Novel catalysts: Halle and Gießen rely on innovative research!

Novel catalysts: Halle and Gießen rely on innovative research!

Jun. Prof. Dr. Frederik Haase from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg has received the award from the Emmy Noether Program of the German Research Foundation (DFG). He is being funded with up to 1.5 million euros to conduct intensive research into frustrated materials. These special materials prevent molecules from forming their optimal bonds, which can be important for various chemical applications.

The results of Haare's research could provide important impetus for the development of novel catalysts for chemical reactions. Part of the funding will be invested in the purchase of a synthesis robot, which makes it possible to carry out certain laboratory procedures automatically. This is intended to give researchers more time for scientific work.

Research focus and career of Frederik Haase

In his work, Haase is investigating whether frustrated molecules can be used as catalysts. Catalysts activate chemical reactions and are often used using expensive metals such as gold or platinum. In nature, enzymes that the body produces itself take on this catalytic function. Haase is now researching whether the principle of enzymes using frustrated molecules can also be transferred to chemical reactions in the laboratory.

Precise research on frustrated materials requires precise and repeatable manipulations and dimensions. Frederik Haase, born in 1988, has been a junior professor for “Bioinspired Hybrid Materials” at the University of Halle since 2022. He studied chemistry and biochemistry at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and received his doctorate in 2018 at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart. The Emmy Noether program has a funding rate of around 17 percent and is aimed at outstanding researchers in early career phases. It is named after the mathematician Emmy Noether, who was the first German woman to receive her habilitation in the field of mathematics HalleLife reports.

Another exciting project in the field of catalysis is being led by Dr. Urs Gellrich at the Institute for Organic Chemistry at the Justus Liebig University of Giessen (JLU). Gellrich was also selected for an Emmy Noether junior research group, which will provide him with 1.3 million euros over five years to develop new metal-free catalysts. The project, entitled “In Silico Design and Synthesis of Novel, Metal-Free Systems for Bond Activation and Catalysis,” aims to synthesize metal-free molecules to activate strong chemical bonds and enable new catalytic processes.

Dr. Gellrich combines experimental investigations with computer-aided quantum mechanical calculations to achieve his goals. The JLU is proud of this success, as this is the second Emmy Noether junior research group to begin its work this year at the JLU's Department of Biology and Chemistry. Dr. Gellrich studied and received his doctorate at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg and previously did a postdoctoral stay at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. Since April 2017 he has been working at JLU as a Liebig scholarship holder from the Chemical Industry Fund. The Emmy Noether Program supports qualified young scientists and enables them to independently lead a junior research group, such as uni-giessen.de reports.

– Submitted by West-East media