Postdocs at HZB: Crucial for research, innovation and diversity
At HZB, 117 postdocs from 29 countries are employed. They play a crucial role in driving the main research activities, fostering creativity and innovation. To honor them, the Postdoc Appreciation Week was first organised in the USA in 2009 and has in the meantime become a regular event in Germany as well in the third week of September every year.
The Postdoc Appreciation Week will take place from 16 to 20 September 2024 and is an important occasion to recognise and celebrate postdocs for their significant contributions to research and academic life.
Bernd Rech, Scientific Director of HZB, emphasizes: "Our postdocs make a crucial contribution to scientific progress at HZB. They are not only involved in research but also contribute to the development of scientific infrastructures, take responsibility for supervising doctoral researchers, and support their career development. The Postdoc Appreciation Week is an excellent opportunity to highlight how indispensable our postdocs are to HZB, with their diversity and creativity."
During the Postdoc Appreciation Week, HZB postdocs have the opportunity to participate in various online trainings and events organized by institutions across Germany. More information about and registration sites for these events can be found here.
- Discover HZB at our Open Day on 28 AugustWe warmly invite you to our Open Day at the Lise Meitner Campus of the Helmholtz Centre Berlin (HZB) in Wannsee! A varied programme awaits you, featuring around 20 stations, guided tours, talks and hands-on activities for all.
- Hatice Mutlu appointed to the Helmholtz Institute HIPOLE in JenaProf. Dr Hatice Mutlu is the new professor of sustainable polymer chemistry at HIPOLE Jena, the Helmholtz Institute for Polymers in Energy Applications. On 17 August 2026, she visited the HZB campus in Berlin-Adlershof including the BESSY II lightsource and discussed future collaboration with researchers and the board of directors.
- A frustrated material, and a frustrating synthesisIn condensed matter physics, "frustration" is a technical term: it describes a lattice geometry where competing magnetic interactions cannot all be satisfied simultaneously. This summer at HZB, I have been trying to *make* a frustrated material, and in the process I discovered that the word also describes rather accurately what happens when your sample explodes for the third time in a week.