ChemGeo Alumni Newsletter SoSe 2021
Dear Alumni and Friends of the Faculty of Chemistry and Earth Sciences,
Natural sciences are exciting! I'm sure you agree with me on that. And it is a matter close to our hearts to share our enthusiasm and to infect as many young people as possible with it. That's why the faculty is involved in the 2nd MINT Festival Jena de: The science festival for schoolchildren with lectures, workshops, shows and digital scavenger hunts will take place from 14-16 September 2021. And there are also offers for the interested public, such as the virtual live show with the science comedy group "Die Physikanten" on 15 September. By the way, participation is free of charge - so it's worth a click! You can find more information in the newsletter and at www.mint.uni-jena.de de.
Your
Claudia Hilbert
(Dean's Office Faculty of Chemistry and Earth Sciences)
Content
News from the faculty (and university)
- Discover natural sciences at the 2nd MINT Festival Jena in September
- Dr Helmar Görls of IAAC retires after 43 years at the University of Jena
- Martin Oschatz is the new professor for the chemistry of materials for energy applications
- Career mentoring for STEM doctoral students: Mentors from industry wanted
- "Inselsberg - Drei Gleichen" is now a UNESCO Global Geopark - University involved in cooperation agreement
News around research and teaching
- Research networks AquaDiva, PolyTarget and iDiv to be continued
- Research team develops hybrid membrane that extends the life of lithium metal batteries
- United Nations declares 2022 the International Year of Glass
- Students rate the study conditions at Friedrich Schiller University as very good in the new CHE ranking
- Revised Master's programme in Earth Sciences starts in winter semester 21/22
Impressions from Jena: Two new buildings for energy research
Graduate portraits wanted
We would like to know how our graduates fared after their studies. Such personal experience reports illustrate the wide range of career opportunities and they also help pupils and current students.
Would you also like to tell us about your professional career? Then please contact us by e-mail at claudia.hilbert@uni-jena.de. We are happy about every new graduate portrait!
Zum MINT-Festival Jena 2021 erwartet die Besucherinnen und Besucher spannende Wissenschaftsshows, Vorträge, Workshops und digitale Schnitzeljagden.
Image: Claudia HilbertDiscover natural sciences at the 2nd MINT Festival Jena in September
From 14-16 September 2021, the 2nd MINT-Festival Jena will take place - the science festival all about mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology. The festival, organised by the University of Jena together with partners, sponsors and supporters, is primarily aimed at school pupils. However, some events are also open to all interested parties, including the online evening programme on 15 September with an interactive live show by the science comedy group "Die Physikanten" as a highlight. There will also be two interactive puzzle tours with the app Actionbound as well as several lectures - both as live streams and on-demand videos.
Click here for the complete programme of the MINT Festival Jena de
Dr Helmar Görls from the Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry
Image: Jens Meyer (University of Jena)Dr Helmar Görls of IAAC retires after 43 years at the University of Jena
With his work in structure elucidation, Dr Helmar Görls has significantly accompanied and shaped chemistry at the University of Jena over the past decades. This year, the member of Prof. Dr Matthias Westerhausen's research group at the Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry is retiring after 43 years at the university.
A portrait of Helmar GörlsExternal link and his scientific work has been published on the blog of the University of Jena.
Martin Oschatz is the new professor for the chemistry of materials for energy applications
The Institute of Technical Chemistry and Environmental Chemistry has received support at the beginning of 2021: Prof. Dr Martin Oschatz is the new professor for the chemistry of materials for energy applications. The chemist most recently conducted research at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam and taught at the University of Potsdam. In Jena, he is now researching at the interface between the production of nanomaterials, interfacial chemistry and energy applications.
More about Martin Oschatz and his research interests
Career Mentoring - a project of the Graduate Academy
Image: Melissa FiebigCareer mentoring for STEM doctoral students: Mentors from industry wanted
Have you successfully made the transition from science to industry? Would you like to pass on your experience and knowledge about careers after your doctorate to current doctoral students? The Graduate Academy of the University of Jena is looking for doctoral alumni for the following projects:
Mentors wanted:
Have you been working in the private sector for at least two years? Would you like to accompany doctoral students from the natural sciences in the development of a career strategy as a mentor? Share your knowledge of structures, strategies and rules in your field and gain new impulses and ideas for your own work! For more information on career mentoring, please write a short non-binding message by 1 August 2021 to the following email address: ga-careermentoring@uni-jena.de
Alumni Talk:
Can you imagine talking about your career after your doctorate at an alumni talk and exchanging ideas with current doctoral students? The Alumni Talks take place digitally via Zoom. Please register with a short, non-binding message by 1 August 2021 to the following e-mail address: careerdays@uni-jena.de.
More information on the projectsExternal link
"Inselsberg - Drei Gleichen" is now a UNESCO Global Geopark - University involved in cooperation agreement
On 19 July, UNESCO ceremoniously accepted the "National Geopark Thüringen Inselsberg - Drei Gleichen" as the seventh German Geopark in the UNESCO Global Geoparks network. As part of a projectExternal link funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the University of Jena has also been part of the Geopark since 2020. Together with the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin - Leibniz Institute for Evolutionary and Biodiversity Research and the Friedenstein Gotha Castle Foundation, Jena geologists led by Prof. Dr Christoph Heubeck are researching the Bromacker fossil deposit. On the occasion of the ceremonial awarding of the UNESCO certificate, the researchers signed a new cooperation agreement with the Geopark.
The Jena experiment in the Saale floodplain provides important data that are analysed by the researchers from iDiv.
Image: Anne Günther (University of Jena)Research networks AquaDiva, PolyTarget and iDiv to be continued
There was good news from the German Research Foundation in May and July: the DFG is extending its funding for the two Collaborative Research Centres AquaDiva and PolyTarget as well as the Central German Research Centre iDiv, in which the faculty is also involved.
Ther CRC AquaDivaExternal link has existed since 2013 and researches the "Critical Zone" - the porous skin of the earth where air, water, rock and organisms interact. The consortium will now receive around eleven million euros for four more years.
The CRC PolyTargetExternal link will be supported with around 15 million euros over the next four years. Since 2017, the PolyTarget team has been developing alternative carrier materials and systems that can be used to target drugs and deliver them exactly where they are needed.
The German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-LeipzigExternal link receives over 11 million euros annually in its third funding phase. Since its foundation in 2012, the iDiv has been researching the global transformation of ecosystems and biodiversity.
Research team develops hybrid membrane that extends the life of lithium metal batteries
A research team led by Prof. Dr Andrey Turchanin from the Institute of Physical Chemistry has succeeded in preventing the formation of destructive lithium dendrites in lithium-ion batteries, thus extending the batteries' lifespan. The team has developed a thin, two-dimensional membrane made of carbon that prevents the growth of the needle-shaped dendrites.
The dendrites deposit on the anode after several charging cycles - until they puncture the separator membrane that separates the electrodes, causing a short circuit and eventually destroying the battery. With the new membrane, however, the researchers were unable to detect any dendritic growth even after hundreds of charge and discharge cycles.
More about this researchExternal link
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Lothar Wondraczek is the German representative on the international steering committee for the Year of Glass 2022.
Image: Anne Günther (University of Jena)United Nations declares 2022 the International Year of Glass
The United Nations (UN) has declared 2022 the International Year of Glass. Jena and Thuringia will also be part of the festivals, workshops, exhibitions and numerous other activities organised worldwide as part of the theme year. "The theme year is intended to contribute to making the material glass and its importance accessible, from the first ancient faiences and glass vessels to the most modern applications in optics, photonics, medical technology and space travel," says Prof. Dr-Ing. Lothar Wondraczek, Professor of Glass Chemistry at Friedrich Schiller University and German representative on the international steering committee for the Year of Glass.
More about the International Year of Glass
Students rate the study conditions at Friedrich Schiller University as very good in the new CHE ranking
In May, the new university ranking of the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) for 2021 was published - and once again, the Friedrich Schiller University Jena scored very well. The subjects evaluated this time include biogeosciences, chemistry, geography and geosciences. The biogeosciences programme, for example, achieved top rankings in several categories, including support at the beginning of studies, study organisation and excursions. In the field of chemistry, the teaching of scientific and methodological skills is perceived very positively by the students.
More about the University of Jena's performance in the CHE Ranking 2021
Revised Master's programme in Earth Sciences starts in winter semester 21/22
The revised Master's programme M.Sc. Earth Sciences will start in the winter semester 2021/22. The four-semester programme offers a broad interdisciplinary education for a holistic understanding of the Earth system on the one hand and the possibility to specialise in the three fields of study geology, geophysics and mineralogy on the other. An essential innovation is that students can determine their specialisation not at the beginning but only at the end of the study programme. In addition, there is now more room for joint learning with students of the other geoscientific specalisations and there is the possibility to acquire additional interdisciplinary qualifications, for example in economics and languages.
More information on the reformed Master's programme
The CEEC Jena - Center for Energy and Environmental Chemistry Jena researches, among other things, metal-free batteries, intelligent façades and new processes for producing hydrogen. However, the existing CEEC Jena I building in Philosophenweg is no longer sufficient for this purpose. Directly next to CEEC I, on the site of the former buildings of the Institute of Technical Chemistry and Environmental Chemistry, two new research buildings are therefore being built: on 12 July 2021, the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone for CEEC Jena II and the CEEC Jena Application Centre (AWZ CEEC Jena) took place. The federal government, the state from EU funds and the Ernst Abbe and Carl Zeiss Foundations are providing a total of more than 50 million euros for construction. More about the construction project. More about the construction project
View of the excavation pit with the foundations and adjacent buildings during the laying of the foundation stone on 12 July 2021 for the new research buildings CEEC Jena II and AWZ CEEC Jen
Image: Jens Meyer (University of Jena)