Saskia Vormfelde appointed new Administrative Director at HZB
Scientific Director, Bernd Rech, welcomes Saskia Vormfelde as the new Administrative Director. The joint term of office of the management duo begins on 1 September. © HZB
Saskia Vormfelde begins her term of office as Administrative Director at HZB on 1 September. She is moving from Freiburg ISE to Berlin.
The successful science manager succeeds Thomas Frederking, who retired after 32 years of service at HZB, including 13 years as Administrative Director.
Saskia Vormfelde holds a degree in business administration and was Administrative Director and member of the extended institute management at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) in Freiburg. Prior to this, she was Managing Director of a software development company for several years.
"I am very happy to be here at HZB now," says Saskia Vormfelde. "I was able to get to know the centre during the Helmholtz evaluation. I was very impressed with how HZB presented itself and am now looking forward to being a part of the team and helping to shape its future."
Bernd Rech, Scientific Director of HZB since 2017, is looking forward to working with Saskia Vormfelde. "HZB's mission is cutting-edge research," says Bernd Rech. "We can only fulfil this if the entire centre is behind it at all levels. Thomas Frederking and I have lived this maxim in all the years of our joint management. Now I'm very much looking forward to continuing along this path together with Saskia Vormfelde."
You can read a detailed portrait of Saskia Vormfelde in the next issue of Lichtblick, which will be published on 18 September.
- Berlin Science Award goes to Philipp AdelhelmBattery researcher Prof. Dr. Philipp Adelhelm has been awarded the 2024 Berlin Science Award. He is a professor at the Institute of Chemistry at Humboldt University in Berlin (HU) and heads a joint research group at HU and the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB). The materials scientist and electrochemist is investigating sustainable batteries, which play a key role in the success of the energy transition. He is one of the leading international experts in the field of sodium-ion batteries.
- 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.