Symbolic presentation of the concept of an artificial chloroplast

Light-driven Molecular Catalysts in Hierarchically Structured Materials

Synthesis and Mechanistic Studies
Symbolic presentation of the concept of an artificial chloroplast
Graphic: ART-KON-TOR/FSU

Transregional Collaborative Research Center TRR234 - CataLight

CataLight is a transregional collaborative research center, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), hosted by the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Ulm University. CataLight's project partners are at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research Mainz, the University of Vienna, the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology Jena (IPHT), the Technical University Kaiserslautern-Landau, the Argonne National Lab Chicago, and the Ohio State University. CataLight explores the controlled linkage of molecular light-driven catalytic units with hierarchically structured soft matter matrices to convert solar radiation into chemical reactivity.

CataLight News

The annual Thuringian Research Award "Thüringer Forschungspreis" honours scientific excellence at Thuringian universities and research institutions. CataLightee Prof. Prof. Benjamin Dietzek-Ivanšić and former CataLightees Dr. Linda Zedler and Dr. Carolin Müller received the price for the developement of optical methods to decipher key steps during photocatalysis and identify short-lived intermediates. The developed methods of time-resolved absorption-spectroelectrochemistry and operando absorption spectroscopy allow to study catalytic processes in great detail, such as the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy.
Baden-Württemberg's Minister for Science, Research and the Arts, Petra Olschowski, was a guest at the University of Ulm on April 12. It was the inaugural visit of Petra Olschowski, who took office in September 2022. During her visit at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry I, Prof. Dr. Sven Rau familiarized Mrs. Olschowski with the research concept of CataLight. As a highlight of the visit, Mrs. Olschowski was then allowed to photocatalytically produce hydrogen on her own, using a dinuclear Ru-Pt catalyst.
CataLightee Prof. Boris Mizaikoff has been awarded the prestigious Fritz-Pregl Medal by the Austrian Society of Analytical Chemistry for his outstanding achievments on infrared spectroscopy, sensor technology and the development of synthetic receptors.

Upcoming Events 

17:00 · CataLysis Joint Colloquium
CataLysis Joint Colloquium Talk by Prof. Abigail Doyle
  • This event can be attended online.
  • This event is wheelchair accessible.
  • This event is not open to the public.
12:00 · CataLight Research Seminar
The central platform for regular scientific exchange
  • This event is not open to the public.
CataLight Workshop
Two days with the NFDI4Chem on RDM - hosted by our colleagues at the Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research and the Johannes-Gutenberg University
  • This event is not open to the public.

Member of the CataLysis Network

CataLysis Network CataLysis Network Image: CRC-Network-CataLysis

The CataLysis network represents Germany's catalysis devoted collaborative research centers. Click on the link and learn more about our activies and the fundamental aspects of catalytic processes from different perspectives.

CRC Network CataLysisExternal link

Partner Institutions

Logo German Research Foundation (DFG) Logo German Research Foundation (DFG) Picture: DFG

Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG (German Research Foundation​) - TRR 234 CataLight - 364549901