Author: Hieronymus Hölzig

The deputy spokesperson of TRR-386 HYP*MOL, Georgeta Salvan, was one of around 25 people who went on a delegation trip to Japan from 12 to 15 September 2023. With the Saxon State Minister for Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport, Martin Dulig, as the head of the group, the representatives from research, business and politics toured several Japanese innovation locations, including Tohoku University in Sendai. Salvan exchanged views on semiconductor research with their Japanese counterparts and presented new findings on spintronics. The complete report can be read under this link.

photo: Kristin Schmidt (SMWA)

On 5 September 2023, organic chemist and HYP*MOL member Prof. Tanja Gulder received the Fluorine Chemistry Publication Award at the GDCh Science Forum Chemistry (WiFo) in Leipzig. The prize for outstanding scientific work in the field of fluorine chemistry has been awarded every 2 years since 2011 by the Fluorine Chemistry Working Group of the German Chemical Society.

The original communication can be read at this link.

©GDCh/photo: Christian Augustin

Christina Lamers, Junior Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the Faculty of Medicine (Leipzig University) and project leader of the HYP*MOL peptide factory, has been awarded the international “Svar Complement Excellence Award” worth 20,000 euros. The scientist from the Institute for Drug Discovery received the prize for her research in the field of the complement system. The complement system is a part of the immune system that contributes to the elimination of cellular antigens, for example bacteria. Her work focuses on the structure-activity relationship of complement inhibitors, i.e. substances that inhibit the activity of individual components of the complement system.

Please feel welcome to read the official announcement at this link.

We are pleased to announce that HYP*MOL has been approved as a Collaborative Research Center / Transregio of the German Research Foundation and will be funded with more than 13 million Euros. From October 2023 to mid-2027, Leipzig University and Chemnitz University of Technology will host this research network of 17 subprojects with a total of 29 project leaders.

Graphic: Jacob Müller; Photos used: Jacob Müller & Christian Hüller

A new study with the participation of HYP*MOL spokespersons Georgeta Salvan and Jörg Matysik, the results of which have now been published in the journal Chemical Science, demonstrates a polaron effect in cyanobacteriochromes. It is a light-induced switching process that could be traced in detail over individual sub-process steps, also thanks to innovative sample preparation methods developed by first author Lisa Köhler. Corresponding effects are known primarily from solid-state physics, so that semiconductor physicist Georgeta Salvan played a key role in data interpretation.

Image: Jacob Müller

The Deputy Spokesperson of HYP*MOL, Georgeta Salvan became a member of the Editorial Board of Scientific Reports in April 2023. Salvan who is focusing on semiconductor physics, is now active in the journal’s condensed matter physics section.

Photo: Jacob Müller

On April 14, 2023, consortium member Tanja Gulder was admitted to the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities, which has existed since 1846. The organic chemist with a focus on biomimetic catalysis is now part of the Mathematical-Natural Sciences Class. Membership in the Academy is reserved for top researchers and offers the opportunity for interdisciplinary exchange at the highest professional level. The honour assiociated with membership is underscored by a full 12 Nobel Laureates in the list of past and present academy members. In the video at this link, Tanja Gulder presents her exciting research to the Academy.

Photo: Dirk Brzoska, Image: Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig

Kirill Monakhov is amongst Invited Speakers from imec, Samsung Electronics, Google, and other key technology companies and research institutions at the 26th edition of International Interconnect Technology Conference, a joint event with Materials for Advanced Metallization Conference in Dresden, May 22-25, 2023. He will present the results of his group about “Solution-Processable Molecular Oxides for Integrated Memories” at Session 10: Novel System and Emerging Technology.

The working groups of Matysik, Sommer, and Künze together with colleagues from Leipzig and Spain have obtained new insights into the mechanism by which enzymes degrade polyethylene terephthalate (PET), one of the most widely used plastic materials. Enzymatic PET degradation is considered a possible eco-friendly recycling solution for plastic waste. Using solid-state NMR spectroscopy and numerical simulations, the authors were able to monitor the PET hydrolysis catalyzed by the thermophilic enzyme TfCut2 in real-time and detect important reaction intermediates and their interaction with the enzyme’s active site. The results of that study will be published in the next issue of ACS Catalysis.