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In: Summerstudents

By summerstudent Alice Rodgers> The annual global carbon dioxide emissions have increased by over three times since the 1960s, and in 2023 they were an estimated 36.8 billion tonnes.1 This is primarily due to the use of fossil fuels as an energy source and therefore in recent years it has become important to find renewable sources of energy. Since the 1990s lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have become one of the most important ways of storing energy and have applications in everything from mobile phones to cars. However, lithium is a limited resource making the supply chain of LIBs at risk. Furthermore, there are ethical and environmentalRead More →

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By summerstudent Lorenzo Ubilla> Bessy II is a giant ring where dancing electrons create x ray light used by over 40 beam lines. As Newton once said, it stands on giant’s shoulders (quite literally since its located between Albert Einstein Str. And Max Planck Str.) and hundreds of scientists go there everyday to accomplish their goals or pale in frustration.Read More →

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By summerstudent Julen Lasarte> An English proverb says: “A calm sea doesn’t make good sailors”. This is one of the reasons that made me come to Berlin. Obviously, it’s not that Berlin was for me “a bad sea”; I am passionate about history, coming to Berlin was a real luxury and luck for me. On top of that I had to come to work in what I like the most. But coming here made me get out of my comfort zone. I confess that the days before coming to Berlin were not easy, I’m a person who thinks a lot about his worries: “Will IRead More →

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By summerstudent Heloise da Silva> One month ago, I had never been on a plane or even visited an airport before, let alone traveled to another country. My life was familiar: I have been working on a project for almost three years in Brazil, knew my way back home, knew which train to take, and how to behave properly. I could even handle groceries by myself, which in Berlin, feels like running a marathon because you have to be quick — the line moves fast!Read More →

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By summerstudent Gia Van Tran > Hop on the RE train at 7h12. I take out my pen and notebook to write down what I did yesterday and stupid mistakes to avoid. Then, I note down my daily tasks and some papers that would be nice to read when I was not in experiment time. That should take me at most 5 minutes to finish, so I still have around 50 minutes of commuting time.Read More →

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By summerstudent Christina Papaefthymiou> When I applied for the HZB Summer Student Program in December 2023, I had no idea what was to come. Knowing that finding accommodation in Berlin is not an easy task, I felt very lucky to secure an apartment four months before my arrival. Deep inside, I knew that once I stepped foot in Berlin, everything would fall into place and my fears would go away. And so it happened. The only unexpected condition when I arrived was the warm weather….Read More →

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By summerstudent Muhammad Kashif Raza> Nothing worthwhile is accomplished easily, and this summer program at HZB served as a reminder of that. From visa issues as a non-European student to finding accommodation in bustling capital city Berlin, I faced numerous challenges. Literally, it took about four months getting visa and finding the dormitory. But real test started when I reached my apartment in Berlin and found no Pakistani food around…Read More →

HZB booth at Intersolar Europe

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In: Conference, Energymaterials, International, Science Communication

The Intersolar trade fair, held in Munich from June 14th to 16th, served as a global platform for experts, industry leaders, and enthusiasts to explore the latest developments in the solar energy sector. Intersolar is part of “The smarter E,” four different exhibitions, Intersolar, ees, Power2Drive and EM-Power, focusing on renewable energy and highlighting groundbreaking advancements in the field – this year under the motto: “Creating a new energy world”. Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), participates every year to Intersolar and presents its research expertise and technological achievements. The HZB booth at Intersolar Europe 2023 At HZB’s booth this year, we presented the main aspects of ourRead More →

Portrait foto of Mahmoud Hussein

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In: Careers, Diversity, International, PhDlife, Students

Mahmoud Hussein is a PhD candidate at the department for active materials and interfaces for stable perovskite solar cells. In this interview he talks about his experiences working in international teams and how different cultures can contribute to scientific progress by encouraging creative thinking. What is important to you about diversity? The most important aspect in diversity, for me, is having people from different cultures and from different backgrounds – and different science perspectives. That’s very important because this is one of the main driving forces of science. Why? Because when you take people. from different backgrounds, from different educational systems, different academic sub fields,Read More →

Picture: a sample of characterization done by Daniel with lots of patience.

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In: Corona, International, Summerstudents

During my studentship there is one thing I have discovered above all: patience. Patience is the mother of science, as the saying goes. And I have learned it the hard way. My project is a complex one; like most science projects. I’m trying to synthesize and characterize a new material to act as an absorber of light in solar cells. It is called: copper-barium diselenide. More specifically I want this material to be a top-cell absorber in tandem cells. In fact, this synthesis is not easy: little is known about the compound, and barium is very reactive with oxygen, so one must be very carefulRead More →