Department of Molecular Physics
The research in the Department of Molecular Physics focuses on the structure and the intra- and inter-molecular dynamics of molecular systems, from diatomic molecules to biological macromolecules, either in isolation or in interaction with their environment. For this, new experimental methods to manipulate and control, to characterise and to spectroscopically investigate these molecular systems are developed and exploited.
Research themes
Home of the molecular synchrotron
A milestone for molecular beams
Molecular Stew Analysis Produces World´s First Description of Amyloid Intermediate Structures
Stark decelerator
The ultimate molecular control tool
Molecules as a light dark matter detector
Internal degrees of molecules are a great sensor for light dark matter
Dynamics of photoionization-induced processes in laser-prepared gas- and aqueous-phase samples
Laser cooling of diatomic polar molecules
Electronic structure of aqueous-phase anatase titanium dioxide nanoparticles probed by liquid jet photoelectron spectroscopy
On January 22, 2026, Daniel Fontoura Barroso, member of the Molecular Physics Department, and his team have been awarded the Main Prize of the BPW Business Plan Competition Berlin‑Brandenburg. The team convinced the jury with its sensor-based monitoring system for bridges and other engineering structures — a solution addressing a challenge of significant public and infrastructure relevance.The BPW Business Plan Competition Berlin-Brandenburg is Germany’s largest regional start-up initiative, supporting founders in developing sustainable business models and bringing innovations to market.
The announcement by ILB Investitionsbank des Landes Brandenburg is available here:
https://www.ilb.de/de/bc-capital/news/pressemeldungen/2022/pressemeldung-2022_2067651.html
A video by the founders of Spree Monitoring is available here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxIBJrO1i_A
We warmly congratulate Daniel and the entire Spree Monitoring team on this achievement.
The official announcements are available
on the Berlin Senate website: https://www.berlin.de/sen/web/presse/pressemitteilungen/2025/pressemitteilung.1620744.php
and on the BAM website: https://www.bam.de/Content/DE/Pressemitteilungen/2025/2025-12-01-innovationspreis.html
We warmly congratulate Daniel and his team on this award!
News
On the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the Fritz Haber Institute honors its pioneers such as Clara Immerwahr, Germany’s first female chemistry PhD, while also celebrating the achievements of women across all fields of research at the ...
Dr. Dominik Stemer, postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Molecular Physics at the Fritz Haber Institute, has been accepted by the German Research Foundation (DFG) into the prestigious Emmy Noether Program. Starting by the beginning of 2026 ...
Prof. Dr. Giacomo Valtolina, former head of the research group “Molecular Quantum Matter” in the Molecular Physics Department of the Fritz Haber Institute, has been appointed as a Visiting Professor at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. This ...
On January 29, Dr. Florian Trinter, research group leader in the Molecular Physics Department at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, was awarded this year's Photon Science User Award by DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron).
Together with an international team, researchers from the Molecular Physics Department at the Fritz Haber Institute revealed how atoms rearrange themselves before releasing low-energy electrons in a decay process initiated by X-ray irradiation. For ...
Yujie Peng defended her doctoral thesis at Technische Universität Berlin. She elucidated how surface structure, local chemical environment, and applied potential govern the in situ activation and structural evolution of copper- and cobalt-based ...
News
On the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the Fritz Haber Institute honors its pioneers such as Clara Immerwahr, Germany’s first female chemistry PhD, while also celebrating the achievements of women across all fields of research at the ...
Dr. Dominik Stemer, postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Molecular Physics at the Fritz Haber Institute, has been accepted by the German Research Foundation (DFG) into the prestigious Emmy Noether Program. Starting by the beginning of 2026 ...
Prof. Dr. Giacomo Valtolina, former head of the research group “Molecular Quantum Matter” in the Molecular Physics Department of the Fritz Haber Institute, has been appointed as a Visiting Professor at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. This ...
On January 29, Dr. Florian Trinter, research group leader in the Molecular Physics Department at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, was awarded this year's Photon Science User Award by DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron).
Together with an international team, researchers from the Molecular Physics Department at the Fritz Haber Institute revealed how atoms rearrange themselves before releasing low-energy electrons in a decay process initiated by X-ray irradiation. For ...
Yujie Peng defended her doctoral thesis at Technische Universität Berlin. She elucidated how surface structure, local chemical environment, and applied potential govern the in situ activation and structural evolution of copper- and cobalt-based ...
