A warm welcome: Summer students start at the HZB
Die Sommerstudierenden erkunden Berlin. © privat
Besuch des Naturkundemuseums Berlin. © privat
On 1 July 2024, 18 summer students from 15 nations started their work at HZB. Until 23 August, they will be supervised in various research teams and take on their own small project. For many students, this is their first contact with research.
"We are delighted that there were so many applications for places this year. The summer students are highly motivated to gain new experiences at HZB and in Berlin," says Marieke Hoog Antink. Together with Cécile Dufloux, Jennifer Kusch and Ana Anselmo, she is member of the organisation team. After a brief welcome and an introduction to research at the HZB, the summer students moved on to the departments on the very first day. There they have eight weeks to work independently on a project. They then will present their results to the other students and HZB staff at the end of the programme.
An attractive framing programme is offered as well: they will visit the Einstein Park in Potsdam, followed by a tour of the Adlershof science campus, during which they will visit the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt and BESSY II. At the Wannsee campus, the programme includes eye tumour therapy. The students will also attend a workshop on entrepreneurship offered by the HZB Technology Transfer department.
The summer students will blog about their experiences at work and during their spare time. Antonia Rötger from the Communications Department is offering an introduction to science communication.
We wish you a good time at HZB!
Links
- Helmholtz Doctoral Award for Hanna TrzesniowskiDuring her doctoral studies at the Helmholtz Centre Berlin, Hanna Trzesniowski conducted research on nickel-based electrocatalysts for water splitting. Her work contributes to a deeper understanding of alkaline water electrolysis and paves the way for the development of more efficient and stable catalysts. On 8 July 2025, she received the Helmholtz Doctoral Prize, which honours the best and most original doctoral theses in the Helmholtz Association.
- New department at HZB: ‘AI and Biomolecular Structures’Since 1 July 2025, Dr. Andrea Thorn has been setting up the new AI and Biomolecular Structures department at HZB. A biophysicist with many years of experience in AI-based tools for structural biology, she is looking forward to collaborating closely with the macromolecular crystallography team at the MX beamlines of BESSY II.
- New Helmholtz Young Investigator Group at HZB on perovskite solar cellsSilvia Mariotti starts building up the new Helmholtz Young Investigator Group ‘Perovskite-based multi-junction solar cells’. The perovskite expert, who was previously based at Okinawa University in Japan, aims to advance the development of multi-junction solar cells made from different perovskite layers.