As the year draws to a close, we look back fondly on what we have achieved over the past twelve months. IFW Dresden's achievements in 2023 include an exceptionally high approval rate in the Leibniz competition.
In addition to winning three ERC grants, the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden achieved a fourfold success in this year's Leibniz Association competition. This series of successes is unique in the history of the scientific organization and will probably remain unique for some time, as the number of applications in the Leibniz competition is limited to two per year for each institute. An additional application can be submitted only for ongoing appointment negotiations for professorships if a woman is to be appointed. On average, new professorships are only appointed every 5-8 years at institutes such as the IFW. In 2022/23, the IFW was in a position to fill two vacant director positions. In both cases, a woman was to be appointed, so that the IFW was able to submit a total of four applications. Due to the strong competition within the Leibniz Association, it is very rare that all of the applications submitted by an institute are selected for funding. The fact that the IFW was able to make full use of the rare opportunity to submit four applications is truly remarkable.
Our successes in the Leibniz Competition 2024
In the Leibniz Women Professorship Program, the two newly appointed IFW directors were able to compete with their research projects.
Leibniz Women Professorship Program
Prof. Dr. Yana Vaynzof with the project "Nanoengineering of sustainable perovskites for solar cells", Duration 2024 - 2028, funding amount 1 million euros
Photovoltaics plays an important role on the road to sustainable energy generation. In order to increase the efficiency of this technology, Professor Yana Vaynzof is working on the development and use of perovskite materials in photovoltaic components. Using a variety of nanotechnology methods, she is expanding the spectrum of current research in this field and thus contributing to the innovative development of solar technology for a more sustainable future.
Prof. Dr. Anjana Devi with the project "Atomic Scale Processing of Materials and Integration Platforms for 2D Electronics", Duration 2024 - 2028, funding amount 1 million euros
Atomic layer deposition (ALD) has emerged as a promising technology for the deposition of very thin films with precise thickness control over complex geometries with high conformality. The aim of the project is to develop a novel platform for atomic layer deposition of functional materials for future technological applications using novel chemical precursors.
Funding line Cooperative Excellence
Cooperation project of the IFW Dresden and the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden "Towards Efficient and Stable Semi-transparent perovskite photovoltaics by plasmonic Enhancement", Duration 2024 - 2026, total funding amount 1 million euros
As part of the establishment of photovoltaic materials in the research program and the orientation towards the necessary goal of CO2-neutral energy generation, IFW Dresden is working in a joint project with the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research - IPF Dresden, specifically on the potential of semi-transparent perovskite solar cells for building-integrated photovoltaic components. In the project, plasmonic nanoparticles are to be integrated into semi-transparent perovskite cells. On the one hand, this should increase the efficiency of the solar cells and, on the other, enable the power drop in the material to be monitored.
Funding line Leibniz Transfer
Transfer project "Open cloud platform for first principles electronic structure calculations powered by FPLO", Duration 2024 - 2026, funding amount 378,000 euros
The modeling of new functional materials is of crucial importance for future developments in the fields of energy storage, electronics, magnetics and spintronics. Density Functional Theory (DFT) enables theoretical predictions to be made about the physical and chemical properties of functional materials. DFT software packages are accordingly in demand, but are currently very complicated and time-consuming to use. The transfer project aims to develop the existing DFT software package FPLO, developed at IFW Dresden, as a cloud-based solution and make it available worldwide in a user-friendly and inclusive manner.
About IFW Dresden
The Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW) is a legally independent, non-university research institution and member of the Leibniz Association. The Institute's mission is to explore the physics, chemistry, and function of new materials and to generate innovations from new discoveries. The focus is on the level of molecules, atoms and electrons, which are governed by the laws of quantum physics as well as nanotechnological laws.
About the Leibniz Competition
The Leibniz Competition is designed to accelerate the achievement of the Leibniz Association’s strategic objectives as part of the Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation. The measures are intended to fulfil the institutes’ duty to perform research and operate research infrastructures at the highest level, and to publicize the resulting successes. With its fixed-term funding programs, the Leibniz Competition provides incentives intended to stimulate the Leibniz Association’s continued profile development. In this regard, it is purposefully different to the measures of other funding organizations and institutional funding.
About the Leibniz Association
The Leibniz Association unites 97 independent research institutions. Leibniz Institutes are dedicated to socially, economically and ecologically relevant issues. They conduct knowledge and application-oriented research, including in the overarching Leibniz Research Alliance, are or maintain scientific infrastructures and offer research-based services. They advise and inform politics, science, industry and the public. The Leibniz Institutes are subject to a transparent and independent review process. Due to their national importance, the federal and state governments jointly fund the institutes of the Leibniz Association. The financial volume amounts to 2 billion euros.
Contact:
Patricia Bäuchler
p.baeuchler[at]ifw-dresden.de
+49 (0)351 4659 249
