Robert Schlögl enters his well-deserved retirement more

On 14 March 2023, Robert Schlögl, Director of the Department of Inorganic Chemistry at the Fritz Haber Institute, was officially inaugurated as the new President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
  more

A further development in atomic force microscopy now makes it possible to simultaneously image the height profile of nanometre-fine structures as well as the electric current and the frictional force at solid-liquid interfaces. A team from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and the Fritz Haber Institute (FHI) of the Max Planck Society has succeeded in analysing electrocatalytically active materials and gaining insights that will help optimise catalysts. The method is also potentially suitable for studying processes on battery electrodes, in photocatalysis or on active biomaterials. more

The ability to distinguish two chiral enantiomers is an essential analytical capability for chemical industries including pharmaceutical companies, flavor/odor engineering and forensic science. A new wave of chiral optical methods have shown significant improvements in chiral sensitivity, compared to their predecessors, leading to potential analytical advantages for chiral discrimination. Researchers at the Fritz Haber Institute have integrated one of these modern methods with the study of gas-phase anions, which enable mass-selection and the use of a simple table-top laser for observation of the chiral effect. Thus, taking another step closer to realizing a robust analytical tool capable of chiral discrimination of dilute and complex, chiral mixtures. more

Dr. Mariana Monteiro was awarded a Minerva Fast Track position by the Max Planck Society to establish her first research group “Electrode-electrolyte interfaces” at the Interface Science Department of the Fritz Haber Institute in Berlin. This electrochemist was selected for her excellent research in electrocatalysis, and her new group will focus on fundamentally understanding the electrochemical interface of earth-abundant electrocatalysts.
  more

In the end of January 2023, Robert Schlögl, Director of the Department for Inorganic Chemistry at the Fritz Haber Institute, had the honor and privilege to receive not one but two honorary doctorates. The Technical University of Darmstadt and the University of Messina presented the major awards for his outstanding contributions on the research on catalysis.
  more

On December 01, the Fritz Haber Institute hosted the seminar NATürlich Studium! – Schülerinnen treffen Naturwissenschaftlerinnen in cooperation with the Schülerlabor NatLab of the Freie Universität Berlin. In this seminar series, girls meet female scientists in the fields of biology, chemistry and pharmacy to get an overview of cutting-edge research and to learn about possible career paths. The seminar series is offered each semester and is targeted to girls from 10th grade onwards who are interested in natural sciences and consider studying in the field. Carla Kirschbaum, a PhD student in the Molecular Physics Department, lead the participants through the exciting day.
  more