Welcome at CeNS!
11 Nov 2024
Dr. Erkan Aydin, Prof. Frédéric Laquai, Prof. Lukas Milles, and Prof. Elena Sturm join the network
11 Nov 2024
Dr. Erkan Aydin, Prof. Frédéric Laquai, Prof. Lukas Milles, and Prof. Elena Sturm join the network
Dr. Erkan Aydın is leading his group in the Chemistry Department of LMU Munich. His research group is focusing on the development of "realistic ultra-efficient tandem photovoltaic solutions for earth and space applications" by currently prioritizing multijunction solar cells, specifically perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells and all-perovskite tandem solar cells. Before joining LMU Munich, Dr. Aydin pursued his postdoctoral research at the KAUST for seven and a half years. His extensive work at KAUST led to several record-breaking efficiencies in perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells. Erkan Aydın is the principal investigator of the INPERSPACE ERC StG Project, which is focussing on developing space-grade perovskite-based solar cells.
Prof. Frédéric Laquai is a W3 Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, LMU Munich, a position he has held since April 2024. Additionally, he serves as an Adjunct Professor of Applied Physics at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. Prior to joining LMU, Prof. Laquai made significant contributions at KAUST, where he served as Interim Director of the KAUST Solar Center (2021–2024) and Professor of Applied Physics (2021–2024). He also held roles as Associate Director (2016–2021) and Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering (2015–2021). His earlier career includes leading a Max Planck Research Group at the MPI for Polymer Research (2008–2015) and postdoctoral research at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge.
Prof. Laquai specializes in ultrafast spectroscopy, emerging semiconductor materials, photovoltaics, photocatalysis, and photochemistry, with a focus on sustainable energy solutions.
Prof. Lukas Milles is a group leader in the field of Biomolecular Design. His extensive experience spans biomolecular design, biophysics, and protein engineering. Since July 2024, he has been an Emmy Noether Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried. In addition, he was appointed as W2 Professorship at the Gene Center of LMU Munich in October 2024. Earlier, he served as an Acting Instructor at the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he had also worked as a postdoctoral researcher from 2019 to 2023 under the mentorship of nobel laureate David Baker. Prof. Milles began his research career at LMU Munich, building on his doctoral studies in Physics/Biophysics with Hermann Gaub at the same institution, completed between 2014 and 2018.
Prof. Elena Sturm has been appointed in 2022 as W2 Professor for “Applied Mineralogy: Geomaterials in Technology and Environment” at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, LMU Munich. She studied chemistry at the Omsk State University and received her Diploma in 2005. In 2010 she received her PhD from the Department of Crystallography at the Saint-Petersburg State University (supervisor: Prof. O. V. Frank-Kamenetskaya) based on work carried out in cooperation with the group of Prof. R. Kniep at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids. From 2010 to 2012 she was a PostDoc at the same Max Planck Institute in Dresden. Since 2013 she was a Research Fellow of the Zukunftskolleg, Junior group leader and Habilitandin at the Department Chemistry (Physical Chemistry, group of Prof. H. Cölfen), University of Konstanz. In 2021, she finished her Habilitation and received Venia Legendi in Materials Science and Solid-State Chemistry. Her research is devoted to the understanding of the fundamental principles of structuring, formation and properties of nanostructured and composite materials from natural, biomimetic and bioinspired materials and self-assemblies of nanoparticles.