Polymers: random coils and beyond
Congratulations to Christian Fuchs. He defended his thesis (Selbstorganisation von Homopolymeren und amphiphilen Triblockcopolymeren auf wässrigen Subphasen) successfully on February 27, 2017. As he has completed the additional training program Christian has been awarded the certificate of our integrated research training group “Polymers: random coils and beyond”.
Title of thesis: “Selbstorganisation von Homopolymeren und amphiphilen Triblockcopolymeren auf wässrigen Subphasen”
Date of defence: February 27. 2017
Research topic: Polymer chains at the air-water interface
Methods:
Careers in German universities and research institutes are difficult. Towards the end of your PhD or at the beginning of your postdoctoral years you need to decide whether you like to continue your career up to the professor or if you leave academia and public funded research institutes. This step is difficult to the biggest part of PhD-students because until then they did not find or try alternative career paths.
Continue reading “Career workshop: Know your competencies – find your job (March 6-7, 2017)”
This module for physicists and chemists introduces the basic concepts in molecular spectroscopy, i.e. Infrared (IR), (surface enhanced) Raman- with imaging options and Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BDS), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Optical Microscopy, Superresolution Microscopy and Single Molecule Fluorescence Detection. Continue reading “Basic Concepts in Molecular Spectroscopy – March 16/17 2017”
In 1944 Guam was recaptured and fortified by US forces. Decades later soldiers that were stationed at Guam developed ALS-PDC (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis–parkinsonism/dementia complex) 50-100 times the incidence of ALS. Also Guam’s natives, the Chamorro, are plagued by severe neurodegenerative diseases. When looking for a possible cause for this phenomenon, scientists soon focused on the neurotoxin BMAA, found in cycad tree fruits, an important food source in Guam. BMAA is a non- proteinogenic amino acid produced by cyanobacteria that can be enriched via the food chain in plants, seafood and higher animals. This is a critical factor because cyanobacteria are known for their excessive blooms not only in marine ecosystems but also in lakes that are used as fresh water source for millions of people.
Continue reading “Talk by A. Korn at UL (February 21, 2017)”
