Lena is a doctoral researcher in the group for theoretical chemical physics at the University of Wuppertal. Her field of research focuses on polymer science, which is situated at the interface between chemistry, physics, and engineering. She currently develops a model that enables the simulation of filled strain-crystallizing elastomer networks on a mesoscopic scale. The aim of her work is to investigate the differences and the interplay of reinforcement by filler and strain-induced crystallization. This model features properties of natural rubber, which is widely used in industrial applications such as tires and, therefore, of high research interest. During her Master's studies, she already specialized in this area and received the prize of VDI Bergischer Bezirksverein for her thesis ''Modelling Study of Reinforcement and Crack Formation in Strain-Crystallizing Elastomer Networks''.

Jelena is a doctoral researcher at the Institute for Astroparticle Physics (IAP) of KIT. Since her master's thesis at BUW, her research has been dedicated to understanding the highest energy processes in our Universe. To do this, she measures high-energy cosmic particles via their radio emission in the atmosphere.

She is part of the NUTRIG group, which aims to develop an efficient and scalable trigger system for the detection of cosmic rays and neutrinos using large-scale radio antenna arrays. Jelena’s work on the autonomous trigger mainly contributes to the GRAND project, a huge radio-antenna array for the detection of high-energy neutrinos in the development stage, but has general relevance for the radio detection technique.

In addition to her research, Jelena serves as a Ph.D. representative for her graduate school, KSETA, advocating the interests of her peers. Through the DAAD RISE program, she currently mentors a student from Penn State University, US, focusing on software development and air-shower reconstruction.

Antonia is a project manager at SPRIND GmbH (Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation), where she is responsible for physics-related topics and projects in the field of microelectronics and computing. With a passion for new, emerging, exciting technologies, she supports innovators on their path to market success. Having completed her Ph.D. in laser-driven particle acceleration at the Max-Planck-Institute für Quantum Optics, Antonia is now coming back closer to those roots as she is leading the newly founded SPRIND-subsidiary Pulsed Light Technologies GmbH. The company focuses on developing high-intensity lasers for laser-driven inertial fusion. Working closely with fusion start-ups Focused Energy and Marvel Fusion, their shared goal is to pave the way toward a fusion power plant. Between those stages, she advised ministries at the state and federal levels on research funding for projects in microelectronics with a focus on chip design and semiconductor technologies.

Jana is an assistant professor (Juniorprofessorin) at the Bergische Universität Wuppertal. Her research focuses on studying the QCD phase diagram using lattice gauge theory methods. In particular, she is concerned with the behavior of QCD matter at finite densities, which is a particular challenge for lattice QCD calculations. Here, the notorious "sign problem" prevents the use of the established Monte Carlo simulations, which is why new methods are sought, or extrapolations are used to solve QCD in this domain. The knowledge gained in this way can be used to understand heavy ion collisions at particle accelerators and theoretically explain the results obtained there from first principles. To reproduce the experimental conditions in lattice QCD simulations, she uses the method of analytical continuation from imaginary chemical potential.

Learn more about Jana in an interview conducted by her university. 

Kathrin is Head of Coating and Surface Roughness Metrology at ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology in Oberkochen, Germany. The department of around 80 scientists and engineers focuses on the development of metrology processes that enable high-precision measurements of optical components for the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography optics manufactured by ZEISS. These optical systems are later integrated into microchip manufacturing machines. The accuracy specifications of these systems range into sub-nanometer dimensions and are often beyond everything that can be found on the market. Therefore, they also pose great challenges for the development of the metrology machines and processes for their components concerning precision, size, and reliability. The spectrum of methods in Kathrin’s responsibility covers, amongst others, atomic force microscopy, interferometry, defect detection, and EUV-reflectometry and allows, e.g., to prove surface roughness down to sub-nanometers.

Before joining ZEISS, Kathrin held a Junior professorship at Bielefeld University and was a Helmholtz Young Investigator group leader, focusing on solar fuel research.

Chiara is a scientist researching novel techniques for spectroscopy at the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques in Freiburg.

Her research focuses on using entangled photon pairs for sensitive high-resolution mid-infrared spectroscopy. The idea is to use a correlated pair of one mid-infrared (for sample interaction) and one near-infrared photon (for highly sensitive detection) and transfer the information between them using quantum interference effects. As Chiara and her colleagues found out, the quantum interferometer can be operated in close analogy to a classical Fourier-transform spectrometer, which greatly improves the spectral resolution and measurement accuracy.

For her Ph.D. studies, Chiara has received the Quantum Futur Award (1^st place), awarded by the BMBF, and the Hugo-Geiger Preis (2^nd place) awarded by the Freistaat Bayern and the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft.

Anna is currently writing her Ph.D. thesis on improving the crystal quality in single crystalline magnetic thin films, a work she conducted in the group of Prof. Vassilios Kapaklis at Uppsala University in Sweden. Limiting the amount of grain boundaries and crystallographic defects in such films enables the growth of high-quality artificial multilayered materials. Her main focus is to understand epitaxial metal/oxide interface structures to tune magnetic properties like interlayer exchange coupling in superlattices or THz emission in other spintronic devices for various technological applications.

Dragana is a Humboldt Fellow at the University of Hamburg and an Associate Professor at the University of Belgrade, Serbia. She has been engaged for many years in the optical spectroscopy of active galactic nuclei (AGN), focusing on resolving the inner regions through optical time-domain studies and reverberation mapping (RM). She has been fascinated with complex emission line features seen in optical AGN spectra, trying to understand their origin. For these studies, she contributed to the development of the open-source software for AGN spectral analysis - FANTASY.  Lately, she has been intensely involved in preparation for the exploitation of the AGN time series from the Vera Rubin "Legacy Survey in Space and Time" (LSST) project. She is the Program Manager of the SER-SAG international in-kind team, which aims to employ photo-RM on AGNs and to compile a catalog of possible candidates for close-binary AGNs from the LSST survey. She advocates for diversity, equity, and inclusion in science on every level.

Micol is passionate about physics education research. She coordinates and teaches introductory physics laboratory courses at the University of Potsdam and, in recent years, has redesigned them to engage students collaboratively and creatively in authentic experimental activities.

She is doing research on students' learning in these contexts and works on developing effective teaching methods to develop students' experimental skills.

Before working in physical education research, she did physics research in molecular electronics and nanomaterials in Germany and the United States.

Pictured is Micol with four students working on an experimental project.

Carina is an experimental physicist at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute for Quantum Technologies, in Ulm, studying the quantum mechanical interaction of single atoms with two-dimensional materials like graphene. The diffraction of atoms at the grating structure of two-dimensional materials holds the potential to allow damage-free imaging and characterization of membranes. Additionally, atom diffraction at gratings could be the foundation for new sensors with unachieved precision due to the quantum nature of the effects at play.

Carina studied physics at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg and did her master’s thesis in experimental nuclear physics at CERN. Currently, she is pursuing a Ph.D. at DLR and the University of Ulm.

Ulrike is a Lise-Meitner-Research-Group leader for Organic Bioelectronics at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz and works at the intersection between Physics, Chemistry, and Materials Science.
Ulrike and her group are interested in organic electronic materials such as semiconducting and conducting polymers and small molecules, the charge transport through these materials, and their application in flexible and stretchable electronic devices such as organic field-effect transistors and biosensors. Due to their printability, mechanical flexibility, and low Young's modulus that is in compliance with biological tissues, organic electronic materials and devices offer the potential to revolutionize personalized medicine and health monitoring applications.
Furthermore, it is Ulrike’s aim to characterize and develop environmentally friendly and biodegradable electronics for sustainable applications.

Leli works remotely as a Data Engineer at Mozilla. Data engineers' job is to make data usable for data analysts. That includes finding relevant data, bringing the raw data in a useful format, and then automating that process for constantly updating data. Each new dataset is a new puzzle to solve, understanding how it has been generated, what questions can be answered with it - and equally or more important, what questions can not be answered with the current data.

In her free time, Leli is a member of "feminismus und computer kram," an online hackspace for women, non-binary and trans folks, and loves to put LEDs on everything.

Marina has held a tenure track position (W1) at the physics faculty at the Philipps-University Marburg since 2021. Her research interests focus on the optical properties of organic and hybrid semiconductors. Molecular materials are very versatile building blocks for organic electronic devices, and the flexibility of this material class can be even further enhanced in heterostructures. To understand the processes emerging after the absorption of light, e.g., photocurrent generation in an organic solar cell, it is important to comprehend the photoexcitation dynamics in time-resolved experiments. Marina’s junior research group is specialized in time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy combined with spatially resolved experiments. With this framework of techniques, it is possible to gain insight into the fate of bound electron-hole pairs. These so-called excitons are the primary photoexcited species in organic semiconductors. A part of the group’s research is embedded in the CRC 1083 “Structure and Dynamics at internal interfaces”.

Celina is a Ph.D. student at the TU Braunschweig and is currently a member of the working groups Nanostructuring and Microsystems Technology at PTB. There she contributes to the further development of high-precision measurement methods of 3D microscopes.

To measure accurately and with high precision with a microscope, it must first be calibrated with so-called standards. But in 3D microscopy, it is not only necessary to calibrate the lateral and height scales but also the calibration of the flatness error of coordinate planes and the shear of coordinate axes. 3D standards meet these requirements. However, currently used 3D standards are manufactured with focused ion beams. Each standard is, therefore, a cost-intensive custom-made product that also requires time-consuming calibration. Celina and her colleagues are developing a wafer-based mask process to produce 3D standards. This way, many structures can be reproducibly produced and adapted to calibrate the respective device.

Franziska is an Assistant Professor at TU Delft and a Branco Weiss Fellow. Her research is broadly motivated by the complexity of clouds and approaches to capture this complexity – with the goal of better constraining the role of clouds in climate projections. Franziska is especially interested in the intriguing effects of cloud ice, the diverse interactions of clouds with atmospheric aerosol, and the marvelous patterns that cloud fields exhibit. Such patterns are strikingly visible in satellite images like the one behind her. Together with her group, she explores these phenomena by combining traditional process-based approaches and data science with concepts from complex systems theory. Before obtaining her Ph.D. in Atmospheric Physics from ETH Zurich, Franziska studied Physics at the University of Göttingen and completed her diploma thesis at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization.

Munan is a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Astrochemical Studies at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany. She is interested in learning where we come from - how stars and planets form in the universe. She uses supercomputers to simulate the movement of gas and dust in galaxies, which eventually collapse under gravity to form stars and planets similar to our solar system. Her research helps to answer the questions such as how efficiently stars can form in galaxies and what environments are suitable for planet formation. Munan is also passionate about bringing astronomy to the public. Recently she worked with Soapbox Science Munich to discuss the mystery of the Christmas Star (and what astronomers think about the appearance of stars in the sky) in this video.

Birgit is the leader of an independent Max Planck Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen. Her scientific focus is on experimental research in quantum optics and nonlinear photonics. At the heart of her research group is the interaction of light waves with sound waves – an effect that can enable versatile processing of optical information and manipulation of quantum states of light. The applications of her research lay within the areas of quantum technologies, such as secure quantum communication and novel optical computing approaches. Before Erlangen, she spent several years at the University of Sydney in Australia and earned her Ph.D. from the CNRS FEMTO-ST Institute in France.

A public talk on her science in German can be found here.