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In: Careers, Diversity, Energymaterials, International, International Collaboration, Science Communication

The BESSY@HZB User Meeting welcomes 17 scientists from Kenya. They come from six different universities. One of them is Robert Ngure; he is a Master’s student in material science at Egerton university. He tells us more about his fascination for science and what he expects from his visit to Adlershof. Robert Ngure graduated in June 2019 and enrolled a few months later for a Master’s degree in science. In most universities in Kenya, you study for one year before you choose a specialisation. Robert’s decision was relatively straightforward: “I am convinced that material science is very relevant for my country. From the beginning, my goalRead More →

Portrait of Tabitha Amollo

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In: BESSYBeamlineScientists, Conference, Energymaterials, International, International Collaboration, PhDlife, Science Communication

Dr. Tabitha A. Amollo is a researcher and lecturer at Egerton University in Njoro in Kenya. She holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Her research interests focus on developing cutting-edge nanomaterials for energy conversion devices including graphene nanomaterials. She published a number of articles in reputable journals. At Egerton University, she is the head of a young team to explore dye-sensitive solar cells, she is a chairperson of the Physics Department, and she coordinates the undergraduate program and gives lectures to undergraduates and postgraduate physics students. Here in Germany, there are not many women in physics. How is itRead More →

Portrait picture of Nancy Ochiba.

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In: BESSYBeamlineScientists, Energymaterials, International, International Collaboration, Science Communication

In April, Nancy Ochiba was a guest at HZB in Berlin doing research on nanoparticles. “I made good use of the time,” says the young chemist from Nairobi, Kenya. First she took part in the Photon School for young scientists, then she joined the lab at the Institute for Solar Fuels as a guest researcher. “Here I can benefit from technology that is not available to me at the Kenya University of Technology. For example, I have now examined my samples under a scanning electron microscope.” Research for a better future Nancy is in the first year of her PhD. What motivates her? She wantsRead More →

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In: Careers, Energymaterials, International, PhDlife

A research stay abroad that is well planned and executed can propel your advancement as a doctoral student. It also gains you valuable professional contacts and broadens your horizon. When doctoral student Erwin Fernandez somewhat stagnated with his experimental results, he was positively surprised what his co-supervisors in the project and a change of perspective could do for him. An interview by Ulrike Goldenblatt, Coordinator of HI-SCORERead More →

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In: Energymaterials

A group of 14 volunteers gathered one week on Zoom. From morning coffee until late in the night, they tackled intricate problems and worked out great solutions based on machine learning for digital twins of batteries or for predicting cracks in materials. “This year, we had the most successful hackathon so far, it was incredible,” says HZB data scientist Gregor Hartmann, who initiated the Hackathon. Many problems in research require a deep understanding of the material as well state of the art knowledge in methods of artificial intelligence. “You need this very close collaboration between the domain scientists and the data scientists, says Gregor Hartmann,Read More →

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In: Energymaterials, International, Summerstudents

Let’s spray and create samples ! In the institute of Solar Fuel, the main research is to produce hydrogen from sunlight and water. Hydrogen can be used to easily store energy and also directly for transportation. But how can we produce it? Only from the sunlight, a metal oxide semiconductor and water. Photons from sunlight will be absorbed by the metal oxide, and this will generate electrons and holes which oxidize or reduce water. The reaction between the electron and hole and the electrolyte allows to separate water in oxygen and hydrogen. Let’s see how we make this metal Oxide! SPRAY PYROLYSIS: The chemical methodRead More →

Jian Ren and Prof. Brian Paul Schmidt in #LINO19

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In: Conference, Energymaterials, International, Students

Science Without Borders: Impressions from the 69th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting (2019) Guestpost by Jian Ren As a doctoral researcher in Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, I have been offered many opportunities to expand my horizons by working in an optimal international research environment and by participating in international conferences. Recently, I received another gift from HZB – I was nominated and financially supported by HZB to take part in the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings. 580 young scientists meet Nobel Laureates The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings have become an event of great importance for the exchange between generations of scientists each summer since 1951. In this year, theRead More →