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Top Researchers from Weinberg

What happens at the two “Competence Centres for Innovation” at the Martin Luther University  

ROMAN RÜHLE

“HALOmem” and “SiLi-nano” mean that there have now been two “Competence Centres for Innovation” (ZIK) in Halle for over a year. These are excellent research projects in eastern Germany which were granted 6.25 million euros each by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMFB). So far they are the only two in Saxony-Anhalt and are a major success for the research location of Halle and the Martin Luther University where both of the centres are located. scientia halensis finds out what has been happening since the grants were approved and who is behind the projects.

Scientist Kirsten Bacia came to Halle from the US.  Starting winter semester, she will be leading her own research group for “HALOmem”.  Here she is preparing liposomes in order to study membrane proteins.

“We are researching membrane proteins.” Kirsten Bacia succinctly sums up what “HALOmem” does. The young scientist is full of ideas when she talks about the project. She is taking a look at one of the new work stations with physics professor Jochen Balbach and is full of anticipation. They are both standing in the Nuclear Resonance Centre on the Weinberg Campus. “Here we can work at a very high standard. We are technically well-equipped,” explains Balbach happily.   

From now on, Balbach and Bacia will work together on “HALOmem”. Balbach is one of the initiators and co-founders of the project. Bacia will lead a research group as of September. Before that she will give up her post-doctorate position in the US and move to Halle. Bacia is already familiar with working with membrane proteins from her stay in the US. During her post-doctorate work she investigated membranes using biophysical methods. In Halle she will utilise modern microscopy and spectroscopy techniques to research the spatial structure and functionality of membrane proteins. “The proteins sit in various cellular membranes. They control and regulate essential functions in the human body. They are particularly important when it comes to communication processes,” she explains. And Balbach adds, “They convey numerous signals. Information about their structure helps us understand disease patterns.” In short: the proteins are investigated in order to obtain information that will help develop medicine. Balbach explains, “Our findings are not only significant for basic research, but are also of great importance for industry partners.”

The Nuclear Resonance Centre on the Weinberg Campus has just recently been completed.  Here, Jochen Balbach and his team are researching the structures of proteins.  This photo shows him inserting a protein sample into the 800 MHz spectrometer.

INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

Balbach is convinced that “HALOmem” will set the course and deliver new findings. He founded the research initiative along with his colleague Milton T. Stubbs. Jokingly they refer to themselves as the “ZIK parents”. They complement one another, each stemming from a different field. Stubbs is a professor for biotechnology; Balbach is a physics professor. Balbach relates that he, Prof. Daniel Huster (he is now working at the University of Leipzig) and Stubbs worked one year long on the “HALOmem” concept before the project could be submitted to the BMBF competition.

Balbach is not afraid of the competition. On the contrary. He emphasises that the international research community work closely together. “Halle has found a solid position within this research community,” he says, “if nothing else thanks to the enormous funding by the BMBF.”

He and his colleague Stubbs are able to invest a total of 6.25 million euros in the next five years. It is currently helping to set up two junior research groups and creating positions for Ph.D. students, post-doctorates and technical assistants. Various lab rooms are being prepared at the Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology. “HALOmem” has already made good headway. According to Balbach, “Our next tasks will be to plan out the research. We cannot and do not want to spend the BMBF money all at once.”

LIGHT AND POWER OF THE FUTURE

Ralf B. Wehrspohn has to keep thinking ahead. He is the head of “SiLi-nano“, the second research initiative in Halle. The abbreviation stands for “Silicon and Light: from macro to nano”. Three partners – the MLU, the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials and the Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics – brought about this idea. The focus is on aspects in which silicon is used in combination with light. Just like his colleagues in the “HALOmem” initiative, Wehrspohn will dedicate himself to doing basic research in a field which is becoming increasingly more important. For him, however, it won’t be biochemical processes which will take centre stage; Wehrspohn is committed to developing solar and photovoltaic technology.

Prof. Dr. Ralf B. Wehrspohn is investigating an improved nanostructuring of silicon.  He is the founder and speaker for the “SiLi-nano” research project.  He holds in his hand a coloured plate from a photovoltaic module.  Photos: Maike Glöckner

IDEAL CONDITIONS

“SiLi-nano” interfaces silicon photonics and photovoltaics.  Wehrspohn quickly summarises the aim of the research: “We want to make silicon a more efficient light emitter by nanostructuring it. Achieving this allows innovative silicon solar cells to be produced.  Light emission is, from a physical point of view, the reciprocal process to light absorption.” In the future, silicon is to become even more efficient in terms of light absorption. “Many of the silicon solar cells being used today have to be relatively thick in order to absorb all of the sunlight,” explains the physicist. The two junior research group leaders Dr. Stefan Schweizer and Dr. Jörg Schilling will work with their own research groups in the coming five years towards making silicon, and thus also the solar modules, more efficient. “The optimisation will only be achieved by improving the properties of the material,” says Wehrspohn. He would like to develop a process based on light and silicon together with these junior scientists by closely combining basic and applied research. Wehrspohn knows that the problem which he and his team are working on is not new. There has been intensive research in this field since the end of the 1980s “both at universities and in research institution,” he says. “However the conditions here in Halle are better than anywhere else.  It’s worth building up this location.” The MLU, the City of Halle and the local Max Planck and Fraunhofer Institutes are all pulling together.

SPECIAL MASTERS PROGRAMMES IN SIGHT

“Our partnerships are particularly important for later education and training,” says the physicist. “Doing research in a dark room just doesn’t make any sense.” In the future, Wehrspohn would like to inform the citizens of Halle and potential students from the east and west about “SiLi-nano”. “We need long-term publicity. This is the only way to gain the public’s acceptance for what we are doing here.” Wehrspohn also believes that super-regional campaigns are necessary. Yet he remains realistic. “The number of students isn’t going to jump dramatically because of this. However, I’m sure that they will rise over the next two or three years.”  

Currently Physics is planning ahead with the newly created Q-Cells endowed chair in Photovoltaics and by supporting “SiLi-nano”. There will be a master’s programme in Photovoltaics as of winter semester 2010/2011. “I see this as our chance to distinguish ourselves from others in the future. The students of tomorrow will come to us just on the basis of this specialisation.” According to Wehrspohn there will be 25 openings in the future. That would be a “good and realistic number” for him.

In summary, the work of “SiLi-nano” and “HALOmem” will really begin starting next winter semester. However it is already clear that the centres will be internationally renowned research facilities which will make people from far and wide aware of Halle and its university.

(translated by Lorry King, http://www.able-sprachschule.de   )

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