News

Announcement EAM Starting Grant 2025/2026 Call for proposals (first summary April 30, 2025 - final deadline May 31, 2025) Dear FAU researchers, To support the most talented young scientists working in the field of new materials and processes, the FAU Competence Center Engineering of Advanced Ma...

FAU EAM member Carolin Müller is one of just three awardees The three new winners of the Hector Research Career Development Award have been announced: chemist Carolin Müller, medical scientist Carolin Schneider and psychologist and neuroscientist Sofie Valk will receive the award, with which the He...

Nanocrystals Shaping the Future Nanomaterials represent a class of materials with enhanced and new functionalities. Among these, nanocrystals stand out as a key category. They take crystal features to the next level by the interaction of nanocrystal shapes with electromagnetic waves – most notably,...

After a high level of competition, the Executive Board of the FAU Competence Center EAM decided to award two new Starting Grants to FAU researchers. The EAM Starting Grant aims to support young researchers to pursue their own research projects and thus gaining a boost for a successful academic caree...

FAU study shows that the extent of cross-linking between the polymer molecules is one of the key factors here. Soft materials like rubber or silicone tear easily under tensile stress. In a project funded by the European Research Council (ERC), researchers from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlang...

FAU-Physik wird mit über 900.000 Euro für zukunftsweisendes Projekt gefördert Ein Quantencomputer, gerade mal so groß wie ein Smartphone – wie das Realität werden könnte, erforschen Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler an der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). Physiker und...

Thanks to high-throughput experiments and machine learning, FAU researchers are accelerating the search for chemical compounds for high-performance elements. A team of researchers from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable E...

Unlocking the Future of Catalysis with SCALMS (Supported Catalytically Active Liquid Metal Solutions): A Dynamic Approach to Heterogeneous Catalysis While catalysts significantly contribute to our daily lives, their impact often goes unnoticed. By accelerating reaction rates, catalytic processes ar...

Solar cells typically base on a comparatively brittle, half-millimeter thick slice of silicon as the semiconductor. Exploiting alternative materials can provide flexibility as to the appearance of the cells such as their color, and their integration into everyday objects. Furthermore, this strategy ...

Host-guest recognition is an essential part of supramolecular chemistry which is concerned with the interactions and optimal design of host molecules for specific guest molecules. Here, we modelled a perylene bisimide based macrocycle synthesized in the group of Maria Eugenia Perez-Ojeda that is abl...

Glückwunsch an FAU EAM Unit FPS! Zentrum der FAU wird Core Facility – knapp eine Million Euro Förderung durch die DFG Drehscheibe für Partikelforschung Das Erlangen Center for Functional Particle Systems (FPS) wird zur Core Facility ausgebaut. Künftig können auch Forschende anderer wissenschaftli...

Welcome to the newest FAU EAM member Prof. Dr. Simon Thiele Prof. Dr.-Ing. Simon Thiele studied physics at the University of Freiburg. In 2009 he started a PhD on the tomographic reconstruction of catalyst layers for proton exchange membrane fuel cells at the Institute of Microsystems Technology of...

Welcome to the newest FAU EAM member Prof. Dr. Luca Ghiringhelli Since October 2023, Luca M. Ghiringhelli is professor for “Data-based Materials Modelling” at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. He holds an M.Sc. in nuclear engineering from the Politecnico (Technical University) of M...

He optimizes imaging and analysis methods in electron microscopy in order to find out more about the structure of materials at the atomic scale: FAU EAM member and EAM Professor Philipp Pelz has been awarded the coveted Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for his work on improvin...

September brought some changes within FAU EAM: We welcome Bastian Etzold (Chemical and Biological Engineering, Faculty of Engineering) and Jörg Libuda (Chemistry and Pharmacy, Faculty of Sciences) as two new Spokespersons of FAU EAM. Additionally, Lukas Pflug (Mathematics, Faculty of Sciences) will...

Most of the colors we encounter in daily life are produced by pigments, i.e., produce by the absorption of specific wavelengths of light. However, there are other forms of coloration, and one of them prevails in nature: structural color. This type of coloration is responsible for the vivid hues seen...

Acoustic levitation makes it possible to immobilize small objects without physical contact. Instead, a standing sound wave is used to counteract gravity. Researchers at FAU applied acoustic levitation to perform single droplet drying experiments. By that, the full drying process of a single colloida...

Welcome to the newest FAU EAM member Prof. Dr. Danijela Gregurec After her MSc degree in applied chemistry at the University of Zagreb (Croatia), Danijela started her PhD in 2011 at the biomaterials research center biomaGUNE (Spain) with Dr. Moya. Her primary focus was on the design of biocompatibl...

Transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) triggered large interest in condensed matter research since these twodimensional materials exhibit electronic states ascribed to 'topological invariants' of the particular crystal structure and facinating properties when prepared in the single-layer limit. S...

Welcome to the newses FAU EAM member Prof. Dr. Carolin Müller Carolin Müllers academic journey began at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, where she earned her Master of Science degree in chemistry in 2018. From 2018 to 2021, she delved into her doctoral studies at the same university, guided by B...

Zwischgold is an ultra-thin bilayer metal leaf that has been developed in medieval times as an alternative to gold leaves. It consists of a Au top-layer on Ag leaf. While it had been believed for a long time that zwischgold was a cheap mock of real leaf gold, it is more likely that it was often used...

Patchy colloids are particles that interact with preferred binding angles. We have developed a new Phase Field Crystal Model that can be used to predict the complex phases that occur in suspensions with such particles. In addition to isotropic, nematic, stripe, and triangular order, we have observed...

FAU chemists conduct research into novel approach of using an organic module for storing solar energy Until now, the generation and storage of electricity from solar energy has been dependent on various devices, leading to conversion losses. That may change soon: chemists at Friedrich-Alexander-Uni...

Our research covers electron acceleration with nanophotonic structures powered by laser light. We just demonstrated a scalable nanophotonic electron accelerator on a chip with a substantial energy increase of 43% from the initial energy of 28.4keV to 40.7keV . These low-cost accelerating nanostructu...

Welcome to the newses FAU EAM member Prof. Dr. Bastian Etzold Professor Bastian Etzold was appointed to the Chair of Power to X Technology at FAU in August 2023. Etzold graduated in chemical and biological engineering at FAU in 2004 and graduated in economics at the State Distance Learning Universi...

This image illustrates the crack pattern that emerges as a suspension dries. The system consists of interconnected particles held together by capillary bridges, which, upon evaporation, result in the formation of cracks. This simulation was programmed so that the arbitrary arrangement of the evapora...

FAU beteiligt sich an Wasserstoff-Technologie-Projekt zu emissionsfreien Antriebstechnologien in Deutschland Die FAU ist am Wasserstoff-Technologie-Anwenderzentrum (WTAZ) beteiligt, das in Pfeffenhausen im Süden Bayerns entsteht und gerade in die Umsetzungsphase startet. Das Ziel: Mittels der neuen...

Neues Molekül-Design für mehr Solarpower Mit optimierten kohlenstoffreichen Molekülen wollen Chemikerinnen und Chemiker der FAU die Grenzen organischer Fotovoltaik erweitern. Im Projekt UP&DOWN sollen Kohlenstoffverbindungen so designt werden, dass einfallendes Sonnenlicht deutlich effizienter ...

One of the central goals in the PULS group is the knowledge-based design of new selective and highly-active catalytic systems. To achieve this goal, we utilize state of the art (hybrid) quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical methods to predict the physico-chemical properties and underlying reac...

Welcome to the newses FAU EAM member Dr-Ing. Pablo Jiménez-Calvo Dr. Pablo Jiménez-Calvo (MRSC) is an independent Marie Skłodowska-Curie Post-doctoral Fellow. With a background in Materials Chemistry and Physics (Dr. Valérie Keller, University of Strasbourg, 2019). He spanned two post-doctoral fell...

Our group investigates PVD and CVD coatings with special focus on crystalline CVD-Diamond layers. This includes the design of coating machines, process optimisation and characterisation of the produced coating systems. A key factor of coating quality is the adhesion that marks the ability of the lay...

The new FAU EAM / FAU NMP calendar 2024 arrived! Each month, interesting research images from the field of New Materials and Processes will be shown, including additional information on our webpages. To start with, we present the cover picture: The image shows the trajectories of micrometer-sized...

DFG fördert Entzündungsforschung und Materialentwicklung - FAU freut sich über Erfolg mit zwei Sonderforschungsbereichen Die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) fördert an der FAU einen neuen Sonderforschungsbereich/Transregio (SFB/TRR) und finanziert einen zweiten für eine weitere Förderperiode....

Zwei Consolidator Grants für die FAU - Materialchemiker Karl Mandel und Neurowissenschaftler Tomohisa Toda erhalten Förderung des ERC Es ist ein erneuter Beleg für die herausragende Forschungsstärke der FAU: Gleich zwei Wissenschaftler sind mit einem Consolidator Grant des Europäischen Forschungsra...

Not one, but two researchers at FAU have been awarded a Synergy Grant, one of the most prestigious grants awarded by the European Research Council. Chemist Prof. Dr. Karl Mayrhofer has received funding for his work on electrocatalysis, and physicist Prof. Dr. Kristian Franze for investigating the me...

There was a high level of competition for this year's EAM Starting Grant. In the end, the Executive Board of the FAU Competence Center EAM decided to award three new Starting Grants to FAU researchers. The EAM Starting Grant aims to support young researchers to pursue their own research projects and...

Die VDI-Gesellschaft Verfahrenstechnik und Chemieingenieurwesen (GVC) hat zum vierten Mal den Friedrich-Löffler-Preis vergeben. Die mit 3.000 Euro dotierte Auszeichnung erhielt Dr.-Ing. Johannes Walter vom Lehrstuhl für Feststoff- und Grenzflächenverfahrenstechnik der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität...

Welcome to the newses FAU EAM member Jun.-Prof. Dr. Siow Woon Ng As of January 1, 2023, Siow Woon Ng is Junior Professor for Physical Chemistry of Interfaces at the Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy. The tenure track professorship is affiliated to the Chair of Physical Chemistry II. Prof. Ng ...

Bimodale Neuromodulation ermöglicht Lesen und Schreiben im Gehirn Förderungen des European Research Council (ERC; Europäischer Forschungsrat) sind hart umkämpft. Sie zu erhalten, gibt der Forschung der ausgezeichneten Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler durch die hohen Fördersummen von bis zu ...