By Ivona Kafedjiska. The doctoral researchers at HZB who are working in the field of solar cells might all have different research interests and varying educational backgrounds, but we all agree on one point: attending the QUANTSOL summer school in Hirschegg, Austria is a must.Read More →
After two years of interruption due to the Corona pandemic, HZB finally hosted summer students again this summer. They came from Pakistan, Colombia, Spain, USA, and Korea. A look behind the scenes of the International Summer Student Programme – ISSP.Read More →
by summerstudent Attia Arooj No great things come easily in your life, so as this summer program at HZB. From visa problems as a non european student to accommodation in a crowded city like Berlin, I faced it all. But the real challenge started when I got to see my work place. It was a “Physics” Lab or more technically called Magnetic Resonance Lab equipped with NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) and EPR (Electron Paramagnetic Resonance) spectrometers. Being a chemist, working in a physics lab was totally new to me. Since college I had always a fear towards this subject which made me run away fromRead More →
by summerstudent Nora Jung Sitting in my organic chemistry class two semesters ago, I heard the whispers of a word repeated often amongst my classmates. I was only in my second year of my undergrad and the pressure of finding a research position was a constant reminder in the back of my head. In January of 2022, I applied for the summer research position at HZB and it felt like a step in the right direction, but I was still unsure about what lay ahead. What does it mean to do research? Am I qualified enough? Will I know the right answers?Read More →
Denis comes from Russia. He tells us how he got into energy materials at HZB and how he keeps this passion going thanks to a good balance between science, sport and music.Read More →
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 →
Our Summer Student Daniel talks about his explorations in Berlin. He writes a guide for students with lots of tipps to discover Germany’s capital.Read More →
By Elżbieta Wątor How to get back to BESSY II ? From Kraków where I study, it’s really easy. By car – it’s around 6 hours and the route is quite convienient. There is also a Ryanair flight to Berlin Schönefeld every morning or Flixbus several times per day. But how to organise that? Here’s my brief story: My participation in the 2017 Summer Student Programme was a happy coincidence. In November 2016 I took part in a small student seminar at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, where Rafał Piwowarczyk (a summer student in MX group at BESSY II in 2016) talked about his stayRead More →
At HZB about 150 young scientists are working on their doctoral dissertation. 81 come from abroad to Berlin to do their PhD in the HZB labs in Wannsee or Adlershof. The PhD students at HZB have organized themselves: twice a month, they invite to an informal get-together, they plan workshops and an annual PhD retreat in a country hotel in Brandenburg. This is actively supported by the management. I recently asked Daniel Meza, one of eight current doctoral student representatives about their activities. Daniel, why do you work as a representative in the PhD students organization ? Daniel: Maybe it’s a bit romantic, but forRead More →
Just a Student I am a physics student who has delved into my first theoretical physics internship. From this transition of student to scientist, I’ve gained some insights that have shifted my view on academia and the world of scientific research. Recently, I’ve learned a lot about what truly makes a scientist, or rather, the difference in attitude from that of a student. As an undergraduate student at University of Toronto, the topics I’ve learned have only been applied in the form of tests and exams. Ultimately, it’s when you leave the lecture halls and enter real research where you can begin to shift yourRead More →