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.

This year's International Symposioum on the Photochemistry and Photophysics of Coordination Compounds (ISPPCC) will take place at Ulm University at the end of July and is organized by members of CataLight. Registration and Abstract Submission (deadline for Oral Presentations 06/March/2023) are now open! Find more information on speakers and prices on https://www.uni-ulm.de/isppcc/home/

Chemist Prof. Ferdi Karadas from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, has received one of the coveted Georg Forster Research Awards and will investigate surface structures for photocatalytic applications during his 12-month research stay at Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) within the framework of the CataLight Project. The prestigious award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is given to excellent international researchers for their outstanding scientific achievements. 

The CataLight video, created by CataLight and Biofaction has been nominated as one of 174 films from 41 countries for the Science Film Festival. All films accepted into the annual official selection of the Science Film Festival are in competition for six awards bestowed at the festival. Organized by the Goethe-Institut in close cooperation with local partners, the Science Film Festival is a celebration of science communication in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

CataLight was present with two boothes at the Long Night of Science in Jena. Our teams attracted massive attention with hands-on experiments on light-driven charging and with a multimedial presentation of CataLight basic ideas. The concepts were developed by CataLight's Ö1 project. 

"Nachwuchsstipendium 2022” for Christopher! Christopher receives “Nachwuchsstipendium” of the Macromolecular Division of the German Chemical Society. His presentation on “Controlling Cell-Material Interactions through Responsive Supramolecular Assemblies” convinced the jury during the “Nachwuchsworkshop Hochschule.

The first CataLight meeting of the second funding period will take place in the "Rosensäle" at the University of Jena.

The GREAT H2 Forum connected Thuringian stakeholders on the development of methods for the production and use of green hydrogen. The forum took place on 16.11.2022 at the Steigerwald-Stadion in Erfurt. CataLight took the chance for scientific exchange with a talk and booth.  https://great-h2.de/great-h2-forum/ 

CataLight presents its science to a public audiance during the Long Night of Sciences in Ulm on July the 15th, 2022. With the CataLight-Exponeer - developed by project Ö1 - visitors experienced the science and concepts of CataLight.

Dr. Maria Wächtler, head of the Quantum Confined Nanostructures Working Group in the Functional Interfaces Department at Leibniz IPHT, has received and accepted a call from the Technical University of Kaiserslautern (TUK). From October 1st, 2022, she will hold a professorship in physical chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and will help shape research and teaching at the university in Rhineland-Palatinate.