A bright idea?
Physicists from the MLU and the start-up NORCSI are working on a new generation of lithium-ion batteries. They want to make them much more powerful through the use of silicon. Read more
Sodium on the move
A team of physicists from the MLU are taking part in a collaborative project to investigate which processes lead to interface defects in thin-film solar cells. Read more
The researcher who flies through nanoworlds
The University of Halle has a special, state-of-the-art X-ray microscope that can be used to image tiny samples in 3D. This allows the structure of materials to be studied in great detail. It’s an exciting technology that is also in demand outside Halle and one that has prompted Dr Juliana Martins de Souza e Silva to make a declaration of love. Read more
When proteins assemble
Dr Maria Ott heads a junior research group at the Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology. She is investigating the self-assembly of various molecules. The mother of two has pursued her scientific career for many years, also on a part-time basis. Read more
Big Names: Heinz Bethge
Just a few years after the end of World War II, scientists at MLU’s Institute of Physics started using electron microscopy in their research. What now appears unremarkable, was new and innovative at the time. The mastermind behind this achievement was the physicist and later president of the Leopoldina, Heinz Bethge. Read more
How blood cells grow
Medical physicists Professor Jan Laufer and Ulrike Pohle are working on a world first: a photoacoustic microscope with an optical ultrasound sensor that makes it possible to display high-resolution images of blood vessel networks. Their goal is to closely monitor and understand their growth. Read more
Halle’s Physicists on a Pathway to Success
Knowledge transfer is only successful when it is coupled with excellent basic research. The staff at the Institute of Physics are doing just that. The institute is not only home to three collaborative research centres (CRC) of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and one Alexander von Humboldt professorship. Its researchers have excellent international ties and have regularly attracted notice through articles published in renowned journals. Read more
“Success means having scientific insight”
If it wasn’t for Professor Ingrid Mertig, Nobel laureate Albert Fert would not be visiting the Weinberg Campus as often as he does. And perhaps Humboldt Professor Stuart Parkin wouldn’t have decided to come to the University. Mertig has been teaching and conducting research at Martin Luther University for the past 15 years as a professor of quantum theory of the solid state. Here she has built up the key research area “nanostructured materials”, which she has decisively shaped over the years as the spokesperson for the collaborative research centre (CRC) “Functionality of Oxidic Interfaces”. Read more