Heidelberg University Heidelberg Early-Career Researchers Invited to Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting
Press Release No. 52/2022
22 June 2022
Three doctoral students from Ruperto Carola represent chemistry
Three doctoral students from Heidelberg University have the opportunity to discuss with some of the most outstanding scientists of our time. They will attend the 71st Nobel Laureate Meeting Chemistry, taking place from 26 June to 1 July 2022 in Lindau. Clara Vazquez-Martel, Jonas Wunsch and Nicolas Zorn are among the young researchers worldwide whose excellent academic achievements took them successfully through the multi-phase application and selection process. The event with over 30 laureates – including Heidelberg physicist Prof. Dr Stefan Hell, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry – offers several days of programme with lectures, panel discussions and the opportunity for personal encounter.
Clara Vazquez-Martel belongs to the research group of Junior Professor Dr. Eva Blasco at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and the Centre for Advanced Materials. She is investigating the new generation of materials for additive manufacturing in the context of research by the “3D Matter Made to Order” (3DMM2O) Cluster of Excellence, which is organised jointly by Heidelberg University and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. It focuses on how 3D printing can be made more sustainable. An emphasis of her work is on using bio-based starting materials, such as plant oils, to produce printable synthetics and so to reduce the environmental impact of this technology.
Jonas Wunsch, on a scholarship from the Hector Fellow Academy, is doing a doctorate in the research group of Prof. Dr A. Stephen K. Hashmi, whose research at the Institute of Organic Chemistry is on gold-containing catalysts. These catalysts are needed to make very different substances from a few raw materials like crude oil or biomass. With his doctoral project, Jonas Wunsch is pursuing the goal of broadening the range of potential catalysts. For this purpose, he is developing a new ligand with particularly good bonding properties. In addition, he is concerned with azulenes, i.e. dyes that are interesting as coloured sensors or organic electronic components due to their photophysical properties.
Nicolas Zorn belongs to the team of a European Research Council-funded project run by Prof. Dr Jana Zaumseil on the topic of carbon-based nanotubes. Located at the interface of chemistry, physics and materials sciences, the research project at the Institute of Physical Chemistry focuses on how their properties can be intentionally manipulated. In his doctoral project Nicolas Zorn is studying the electronic and optical properties of these novel nanomaterials and their behaviour when electrical current is applied to them. The aim is to open up new applications in optoelectronic components and telecommunications. Nicolas Zorn will also represent Heidelberg University at the research exhibition organised on behalf of the Baden Württemberg State Ministry and presented on the final day of the Nobel Laureate Meeting.
The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings were founded in 1951 and young scientists have been invited to the annual events since 1953. The aim is to foster exchange between different generations, scientific disciplines and cultures and to underline the importance of the knowledge society. The meetings rotate around the three Nobel Prize science disciplines – physics, chemistry and physiology / medicine. Every five years there is an interdisciplinary conference, and every three years the Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences.
