Ukraine in Switzerland and at the high-level political forum SDG4 (Sustainable Development Goals 4) on education in France, Chile aims to deepen its relations in Europe.
Chile and Germany currently share the chairmanship of the Climate Club, which now brings together 38 countries. During a press conference following a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Chilean President Boric emphasised the close bilateral relations, including in the field of science: ‘Germany is our most important partner in the European Union and our third most important partner at international level. It is good and important that we maintain and expand ties that go far beyond the economy, for example scientific cooperation and student exchanges."
*CORFO is an organisation of the Chilean government that aims to promote the country's productive activity by increasing competitiveness, research, productive or entrepreneurial innovation, entrepreneurship and investment, as well as strengthening human capital and technological capacity, in order to achieve economic and sustainable development.
- Susanne Nies appointed to EU advisory group on Green DealDr. Susanne Nies heads the Green Deal Ukraina project at HZB, which aims to support the development of a sustainable energy system in Ukraine. The energy expert has now also been appointed to the European Commission's scientific advisory group to comment on regulatory burdens in connection with the net-zero target (DG GROW).
- The future of corals – what X-rays can tell usThis summer, it was all over the media. Driven by the climate crisis, the oceans have now also passed a critical point, the absorption of CO2 is making the oceans increasingly acidic. The shells of certain sea snails are already showing the first signs of damage. But also the skeleton structures of coral reefs are deteriorating in more acidic conditions. This is especially concerning given that corals are already suffering from marine heatwaves and pollution, which are leading to bleaching and finally to the death of entire reefs worldwide. But how exactly does ocean acidification affect reef structures?
Prof. Dr. Tali Mass, a marine biologist from the University of Haifa, Israel, is an expert on stony corals. Together with Prof. Dr. Paul Zaslansky, X-ray imaging expert from Charité Berlin, she investigated at BESSY II the skeleton formation in baby corals, raised under different pH conditions. Antonia Rötger spoke online with the two experts about the results of their recent study and the future of coral reefs.
- Long-term stability for perovskite solar cells: a big step forwardPerovskite solar cells are inexpensive to produce and generate a high amount of electric power per surface area. However, they are not yet stable enough, losing efficiency more rapidly than the silicon market standard. Now, an international team led by Prof. Dr. Antonio Abate has dramatically increased their stability by applying a novel coating to the interface between the surface of the perovskite and the top contact layer. This has even boosted efficiency to almost 27%, which represents the state-of-the-art. After 1,200 hours of continuous operation under standard illumination, no decrease in efficiency was observed. The study involved research teams from China, Italy, Switzerland and Germany and has been published in Nature Photonics.