Sugars, amino acids, drugs - chiral molecules are everywhere. Researchers in the AQUACHIRAL project at the Fritz-Haber-Institut have used X-rays to study hair-thin liquid jets of these molecules. Using a new method, they can now for the first time distinguish their components in liquid form – and more effectively than ever before. more

In the last week of April, the whole Fritz-Haber-Institut came together for the first live poster session since the start of the pandemic to discuss the research undertaken during the last few years. We spoke to five researchers about their posters. more

Using a new experimental method, a team led by physicist Sandra Eibenberger-Arias of the Fritz-Haber-Institut has transferred the mirror-image forms of chiral molecules into different rotational states more efficiently than ever before. This opens doors to a deeper understanding and manipulability of this common type of molecule for future applications. more

Ronnie Kosloff, Professor of Theoretical Chemistry and at the Fritz Haber Research Center of Theoretical Chemistry at Hebrew University of Jerusalem/Israel, was on a research stay at the FHI in September. more

Under normal conditions, pure water is almost an electrical insulator. Water would only become metallic under extreme pressures, such as found in the interior of very large planets or stars. Now an international collaboration has succeeded to create a metallic state of water using a completely different approach. more

The European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant has been awarded to the Group Leader of the “Cold and ultracold molecules” research group at the Department for Molecular Physics. The Grant provides an endowment of €1.9 million over a period of five years. more

The Physicist Horst Günther Conrad, who worked at the Surface Physics and Molecular Physics Departments for more than 30 years, sadly passed away in March this year. The FHI will miss a patient scientist and educator. more

An international team for the first time observed the formation of a metallic conduction band in electrolytes using photoelectron spectroscopy. This allowed a deeper insight into the behaviour of electrolytes and so-called dissolved or solvated electrons, which play an important role in a large number of large-scale industrial chemical processes. The work is published in Science. more

Bernd Winter, who leads the Liquid Microjet project in the Molecular Physics Department, has been awarded an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) endowed with €2.5 million over a period of five years. more

The chemist Prof. Dr. Kevin Pagel has been awarded a highly endowed Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). Pagel is a professor of bioorganic chemistry at Freie Universität Berlin and a visiting researcher at the Fritz Haber Institute. more