HZB Newsroom

In his search for the perfect catalyst, HZB researcher Robert Seidel is now getting a tailwind – thanks to a ERC Consolidator Grant. In the cover story, we explain why the X-ray source BESSY II plays an important role for his research.

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.

On Saturday, 22 June 2024, HZB opened its doors at the Adlershof site and welcomed around 2200 visitors. 1038 people visited the IRIS research centre, where research from HZB was also presented. Around 250 HZB employees were on duty, some until midnight, to look after the many interested people, present experiments or talk about research.

After around four years of renovation, photovoltaics research groups moved into their offices in Kekuléstraße on 20 June 2024. With the reopening, the building has also been given a new name that makes the research more visible: it is now called HySPRINT Photovoltaics Lab.

 

HZB has launched a new recruiting film to attract talented people from administration, IT and technology. In cooperation with an external film company, our HR department has produced a video with a lot of commitment and creativity that presents the unique opportunities and team spirit at our centre.

On June 17, 2024, the Helmholtz Institute for Polymers in Energy Applications (HIPOLE Jena) was officially inaugurated in Jena in the presence of Wolfgang Tiefensee, Minister for Economy, Science, and Digital Society of the Free State of Thuringia. The institute was founded by the Helmholtz Center Berlin for Materials and Energy (HZB) in cooperation with the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. It is dedicated to developing sustainable polymer materials for energy technologies, which are expected to play a key role in the energy transition and support Germany’s goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2045.

This chaos in the photo should make sense? Sure - for many, many scientists from HZB, Berlin and all over the world! They come to the X-ray source BESSY II and hold their samples in its extremely bright beam of light. You can find out exactly how this works live on site during the Long Night of Science on 22 June. We invite you to marvel, ask questions and experiment!

Andreas Jankowiak as new Technical Director and Facility Spokesperson Antje Vollmer share management responsibilities.

Prof. Andreas Jankowiak has been appointed Technical Director of BESSY II with a term of office of three years as of 1 June 2024 by resolution of the HZB board of directors. Antje Vollmer will start her second term as BESSY II Facility Spokesperson on 1 July 2024. Together, they form the new management duo to coordinate the scientific and technical development of the BESSY II X-ray source on behalf of the HZB management.

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.

An art installation will be erected in front of the entrance to the BESSY building. The sculpture was chosen in a competion. It invites people to sit down and exchange ideas.

On Friday, 19 April 2024, the Scientific Director of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Bernd Rech, and the President of the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), Yi Chang-Keun, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Daejeon (South Korea).

Burning biomass for cooking causes harmful environmental and health issues. The German-South African GreenQUEST initiative is developing a clean household fuel. It aims to reduce climate-damaging CO₂ emissions and to improve access to energy for households in sub-Saharan Africa.

Registration for Quantsol is now open!

The International Summer School on Photovoltaics and New Concepts of Quantum Solar Energy Conversion (Quantsol) will be held in September 1-8, 2024 in Hirschegg, Kleinwalsertal, Austria. The school is organised by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and the Technical University of Ilmenau. Applications can be submitted through the school’s homepage until Friday 31^st of May 2024, 23.59h CET.

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).

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.

At the end of February 2024, a team at HZB published an article in Synchrotron Radiation News (SRN). They describe the next development goals for the light source as well as the BESSY II+ upgrade programme and the successor source BESSY III.

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.

Since 2017, the German Cyclists' Federation (ADFC) has been awarding the EU-wide "Bicycle-Friendly Employer" certification. The Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin has now been awarded the coveted silver seal. With this, the HZB wants to be even more attractive as an employer, especially for international applicants.

The new HZB magazine lichtblick is out! Topics are: green hydrogen, construction projects and green construction for Ukraine, ... We invite you to browse through the online edition.

The Alliance of German Science Organisations, to which the Helmholtz Association also belongs, emphatically condemns any kind of anti-democratic and inhuman endeavours.

Wir trauern um unseren ehemaligen Kollegen und Leiter des BENSC-Nutzerbüros am damaligen Hahn-Meitner-Institut (HMI, später HZB Nutzerbüro Neutronen) Dr. Hans-Anton Graf. Er verstarb nach einem ereignisreichen Leben und längerer Krankheit am 30. Dezember 2023 im Alter von 78 Jahren. Hans-Anton Graf war 1977 bis 2010 in der Neutronenforschung am HMI/HZB tätig.

Yan Lu is appointed new Professor of Hybrid Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion at Friedrich Schiller University Jena together with HZB. Congratulations!

Prof. Jörg Eichler war von 1971 bis 1973 wissenschaftlicher Geschäftsführer des Hahn-Meitner-Instituts (HMI), aus dem später zusammen mit BESSY das HZB entstanden ist.  Am 1. Januar 2024 feierte Prof. Jörg Eichler nun seinen 90sten Geburtstag. Das HZB sendet herzliche Glückwünsche.

The Highlights 2022 report on a selection of the most important research results and events at HZB.

Several HZB research teams are participating in the new SFB 1636 "Elementary processes of light-driven reactions on nanoscale metals".

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. 

HZB is aware of its social responsibility. Now, HZB’s Greenhouse Gas Report is here, after being externally verified, and identifies the main sources of emissions. The report provides the basis for significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

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. 

With a strong commitment to further investment in research and innovation, the special conference of the East German Minister-Presidents came to an end on 19 October 2023. The special conference, chaired by Saxony's Minister-President Michael Kretschmer, was also attended by Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger and the Federal Government Commissioner for Eastern Germany, Carsten Schneider.
The special conference was hosted by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, based in Berlin-Adlershof with BESSY II light source and its energy research.

With great concern, we are following the news from Israel. We are stunned by the massive terrorist violence causing many victims and unbearable human suffering. We condemn the attacks by Hamas on Israel and its citizen in the strongest possible terms.

The first high-level event of the Green Deal Ukraina (GDU) project took place in October in Kyiv, Ukraine, attended by more than 150 participants. This first gathering and formal launch took place at an important moment: EU will share a new report on the countries progress towards EU and Ukraine will respond by sharing its own analysis, called pre-screening.

Tandem solar cells achieve high efficiencies: by combining two different types of solar cells, more sunlight is converted into electricity. PV manufacturer Qcells and a HZB team led by Dr. Kári Sveinbjörnsson and Bor Li have developed the technology to an extent, that Qcells invested in setting up a pilot line for the development of tandem cells in Saxony-Anhalt. For this successful transfer into industrial application, both researchers received the Technology Transfer Prize of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin worth 5,000 euros, on 4. October 2023.

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.