Dr. Xuchen Wang, KIT

April 6, 2023

Photonic time crystals, whose properties change periodically, promise significant enhancements in microwave engineering, optics, and photonics. Researchers from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and partners from Aalto University and Stanford University have unveiled a groundbreaking 2D photonic time crystal and demonstrated important applications. Their approach simplifies the realisation of photonic time crystals and may improve the efficiency of future communication systems. The results of this study have been reported in Science Advances. (DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg7541)

Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT

March 16, 2023

A new supercomputer for materials research has now started operation at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT): The computer that is worth 1.2 million euros enables researchers to simulate the structure of future materials and study their properties even before they exist in reality. This helps them develop new materials that may be applied in the medical sector or in energy research. With their new computer models, the researchers succeeded in improving the membrane of Covid rapid test kits, for instance.

Markus Breig, KIT

March 1, 2023

Digitalization does not only affect private life and work, but also influences and changes the entire healthcare sector. Sustainable progress in medical technology to preserve health will require increased collaboration of citizens, physicians, and researchers in future. To push this transformation process, the KIT Center of Health Technologies (KITHealthTech) has now been established at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Its mission consists in developing from the society’s perspective digital and technological solutions for medical products. Work will focus on the society’s needs and benefit.  

Markus Breig, Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT

January 30, 2023

In the 2022 allocation round for the award of the prestigious Consolidator Grants of the European Research Council, researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have been successful. For their projects in the fields of photovoltaics and medical sensor technology, physicist Ulrich W. Paetzold and chemist Frank Biedermann will receive approximately two million euros over the next five years.

"Researchers from KIT have been successfully applying for the coveted funding from the European Research Council for years. I am very pleased that Ulrich W. Paetzold with his project in the topic of photovoltaics and Frank Biedermann with his work in the field of sensor technology were able to continue this series of successes right at the beginning of the new year through receiving the ERC Consolidator Grant," says KIT Vice President for Research Professor Oliver Kraft.

Stefanie Dehnen, KIT

26. Januar 2023

Metallcluster sind Ansammlungen von untereinander chemisch gebundenen Metallatomen, die besondere magnetische und metallische Eigenschaften haben. Daher sind sie für die Grundlagenforschung hochinteressant. Darüber hinaus haben solche Metallverbindungen aber auch ein großes Potenzial in der Katalyse. Einem Forschungsteam des Karlsruher Instituts für Technologie (KIT) ist es nun gelungen, umweltfreundlich und mit guter Ausbeute zwei Cluster aus jeweils zwei Metallatomsorten zu gewinnen und auf ihre einzigartigen Eigenschaften hin zu untersuchen.

„Bei organischen Molekülen ist Aromatizität gut bekannt, aber jüngst wurde sie auch für Metallcluster diskutiert“, so Stefanie Dehnen, Geschäftsführende Direktorin des Instituts für Nanotechnologie am KIT. „Wir haben eine metallische Clusterverbindung synthetisiert, die eine neue, räumlich komplexere Art von Aromatizität aufweist, die es bei organischen Verbindungen nicht gibt. Das Ergebnis ist fundamental, da es zu einem Paradigmenwechsel bei Konzepten chemischer Bindungsformen beiträgt. Perspektivisch hoffen wir, dass wir die höhere Stabilität der Phi-aromatischen Cluster dazu nutzen können, selektive Reaktionen mit ihnen durchzuführen“, so Dehnen.

Institute for Biological Interfaces-1, KIT

November 15, 2022

From human intestines to the bottom of the sea: Microorganisms populate nearly any habitat, no matter how hostile it is. Their great variety of survival strategies is of huge potential in biotechnology. Most of these organisms, however, are unknown, because they cannot be cultivated. To make better use of this “microbial dark matter”, a team of researchers from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has now developed a “sponge” made of porous, formable silicone. Embedded in a chip, the material sucks up microorganisms in the surroundings, which can then be applied for further research. The findings are published in ACS – Applied Material and Interfaces.