HZB Newsroom

  • Best Innovator Award 2023 for Artem Musiienko
    News
    22.03.2024
    Best Innovator Award 2023 for Artem Musiienko
    Dr. Artem Musiienko has been awarded a special prize for his groundbreaking new method for characterising semiconductors. At the recent annual conference of the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) in Milan, Italy, he received the MCAA Award for the best innovation. Since 2023, Musiienko has been carrying out his research project with a postdoctoral fellowship from the Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions in Antonio Abate's department, Novel Materials and Interfaces for Photovoltaic Solar Cells (SE-AMIP).
  • Sebastian Keckert wins Young Scientist Award for Accelerator Physics
    News
    21.03.2024
    Sebastian Keckert wins Young Scientist Award for Accelerator Physics
    Dr Sebastian Keckert has been awarded the Young Scientist Award for Accelerator Physics of the German Physical Society (DPG). The prize is endowed with 5000 euros and was presented to him on 21.03. during the spring conference in Berlin. It honours the physicist's outstanding achievements in the development of new superconducting thin-film material systems for cavities.

  • ERC Consolidator Grant for HZB researcher Robert Seidel
    News
    04.03.2024
    ERC Consolidator Grant for HZB researcher Robert Seidel
    Physicist Dr Robert Seidel has been awarded a Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). Over the next five years, he will receive a total of two million euros for his research project WATER-X. Seidel will use state-of-the-art X-ray techniques at BESSY II to study nanoparticles in aqueous solution for the photocatalytic production of "green" hydrogen.
  • Prof. Dr. Yan Lu: Developing new types of batteries sustainably
    News
    12.01.2024
    Prof. Dr. Yan Lu: Developing new types of batteries sustainably
    Yan Lu is appointed new Professor of Hybrid Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion at Friedrich Schiller University Jena together with HZB. Congratulations!
  • Steve Albrecht is one of the “Highly Cited Researchers 2023”
    News
    15.11.2023
    Steve Albrecht is one of the “Highly Cited Researchers 2023”
    Every year, countless articles are published in specialist journals. The information service provider Clarivate uses a recognised method to measure the influence of the published articles on the respective subject area. According to this year's evaluation, HZB researcher Steve Albrecht is one of the most "highly cited researchers" having a significant influence on his field. Albrecht and his team have been involved in several world records for tandem solar cells in recent years and have published the results in high-ranking scientific journals. 
  • Curious Mind Award for Michelle Browne
    News
    23.10.2023
    Curious Mind Award for Michelle Browne
    On Thursday, 12 October 2023, Michelle Browne received a prestigious award in Hamburg: The "Curious Mind Award" in the category "Mobility, Energy and Sustainable Business" by manager magazin. 
  • Revolutionary material science: Helmholtz High Impact Award for Novel Tandem Solar Cells
    News
    29.09.2023
    Revolutionary material science: Helmholtz High Impact Award for Novel Tandem Solar Cells
    A multidisciplinary team from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ) is researching and improving novel tandem solar cells in order to bring them into application. For their approach and research achievements, Steve Albrecht, Antonio Abate and Eva Unger from HZB and Michael Saliba from FZJ received the High Impact Award on 27 September 2023. With the award, which comes with 50,000 euros in prize money, the Helmholtz Association and the Donors’ Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany honour innovative approaches that have the potential to act as game-changers.
  • Record-breaking tandem solar cell now with precise scientific explanations
    Science Highlight
    06.07.2023
    Record-breaking tandem solar cell now with precise scientific explanations
    The world's best tandem solar cells, consisting of a silicon bottom cell and a perovskite top cell, can today convert around one-third of incident solar radiation into electrical energy. These are record values, especially for a potentially very low-cost technology. A team at HZB is now providing the scientific data for the first time and describing how this development was achieved in the renowned journal Science. 
  • “Jugend-forscht” winners at HZB (Update)
    News
    17.05.2023
    “Jugend-forscht” winners at HZB (Update)
    Charlotte Klar and Katharina Austermann (both 18) have already come a long way: With their experiments on pyrolytic graphite, they are trying to solve a puzzle they found in the technical literature on diamagnetism. With their work, they convinced both the Jugend-forscht-Jury at the Berlin South Regional Competition and the Berlin Competition. Now, they will join the national competition which will take place from 18 to 21 May in Bremen.

  • Humboldt Fellow joins HZB for battery research
    News
    02.05.2023
    Humboldt Fellow joins HZB for battery research
    Dr. Wenxi Wang is working in the team of Prof. Yan Lu as Humboldt Foundation postdoctoral fellow. He studied at the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, and completed his doctorate at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. He specialises in the precise design of organic electrodes for lithium-sulfur and zinc-ion batteries and the investigation of the interactions between ions and active materials.
  • Visit from the Czech Republic regarding Apprenticeship
    News
    17.04.2023
    Visit from the Czech Republic regarding Apprenticeship
    End of March, a delegation from the Czech Republic visited HZB at the Wannsee campus. The programme included a visit to the apprentices’ workshop and exchanges regarding opportunities for apprenticeships and upskilling at HZB.

  • SXR2023: Deadline for submissions April 15
    News
    05.04.2023
    SXR2023: Deadline for submissions April 15
    The SXR2023 (Principles of Functionality from Soft-X-Ray Spectroscopy) brings together young and experienced scientists to discuss recent scientific highlights, trends, and current advances with soft X-ray spectroscopy. Our goal is to further understanding on the atomic level. The impetus is to influence and ideally shape functionality in materials and molecular systems. In this effort, scientists cross intentionally the boundaries between physics, chemistry and materials and focus on the unifying aspects of functionality. Insights to the governing principles are often based on the combination of experiment with first principles theory and models. Thus a profound description of X-ray matter interaction — creating the spectroscopic observables — is always underlying.
  • TU Berlin appoints Renske van der Veen as professor
    News
    22.02.2023
    TU Berlin appoints Renske van der Veen as professor
    For the past two years, Dr Renske van der Veen has led a research group in time-resolved X-ray spectroscopy and electron microscopy at HZB. Her research focuses on catalytic processes that enable, for example, the production of green hydrogen. She has now been appointed to a S-W2 professorship at the Institute of Optics and Atomic Physics (IOAP) at the Technische Universität Berlin.
  • Maria Skłodowska Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship for Artem Musiienko
    News
    15.02.2023
    Maria Skłodowska Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship for Artem Musiienko
    Dr. Artem Musiienko has earned a prestigious Maria Skłodowska Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship for his research project HyPerGreen. In the group of Prof. Antonio Abate, HZB, Musiienko will explore and improve lead-free perovskite solar cells with the goal to increase their efficiency to more than 20 %.  
  • HZB physicist appointed to Gangneung-Wonju National University, South Korea
    News
    25.01.2023
    HZB physicist appointed to Gangneung-Wonju National University, South Korea
    Since 2016, accelerator physicist Ji-Gwang Hwang has been working at HZB in the department of storage rings and beam physics. He has made important contributions to beam diagnostics in several projects at HZB. He is now returning to his home country, South Korea, having accepted a professorship in physics at Gangneung-Wonju National University.
  • Helmholtz Visiting Researcher Grant
    News
    11.01.2023
    Helmholtz Visiting Researcher Grant
    Are you a doctoral researcher or Postdoc and your research has a strong link to (applied) data and information sciences?

  • Call for “Helmholtz young investigator groups”: apply now!
    News
    06.01.2023
    Call for “Helmholtz young investigator groups”: apply now!
    We are looking for young excellent scientists with leadership skills. Do you want to perform an innovative research project in one of HZB's research fields? Then apply by 20.02.2023!
  • Tiburtius Prize for Eike Köhnen
    News
    07.12.2022
    Tiburtius Prize for Eike Köhnen
    On Tuesday, 6 December 2022, Dr. Eike Köhnen received the Tiburtius Prize (First Place) for outstanding dissertations. Eike Köhnen has contributed to significantly increasing the efficiency of tandem solar cells made of perovskite and silicon, to the point of setting world records.
  • International Summer Student Programme – apply now!
    News
    28.11.2022
    International Summer Student Programme – apply now!
    Would you like to spend a great summer in Berlin and gain unique experience in research? Then come and join us at HZB from 3 July to 25 August 2023! We invite students from all over the world to drive their own research project at HZB for eight weeks. Gain interesting insights and experience. We look forward to seeing you!

  • 15 young people start their careers at HZB
    News
    02.09.2022
    15 young people start their careers at HZB
    On 1 September, HZB welcomed 15 new employees who are starting an apprenticeship, a dual study programme or a voluntary year at HZB. At an introductory event at the Wannsee site, HZB's Administrative Director Thomas Frederking welcomed the new employees and wished them a good start at the research centre.

  • Professorship at the University of Augsburg for Felix Büttner
    News
    29.08.2022
    Professorship at the University of Augsburg for Felix Büttner
    Felix Büttner has led a junior research group at HZB. Now he has accepted a call to the University of Augsburg. As head of a joint research group, he will continue his studies of magnetic skyrmions at BESSY II.
  • Humboldt Fellow Alexander Gray comes to HZB
    News
    12.08.2022
    Humboldt Fellow Alexander Gray comes to HZB
    Alexander Gray from Temple University in Philadelphia, USA, is working with HZB physicist Florian Kronast to investigate novel 2D quantum materials at BESSY II. With the fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, he can now deepen this cooperation. At BESSY II, he wants to further develop depth-resolved X-ray microscopic and spectroscopic methods in order to investigate 2D quantum materials and devices for new information technologies even more thoroughly.
  • Young investigator research group on electrocatalysis at HZB
    News
    01.08.2022
    Young investigator research group on electrocatalysis at HZB
    Dr. Michelle Browne establishes her own young investigator group at the HZB . Starting in August, the group is co-funded by the Helmholtz Association for the next five years. The electrochemist from Ireland concentrates on electrolytically active novel material systems and wants to develop next-generation electrocatalysts, for example hydrogen production. At HZB she will find the perfect environment to conduct her research.
  • HZB researcher Olga Kasian honored as young scientist
    News
    24.06.2022
    HZB researcher Olga Kasian honored as young scientist
    The Werner-von-Siemens-Ring Foundation has accepted Prof. Dr. Olga Kasian into its network in recognition of her outstanding scientific achievements. Olga Kasian heads a junior research group on electrocatalysis at HZB and is a professor at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). The foundation has been honoring young researchers in the technical and natural sciences since 1977 and offers them unique opportunities for interdisciplinary networking.

  • HZB researcher follows the call to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem
    News
    01.06.2022
    HZB researcher follows the call to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem
    Ronen Gottesman has been a scientist at the HZB Institute for Solar Fuels for the past five years, establishing the pulsed laser deposition team and developing novel complex metal-oxide semiconducting lightabsorbers for photoelectrochemical water splitting to produce "green" hydrogen. Now he is following a call to the Institute of Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel (HUJI), where he will lead his own research group. 
  • Jan Lüning heads HZB Institute for Electronic Structure Dynamics
    News
    09.05.2022
    Jan Lüning heads HZB Institute for Electronic Structure Dynamics
    The HZB Institute for Electronic Structure Dynamics, newly founded on 1 May, develops experimental techniques and infrastructures to investigate the dynamics of elementary microscopic processes in novel material systems. This will help to optimise functional materials for sustainable technologies.
  • From Dublin to Berlin as a Humboldt Research Fellow
    News
    10.03.2022
    From Dublin to Berlin as a Humboldt Research Fellow
    Dr. Katarzyna Siewierska joins the group of Prof. Alexander Föhlisch as a postdoctoral Humboldt Research fellow. She has earned her PhD at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, and plans in the next two years to explore the electronic structure and spin dynamics of half-metallic thin films at BESSY II.  Understanding these spintronic materials better may pave the way for more energy efficient data storage technologies.
  • Dissertation Prize Adlershof 2021 goes to Amran Al-Ashouri
    News
    21.02.2022
    Dissertation Prize Adlershof 2021 goes to Amran Al-Ashouri

    On February 17, 2022, the Adlershof Dissertation Prize was awarded for the 20th time. Dr. Amran Al-Ashouri (3rd from right) from the HZB young investigator research group "Perovskite tandem solar cells" received the prize endowed with 3,000 euros. The physicist is researching how new organic contact layers can be used to optimize highly efficient perovskite silicon tandem solar cells.

  • New board „HZB Succeed“ has been founded
    News
    11.02.2022
    New board „HZB Succeed“ has been founded
    To support the development of young scientists at HZB in the best possible way - this has been a long-standing goal of the HZB. Now this task will be pursued even more strategically. To this end, the new board “HZB Succeed” has been founded in January 2022.
  • Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin appoints Eva Unger to professorship
    News
    02.02.2022
    Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin appoints Eva Unger to professorship
    Eva Unger was now appointed as W2 professor at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Prof. Dr. Eva Unger leads a research group at HZB. She develops scalable technologies for the production of perovskite semiconductors for low-cost and highly efficient solar cells.
  • Call for “Helmholtz young investigator groups”: apply now!
    News
    04.01.2022
    Call for “Helmholtz young investigator groups”: apply now!
    We are looking for young excellent scientists looking for leadership! Do you want to perform an innovative research project in one of HZB's research fields? Then apply by 28.02.2022!
  • Walter-Schottky-Award for Felix Büttner
    News
    18.11.2021
    Walter-Schottky-Award for Felix Büttner
    The Walter Schottky Prize honours outstanding work by young physicists in solid-state research. For 2022, the award goes to HZB physicist Dr Felix Büttner for his groundbreaking achievements in the field of magnetic skyrmions.

  • Professorship for Antonio Abate at Bielefeld University
    News
    03.11.2021
    Professorship for Antonio Abate at Bielefeld University
    Dr. Antonio Abate investigates perovskite semiconductors for low-cost and highly efficient solar cells and heads a large research group at the Helmholtz Centre Berlin. Now he has accepted a W2 professorship in the Department of Chemistry at Bielefeld University.

  • Life Time Achievement Award for Roland Müller
    News
    21.10.2021
    Life Time Achievement Award for Roland Müller
    Accelerator and control systems expert Roland Müller received the ICALEPCS Lifetime Achievement Award. In the more than thirty years of his career at BESSY, the physicist has advanced many projects on control systems at accelerators and has been particularly committed to the international exchange of knowledge.

  • Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg appoints Olga Kasian
    News
    13.10.2021
    Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg appoints Olga Kasian
    Dr. Olga Kasian is investigating why catalysts for hydrogen production by water electrolysis are limited in efficiency. The chemist has now accepted a professorship at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). The W2 professorship is entitled "Materials for Electrochemical Energy Conversion" and is located at the Faculty of Engineering.

  • Portrait Annette Pietzsch: Researching fundamental phenomena of our world
    Portrait
    07.10.2021
    Portrait Annette Pietzsch: Researching fundamental phenomena of our world
    Annette Pietzsch has many jobs: the physicist develops instruments for BESSY II that researchers can use to observe how molecules interact with each other. She mostly prefers to use the instruments to do her own research. This is what brought her from Sweden to HZB ten years ago.
  • Paralympics: Colleague Felicia Laberer wins bronze medal
    News
    05.09.2021
    Paralympics: Colleague Felicia Laberer wins bronze medal
    Felicia Laberer wins a bronze medal in canoeing at the 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo. We are happy with her and congratulate very much. At HZB, the 20-year-old is currently an apprentice as an office management assistant. In June, the canoeist had already earned the European Championship.

  • Renske van der Veen heads new department "Atomic Dynamics in Light-Energy Conversion"
    News
    02.06.2021
    Renske van der Veen heads new department "Atomic Dynamics in Light-Energy Conversion"
    From June 2021, Dr. Renske van der Veen is setting up a new research group at HZB. The chemist is an expert in time-resolved X-ray spectroscopy and electron microscopy and studies catalytic processes that enable the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy.

  • Virtual tours: Experience the HZB in 360 degrees!
    News
    15.04.2021
    Virtual tours: Experience the HZB in 360 degrees!

    Unfortunately, due to Corona, we are currently unable to receive groups of visitors at HZB and guide them through our centre. Despite Corona, we would like to provide you with insights into HZB. Simply follow our 360-degree tours and experience how we conduct research at the BESSY II accelerator. Further tours are being planned.

  • The HZB Graduate Center is here now
    News
    04.02.2021
    The HZB Graduate Center is here now
    The HZB “DR coordination” is now the HZB Graduate Center. Since the beginning of 2018, the DR coordination has been continuously expanding the offers and standards at the HZB for doctoral researchers and their advisors. The ideas and suggestions that were collected in discussions with numerous stakeholders and in various HZB committees on this topic are leading the path and are incorporated in the set up of a uniform HZB-wide umbrella structure for doctoral researchers and their advisors - the HZB Graduate Center.

  • HZB is one of the best trainers in Berlin
    News
    12.10.2020
    HZB is one of the best trainers in Berlin
    The Berlin-South Employment Agency has awarded the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin for an innovative  procedure to select applicants for apprenticeships and dual studies not only on the basis of their grades, but also to include communicative and social skills. A total of eight Berlin companies were awarded the Certificate for Young Talent Promotion 2019/2020.
  • HZB and TU Berlin: New joint research group at BESSY II
    News
    21.09.2020
    HZB and TU Berlin: New joint research group at BESSY II
    Birgit Kanngießer is setting up a joint research group to combine X-ray methods in laboratories and at large-scale facilities. In particular, the physicist wants to investigate how X-ray experiments on smaller laboratory instruments can be optimally complemented with more complex experiments that are only possible at synchrotron sources such as BESSY II. 
  • New Materials for Energy Storage: ERC Starting Grant for Tristan Petit
    News
    03.09.2020
    New Materials for Energy Storage: ERC Starting Grant for Tristan Petit
    Dr. Tristan Petit has received a prestigious Starting Grant from the European Research Council for 1.5 million euros over the next five years. The materials researcher will use the grant to investigate a new class of materials known as MXenes for storing electrical energy. MXenes can store and deliver large amounts of electrical energy extremely quickly. They might play an important role in energy storage alongside batteries and supercapacitors. The ERC Starting Grant is one of the most important European research grants.

  • Humboldt-University Berlin appoints Jan Lüning
    News
    31.07.2020
    Humboldt-University Berlin appoints Jan Lüning
    Prof. Dr. Jan Lüning, Scientific Director at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), was appointed to an S-W3 professorship at Humboldt University in Berlin in July. The professorship is entitled "Electronic Properties of Materials/X-ray Analysis" and is part of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Humboldt University Berlin.
  • Portrait: The athlete in the lab coat
    Portrait
    23.04.2020
    Portrait: The athlete in the lab coat
    Steve Albrecht is researching on perovskite solar cells and holds several efficiency world records with his team. Back in his schooldays, he was going to become either a competitive gymnast or a scientist. He chose science, but the same athletic ambition still drives his research forward.
  • New Helmholtz Young Investigator Group at HZB
    News
    28.02.2020
    New Helmholtz Young Investigator Group at HZB
    Dr. Felix Büttner will establish a Helmholtz Young Investigator Group (YIG) on topological solitons at the HZB beginning in March 2020. Topological solitons occur in magnetic quantum materials and can contribute to extremely energy-efficient switching processes. Büttner wants to develop a new imaging technique at BESSY II to study these quasi-particles.
  • Doctoral student receives Erhard Höpfner Thesis Award
    News
    14.02.2020
    Doctoral student receives Erhard Höpfner Thesis Award
    On 11 February 2020, Max Grischek received the Erhard Höpfner Thesis Prize, worth 2000 euros, which is awarded by a jury of the Berlin Scientific Society for outstanding theses. Grischek studied at the Technische Universität Berlin and wrote his master thesis in the young investigator research group "Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells" at HZB.
  • Unique X-ray experiments for school classes: The X-ray mobile will arrive at the HZB
    News
    28.01.2020
    Unique X-ray experiments for school classes: The X-ray mobile will arrive at the HZB
    What is ultraviolet radiation? What are X-rays used for? And what is radioactivity again? These questions are on the curriculum in physics lessons, but vivid experiments on these topics are rare. From 5 to 13 March 2020, pupils can conduct experiments on these topics in the HZB's school laboratory in Berlin-Adlershof. The public is invited to attend on 12 March.
  • Der landesbeste Feinwerkmechaniker 2019 kommt aus dem HZB
    Interview
    14.11.2019
    Der landesbeste Feinwerkmechaniker 2019 kommt aus dem HZB
    Bereits im dritten Jahr in Folge darf sich das HZB über einen außergewöhnlichen Erfolg bei der Feinwerkmechaniker-Ausbildung freuen. Shayne Fraiss beendete seine Ausbildung als Bester seines Jahrgangs in Berlin. Wir haben ihn und seine Ausbilder gefragt, was das Geheimrezept für diesen Erfolg ist.
  • Poster award for Götz Schuck
    News
    11.10.2019
    Poster award for Götz Schuck
    At the 5th International Conference on Perovskite Solar Cells and Optoelectronics (PSCO-19) Dr. Götz Schuck received a prize for his poster contribution. The international conference took place from 30.09.2019 to 02.10.2019 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • FOCUS TOPIC: From MIT to Wannsee
    Portrait
    19.09.2019
    FOCUS TOPIC: From MIT to Wannsee

    For Marcel Risch, it feels like a homecoming: as a student, he had previously run experiments at the Berlin particle accelerator BESSY II. After working for several years at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and then in Göttingen, he is now establishing his own group at HZB – supported by funding from the European Research Council.

  • Poster award for HZB doctoral student
    News
    06.09.2019
    Poster award for HZB doctoral student

    Javier Villalobos has been awarded for the best poster at the International Workshop on Correlated Dynamics in Energy Conversion (IWCE 19) in Göttingen. The doctoral student works in the young investigator group "Oxygen Evolution Mechanism Engineering". His research contributes to a better understanding of electrocatalytic oxygen evolution.

  • FOCUS TOPIC: Catching more light in solar cells
    Portrait
    05.08.2019
    FOCUS TOPIC: Catching more light in solar cells
    Christiane Becker uses microscopic structures to increase the amount of light captured in solar cells and is currently scaling up the technology for industrial application. “On top of everything else, there’s this spirit at HZB that we are working on the renewable energies of the future, and that is incredibly inspiring,” she relates in portrait.
  • Summer in the laboratory: 24 students from all over the world start their summer project
    News
    10.07.2019
    Summer in the laboratory: 24 students from all over the world start their summer project
    For eight weeks the summer students are now working on a research project at the Helmholtz Centre Berlin. Experienced scientists of the HZB will support them. On Thursday, 30 August, they will present their results.
  • Steve Albrecht wins the 2019 Karl Scheel Prize
    News
    28.06.2019
    Steve Albrecht wins the 2019 Karl Scheel Prize
    This year's Karl Scheel Prize from the Physikalische Gesellschaft zu Berlin honours Steve Albrecht of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie for his work in the field of highly efficient tandem solar cell absorbers made of metal-halide perovskites.
  • HZB-Doktorand receives poster award
    News
    24.05.2019
    HZB-Doktorand receives poster award
    At the spring meeting of the Materials Research Society, Jakob Bombsch received an award for his poster on CIGSe absorbers for thin-film photovoltaics. Bombsch is a researcher in the department for Interface Design headed by Prof. Marcus Bär. 
  • Energy for Antarctica: solar hydrogen as an alternative to crude oil?
    News
    22.05.2019
    Energy for Antarctica: solar hydrogen as an alternative to crude oil?
    Volkswagen Foundation funds feasibility study by HZB experts in artificial photosynthesis

    The sun shines at the South Pole as well – and in summer almost around the clock. Instead of supplying research stations in the Antarctic with crude oil for producing the electricity and heating they need, solar hydrogen could be produced from sunlight in summer as an alternative. Hydrogen has a high energy density, is easy to store, and can be used as fuel when needed later without polluting the environment. An intriguingly simple idea - but one that raises many questions. Matthias May (HZB) and Kira Rehfeld (Heidelberg University) now want to examine how feasible this kind of solar fuel generation might be in Antarctica. The project is receiving financial support from the Volkswagen Foundation.

  • Posterprize for HZB postdoc Prince Saurabh Bassi
    News
    20.05.2019
    Posterprize for HZB postdoc Prince Saurabh Bassi
    Dr. Prince Saurabh Bassi was awarded the poster prize at “International Bunsen-Discussion-Meeting on Fundamentals and Applications of (Photo) Electrolysis for Efficient Energy Storage”. He is a postdoctoral fellow working with Prof. Sebastian Fiechter in the Institute for Solar Fuels.
  • Bernd Stannowski is Professor at the Beuth University of Applied Sciences Berlin
    News
    14.05.2019
    Bernd Stannowski is Professor at the Beuth University of Applied Sciences Berlin

    Prof. Dr. Bernd Stannowski has received and accepted a call for a joint S-Professorship for "Photovoltaics" at the Beuth University of Applied Sciences Berlin. The physicist heads the working group "Silicon Photovoltaics" at the Competence Center Thin Film and Nanotechnology for Photovoltaics Berlin (PVcomB) of the HZB.

  • PhD student of HZB earns Best Presentation Award of the Young Crystallographers
    News
    11.04.2019
    PhD student of HZB earns Best Presentation Award of the Young Crystallographers
    Frederike Lehmann received a prize for her presentation at the annual conference of the German Society of Crystallography in Leipzig on 28 March 2019. She is doing her doctorate in the Department of Structure and Dynamics of Energy Materials at the HZB under Prof. Dr. Susan Schorr at the Graduate School HyPerCell.
  • Godehard Wüstefeld receives the Horst Klein Research Prize
    News
    25.03.2019
    Godehard Wüstefeld receives the Horst Klein Research Prize
    The physicist Dr. Godehard Wüstefeld was awarded the Horst Klein Research Prize at the annual conference of the German Physical Society. The award recognizes his outstanding scientific achievements in accelerator physics in the development of BESSY II and BESSY VSR.
  • Poster award for Johannes Sutter
    News
    07.03.2019
    Poster award for Johannes Sutter
    Johannes Sutter, PhD student at HZB, was awarded a poster prize at the "International Conference on Perovskite Solar Cells, Photonics and Optoelectronics (NIPHO19)". The conference took place from 25-27 February 2019 in Jerusalem.
  • Marcel Risch to form research group at the HZB with an ERC Starting Grant
    News
    01.03.2019
    Marcel Risch to form research group at the HZB with an ERC Starting Grant
    The Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) will be further strengthened in its research on solar fuels. Dr. Marcel Risch, who recently obtained an ERC Starting Grants, is moving from Georg August Universität, Göttingen to the HZB. Starting in March 2019, the materials physicist will set up his own research group to analyse and improve catalytic materials for water splitting.
  • Marcus Bär accepts W2 professorship for X-ray spectroscopy in Erlangen-Nuremberg
    News
    11.01.2019
    Marcus Bär accepts W2 professorship for X-ray spectroscopy in Erlangen-Nuremberg
    Prof. Marcus Bär has accepted a professorship for X-ray spectroscopy at the Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). Bär heads the Department of Interface Design at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB). The new W2 professorship was established in cooperation with HZB and Forschungszentrum Jülich in order to strengthen the Helmholtz-Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg für Renewable Energy (HI ERN). In the future, Bär will also be working on HI ERN research topics at HZB, thereby contributing to the intensification of cooperation.
  • Slovenian president awards HZB scientist with "Apple of Inspiration"
    News
    19.12.2018
    Slovenian president awards HZB scientist with "Apple of Inspiration"
    Marko Jošt, Steve Albrecht and Bernd Rech, researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and the Technische Universität Berlin (TUB) receive a rare award today, 19 December 2018. In the slovenian Grand Hall of Presidential Palace, the Slovenian President, Borut Pahor, presents them with the "Apple of Inspiration". It honours achievements in culture, science, sport and society. The Berlin scientists are the first foreigners who receive the prize together with colleagues from the University of Ljubljana.
  • Steve Albrecht is Junior Professor at the Technical University of Berlin
    News
    19.12.2018
    Steve Albrecht is Junior Professor at the Technical University of Berlin
    The Technische Universität Berlin (TU) and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) have appointed Prof. Dr. Steve Albrecht to the joint junior professorship "perovskite solar cells" as of December 15, 2018. Since 2016, Albrecht has headed the junior investigator group "Perovskit Tandem Solar Cells" at the HZB, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

  • "Make our Planet great again": New Research Group at the HZB institute of Silicon Photovoltaics
    News
    22.11.2018
    "Make our Planet great again": New Research Group at the HZB institute of Silicon Photovoltaics
    The physicist Dr. Yutsung Tsai is setting up his own research group on  at the Institute of Silicon Photovoltaics at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin. His goal is to develop two-dimensional transparent solar cells. Tsai receives research funding from the Franco-German programme "Make Our Planet Great Again – German Research Initiative“ (MOPGA-GRI), which is funded by the German Ministry or Education and Research. 
  • Berlin’s best apprentice for precision mechanic comes from the HZB
    News
    28.09.2018
    Berlin’s best apprentice for precision mechanic comes from the HZB
    Milena Meschenmoser completed her apprenticeship as a precision mechanic as the best in Berlin. From 2014 to 2018, she completed the practical part of her training at the HZB workshop in Wannsee.
  • Hanwha Q-Cells Quantsol Awards 2018
    News
    09.09.2018
    Hanwha Q-Cells Quantsol Awards 2018
    Six young researchers received a Hanwha Q-Cells Quantsol Award for their self-developed Photovoltaics. This award is presented by the organizers of the international summer school Quantsol together with the industry.
  • The HZB welcomes new apprentices and students
    News
    03.09.2018
    The HZB welcomes new apprentices and students
    On September 3, 2018, 14 new colleagues who are undertaking an apprenticeship, a dual course of study or a voluntary scientific year at the HZB officially started their careers.
  • Summer in the laboratory: 21 summer students start their research project at the HZB
    News
    09.07.2018
    Summer in the laboratory: 21 summer students start their research project at the HZB
    Young people from all over the world have applied to the Helmholtz Centre to take part in the annual summer programme: eight weeks of research in an HZB team, well supervised, taking their first steps in their own scientific work. Now 21 students from eleven countries have arrived and are looking forward to their research project.  They will present their results on 30 August.
  • Registration for Summer School Quantsol is now open!
    News
    26.04.2018
    Registration for Summer School Quantsol is now open!
    It is already the eleventh time that the International Summer School on Photovoltaics and New Concepts of Quantum Solar Energy Conversion (Quantsol) will be held from 2. to 9. September 2018 in Hirschegg, Kleinwalsertal, Austria. The school is organized by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and the Technical University of Ilmenau. Applications can be submitted through the school’s homepage until May 18th , 2018.
  • HZB-Schülerlabor: Jetzt Termine für das 1. Schulhalbjahr 2018/2019 buchen
    Nachricht
    10.04.2018
    HZB-Schülerlabor: Jetzt Termine für das 1. Schulhalbjahr 2018/2019 buchen
    Die Schülerlabore des HZB in Wannsee und Adlershof sind sehr beliebt. Bis zu 3000 Schülerinnen und Schüler experimentieren pro Jahr zu Themen wie Magnetismus und Supraleitung, Solarenergieforschung und Licht und Farben in der forschungsnahen Umgebung des HZB. Für das neue Schulhalbjahr (August 2018 - Januar 2019) bietet das Schülerlabor 76 Projekttage für Grund- und Oberschulen an. Die Projekttage sind kostenfrei. Restplätze für Oberschulklassen können noch gebucht werden.
  • Helmholtz Day in the HZB School Lab
    News
    22.11.2017
    Helmholtz Day in the HZB School Lab
    Do you know who Hermann von Helmholtz was? At this question, most of the primary school kids shook their head. Yet, the namesake of the Helmholtz Association was one of the most important natural scientists of the 19th century, and one of the last universal scholars. To keep his memory alive, Helmholtz Day has been held regularly, this sixth time in the Helmholtz Association’s School Lab. HZB invited 5th grade pupils from Nauen (Brandenburg) to Wannsee to conduct their own experiments in the School Lab.
  • HZB is involved in the Helmholtz exchange programme with China
    News
    13.11.2017
    HZB is involved in the Helmholtz exchange programme with China
    The Helmholtz Association and the Office of China Postdoctoral Council, OCPC, are establishing a common exchange programme for Chinese postdocs. The young scientists will be researching at eight Helmholtz centres for two years before returning to China. HZB is also involved in the exchange programme, which runs from 2017 to 2021.
  • HZB apprentice is the best precision engineer ("Feinwerkmechaniker") in the State of Berlin for 2017
    News
    20.10.2017
    HZB apprentice is the best precision engineer ("Feinwerkmechaniker") in the State of Berlin for 2017
    Philipp Janusch completed an apprenticeship at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin to become a “precision engineer”, and passed his journeyman’s examination as the best of his year in the State of Berlin. What is more, he achieved this despite shortening his three-year apprenticeship by a whole year. In November, Janusch will be participating in the 2017 German Federal Skills Competition for Metalworking on behalf of the State of Berlin.
  • Summer in the lab
    News
    07.08.2017
    Summer in the lab
    22 students from all over the world are working at HZB for eight weeks
  • 1130 Besucher bei der Langen Nacht der Wissenschaften am Standort Wannsee
    Nachricht
    26.06.2017
    1130 Besucher bei der Langen Nacht der Wissenschaften am Standort Wannsee
    Das HZB begrüßte zur „Klügsten Nacht des Jahres“ am 24. Juni 2017 mehr als tausend Gäste, darunter viele Kinder und Jugendliche. Quirliges Treiben auf unserer Wissenschaftsstraße, großer Andrang bei den Mitmach-Experimenten und beim Schülerlabor, interessierte Fragen zum Forschungsreaktor: Die Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften am HZB war bunt und facettenreich – und bot für jeden Geschmack etwas. Hier haben wir die schönsten Momente zusammengestellt.
  • 100 kindergarten kids do experiments at HZB on the Day of Little Researchers
    News
    20.06.2017
    100 kindergarten kids do experiments at HZB on the Day of Little Researchers
    Kindergarten children are inquisitive and want to know how everything works – and they ask a great deal of questions. On the Germany-wide "Day of Little Researchers" on 19 June, around 100 kids visited the HZB School Labs in Adlershof and Wannsee and investigated the colours of light.
  • Ansturm auf die 70 Plätze beim Girl’s Day im HZB
    Nachricht
    27.04.2017
    Ansturm auf die 70 Plätze beim Girl’s Day im HZB
    Wie sieht die Arbeit von Wissenschaftlerinnen, Ingenieurinnen oder Programmiererinnen aus? Beim Girls‘ Day können Mädchen MINT-Berufe (Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaften und Technik) kennenlernen, die noch immer nicht besonders beliebt bei den Berufsanfängerinnen sind. Die 70 Plätze für den Girl’s Day an den beiden HZB-Standorten waren schnell vergeben. 
  • Graduate school MatSEC: New PhD students can apply now
    News
    10.01.2017
    Graduate school MatSEC: New PhD students can apply now
    The first students of the graduate school MatSEC (Materials for Solar Energy Conversion) have defended successfully their PhD thesis. The graduate school, which is organised jointly by Dahlem Research School of Freie Universität Berlin, is now open for new PhD-students. The research portfolio, which was focused on kesterites, does now include wide bandgap semiconductors and thermoelectrica as well.
  • Summer students: Final presentation at a conference
    News
    28.09.2015
    Summer students: Final presentation at a conference
    On Thursday, 24. September 2015, the summerstudents have presented their projects in Wannsee in a science conference format: Three topics have been selected for oral presentation, the other projects were presented in a poster session, thus all students could demonstrate first results. 
  • Das HZB-Schülerlabor an der Schüleruni der Freien Universität Berlin
    Nachricht
    24.09.2015
    Das HZB-Schülerlabor an der Schüleruni der Freien Universität Berlin
    Unter dem Motto „Lernen für eine zukunftsfähige Welt“ öffnet die Freie Universität Berlin ihren grünen Campus für eine Schüleruniversität. Eine Woche lang erforschen Schülerinnen und Schüler der 5. Und 6. Klassen, was sich hinter dem Begriff der nachhaltigen Entwicklung verbirgt. Das Schülerlabor des HZB bietet zum Thema „Nachhaltigkeit und Klimaschutz“ zwei Workshops an.
  • Berlin Joint EPR lab organises the 7th Summer School of the European Federation of EPR Groups with 120 participants from 26 countries
    News
    09.09.2015
    Berlin Joint EPR lab organises the 7th Summer School of the European Federation of EPR Groups with 120 participants from 26 countries
    100 students and 20 lecturers from all around the world came to Berlin for a week at the end of August to take part in the biggest and most traditional educational event in the field of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The Summer School was organised, with the support of the HZB, by the groups of the Berlin Joint EPR labs (BeJEL) of HZB and Freie Universität Berlin.
  • Poster award for MatSEC PhD student at the MRS Spring Meeting
    News
    29.05.2015
    Poster award for MatSEC PhD student at the MRS Spring Meeting
    The poster contribution of Kai Neldner (HZB-Department Crystallography) was awarded a poster price of the Symposium "Thin-Film Compound Semiconductors" at the MRS Spring Meeting in San Francisco. Kai Neldner, a PhD student in the HZB Graduate School "Materials for Solar Energy Conversion" (MatSEC) has presented results on structural properties of Kesterites (Cu2ZnSnS4 - CZTS) in relation to its stoichiometry deviations.
  • Raus aus der Schule, rein ins Labor: 90 Schülerinnen beim Girls'Day am Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin
    Nachricht
    23.04.2015
    Raus aus der Schule, rein ins Labor: 90 Schülerinnen beim Girls'Day am Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin
    90 Mädchen kamen dieses Jahr zum Girls’ Day in das HZB nach Wannsee und Adlershof. In Laboren und Werkstätten erlebten die Teilnehmerinnen, wie spannend die Arbeit in einem Forschungszentrum ist, und lernten Frauen kennen, die in naturwissenschaftlichen-technischen Berufen arbeiten. Angeboten wurden 16 verschiedene Workshops, von denen die Mädchen zwei auswählten. Sie konnten unter anderem Kristalle züchten, Strom aus Zitronen erzeugen oder ein Schmuckstück vergolden.
  • Call for Applications open: International Summer University on Energy, Falera/Switzerland
    News
    30.03.2015
    Call for Applications open: International Summer University on Energy, Falera/Switzerland
    Excellent Master, Diploma, and PhD Students from all over the world from different disciplines are invited to participate in the international summer university ISUenergy2015. The ISUenergy2015 will take place from Aug. 23rd - Sept. 4th 2015 in Falera/Switzerland.
  • New Opportunities for students in energy research:
    News
    30.03.2015
    New Opportunities for students in energy research:
    HZB starts two Graduate Schools with Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Universität Potsdam

    Friday, 27 March 2015, the start of two new graduate schools on solar energy research was celebrated at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB). Hybrid4Energy, the Graduate School of Hybrid Materials for Efficient Energy Generation and Information Technologies, is a joint venture of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HUB) and HZB. The Graduate School HyPerCell focuses on a new type of thin film solar cells based on hybrid perovskite absorber materials and is organised by Universität Potsdam (UP) and HZB.

  • Registration now open! Summer School Quantsol
    News
    25.03.2015
    Registration now open! Summer School Quantsol
    The International Summer School Quantsol will inform on basics in photovoltaics and solar energy conversion
  • Workshop on “Microstructure Characterization and Modeling for Solar Cells”
    News
    05.03.2015
    Workshop on “Microstructure Characterization and Modeling for Solar Cells”
    The winter workshop was held in a beautiful location at Spitzingsee (Bayern) from 22. to 26. february 2015 and organised by Helmholtz Virtual Institute "Microstructure Control for Thin-Film Solar Cells". The next winter workshop will be planned for 2017.
  •  Deutsch-Türkische Universität am HZB zu Gast
    Nachricht
    28.10.2014
    Deutsch-Türkische Universität am HZB zu Gast
    Vizerektor und Dekan der Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät besuchte mehrere Institute des HZB
  • Open Access: Webinar for Helmholtz Ph.D. students
    Science Highlight
    06.10.2014
    Open Access: Webinar for Helmholtz Ph.D. students
    As part of the international Open Access Week 2014, a series of events around the World will help canvass and inform about open access to knowledge.
  • Tage der Forschung in Adlershof
    Science Highlight
    29.09.2014
    Tage der Forschung in Adlershof
    Am 25. und 26. September fanden in Adlershof die jährlichen Tage der Forschung statt. Das HZB bot rund 90 Schülerinnen und Schülern in drei unterschiedlichen Programmpunkten einen Einblick in die Welt der Forschung.
  • Final spurt of Summer students blog
    News
    15.09.2014
    Final spurt of Summer students blog
    A new blog features the experiences of HZB’s summer students in 2014. In total 24 students have come from Japan, Denmark, India, Spain, Greece, Russia or other countries. For 8 weeks, during August and September, they are working on a project in a science team at the HZB. They are young and motivated, willing to sacrifice their summer holidays and to spend them in a lab instead!