Four Humboldt Research Fellowships awarded to FHI scientists
In recognition of their scientific work, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is supporting four young researchers of the Fritz Haber Institute with a Humboldt Research Fellowship for Postdocs: Dr. Alexander Gorfer from the Theory Department, Dr. Roey Ben David and Dr. Young Jae Kim from the Interface Science Department, and Dr. Sejun An from the Molecular Physics Department.
We warmly congratulate all four on their Humboldt Research Fellowship for Postdocs, which shows their scientific excellence and enables them to conduct their postdoctoral research at the Fritz Haber Institute for two years to further develop their career towards independent researchers. The Humboldt Postdoc Fellowship is a prestigious funding measure that strongly supports young researchers in their professional development and academic careers.
Dr. Alexander Gorfer has secured a prestigious Humboldt Fellowship to conduct his postdoctoral work in the group of Dr. Matthias Kick in the Theory Department starting on June 1, 2026. Dr. Gorfer obtained his PhD from the University of Vienna under the supervision of Prof. Dellago and Prof. Abart. His work focused on modeling defects, disorder, and bulk properties of alkali feldspar using DFT, machine learning, large-scale atomistic simulations, and custom-built code. He collaborated with researchers across disciplines, ranging from VASP developers to geologists. With his expertise, Dr. Gorfer will now contribute to advance the Theory Department´s development of efficient methods for the description of excited-state phenomena in large quantum systems. He will apply his computational framework to study realistic nanomaterials, enabling accurate and cost-efficient prediction of complex excited-state properties in large systems such as core-shell nanocrystals.
Dr. Young Jae Kim obtained a PhD in Chemistry from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. His research at the Fritz Haber Institute will be funded by the Humboldt Fellowship from June 1, 2026. He will work in the Interface Science Department under the guidance of Dr. Shamil Shaikhutdinov and Prof. Beatriz Roldán Cuenya. His research focuses on understanding ammonia synthesis mechanisms on single crystal iron surfaces using near-ambient pressure (NAP) techniques including NAP-scanning tunneling microscopy (NAP-STM) and NAP X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. He will study the correlations between the highly dynamic iron surface under ammonia synthesis conditions and the different possible reaction mechanisms. His research will also be expanded to include synchrotron-based surface analysis techniques and reactivity studies of more active iron thin-film catalysts. This opportunity will synergistically support him in advancing his research training in a broad range of state-of-the-art characterization methods while learning how to develop as future independent researcher.
Dr. Roey Ben David will be supported by the Humboldt Fellowship from September 1, 2026. He will be a postdoctoral researcher in the research group of Dr. See Wee Chee and will be co-mentored by director Beatriz Roldán Cuenya in the Interface Science Department. He received his PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel in 2024. He is planning to investigates the structural and morphological evolution of mono and bimetallic catalysts during ammonia decomposition using operando scanning electron microscopy. By advancing the fundamental understanding of catalytic processes for ammonia decomposition, his research is expected to contribute to the development and rational design of more efficient catalytic systems for hydrogen generation from ammonia.
Dr. Sejun An will be funded by a Humboldt Fellowship from June 1, 2026.
He obtained his PhD at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in 2024. At the Fritz Haber Institute, his research builds on the enantiomer-specific state transfer (ESST) technique developed in the group of Dr. Sandra Eibenberger-Arias in the Molecular Physics Department at the Fritz Haber Institute. By exploiting the ability of ESST to control molecular quantum states according to molecular handedness, his work aims to achieve the spatial separation of mirror-image molecules in the gas phase. He is also developing new approaches for circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy that would enable chiral analysis directly from racemic molecular mixtures.
The Fritz Haber Institute celebrates the fellowships of Dr. Gorfer, Dr. Kim, Dr. Ben David and Dr. An eagerly anticipating both their scientific contributions and continued presence among the institute’s researchers for the next two years.
About the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is renowned for its commitment to promoting international scientific cooperation. Established in 1860, the foundation has played a fundamental role in connecting researchers worldwide and supporting academic exchange. In 2023, the foundation maintained an interdisciplinary network of over 30,000 Humboldtians across 140 countries, with 61 Nobel laureates. Between 2018 and 2022, it sponsored 4,690 research stays in Germany at universities and 1,790 at non-university research institutions. In the latest Humboldt Rankings from 2023, Max Planck institutes lead the list of non-university research institutions, with the Fritz Haber Institute in Berlin at the forefront. From 2016 to 2022, the Fritz Haber Institute hosted 68 researchers, making it the leading host of Humboldt researchers in Berlin, following the major universities (FU, HU, TU).
