Since 2009, the zdi centre DU.MINT Duisburg Niederrhein has known how to get children and young people interested in STEM. It is coordinated by Dr Kirsten Dunkhorst, who also runs the NanoSchoolLab on the Duisburg campus and is currently setting up a quantum school lab. Dunkhorst has now once again received the seal of quality for her zdi centre. NRW Science Minister Ina Brandes presented the certificates to the UDE scientist and the other zdi coordinators in the state.

"We need these extracurricular programmes to whet pupils' appetites for technical careers or academic training in science, technology and IT," emphasised the Minister. "The seal of quality is an expression of our recognition for the committed and high-quality work carried out in the zdi networks."

There are currently 47 zdi networks in NRW. All of them work closely with schools, universities, companies and other organisations. Thanks to the regional networking, the programme is varied and practice-oriented.

in the picture:

Dr Kirsten Dunkhorst has been coordinating the zdi centre DU.MINT Duisburg Niederrhein since 2018. The centre's successful educational work in the STEM field is now in black and white.

Friday, July 05th, 2024
    
The Faculty of Physics recognizes achievements in the context of Bachelor's, Master's and doctoral theses.
 
Have you obtained one of the following degrees between January 2023 and May 2024 (inclusive) (Physics, Teaching Physics, Energy Science) and have not yet been recognized for your degree?

• Bachelor's degree
• Master's degree
• PHD

Then you are cordially invited - registration see below.
 
18:00 (Lecture hall LX 1205 Audimax, Lotharstraße 63a, 47057 Duisburg)

• Welcome by the Dean Prof. Dr. Michael Schreckenberg
• Presentation of the graduates
• Honoring of particularly outstanding work by the Dean and the Dean of Studies Prof. Dr. Hermann Nienhaus

20:00 (Foyer lecture hall building LX)

• Champagne reception with snacks

by Prof. Dr. Axel Lorke

On March 8th 2024, physicist and Nobel Prize winner Herbert Kroemer passed away at the age of 95. He was one of the pioneers of semiconductor physics and technology. Due to his achievements in the development of optical and electronic components, which are also researched and used at the University of Duisburg-Essen, the Faculty of Physics awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2006.

When we use the Internet today, burn a CD or use a laser pointer, we are using an optical component that can be traced back directly to the work of Herbert Kroemer: the semiconductor laser. It was Kroemer who first made it possible to generate colour-pure, intense and focused light in a compact and very energy-efficient way. Semiconductor lasers can also be switched at high frequencies, enabling us to communicate worldwide at gigabit speeds in fibre optic networks. They are also often used to "pump" other lasers, i.e. to charge them with energy. This is also used in the Collaborative Research Centre 1242 "Non-equilibrium in the time domain" funded by the German Research Foundation at the Faculty of Physics to carry out experiments with ultrashort light pulses and extreme time resolution.

In the 1960s, it was long disputed whether semiconductor lasers could even be operated under real conditions. Fundamental physical considerations spoke against it. Kroemer's profound knowledge of theoretical solid-state physics, combined with his deep understanding of developments in materials science and his consistent way of fundamentally rethinking things, enabled him to overcome these obstacles. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000 for the development of the so-called "double heterostructure", which is still the basis of all semiconductor lasers today.

Herbert Kroemer, born in Weimar in 1928, completed his doctorate in theoretical physics at the University of Göttingen in 1952 with a thesis on "Hot electrons in transistors" - a topic that is still of great technological relevance today. Various positions at industrial research laboratories in Germany and the USA sharpened his eye for what is technologically relevant and feasible. He began his career as a university lecturer in 1968 at the University of Colorado. From 1976, he taught and researched at the University of California in Santa Barbara, whose profile as one of the world's best universities in the field of materials science he decisively shaped.

He also demonstrated his sharp view of things, free of empty phrases and embellishments, in a rousing lecture at the award ceremony for his honorary doctorate. Revolutionary developments, he concluded, can prevail even without a direct commercial perspective. They create their own market. Semiconductor lasers are a good example of this. After all, who could have predicted in the 1960s that it would not be space travel and its satellites that would connect us to computer servers all over the world, but small, inconspicuous, luminous chips.

The Faculty of Physics mourns the loss of a brilliant semiconductor physicist, dedicated university lecturer, widely read textbook author and inspiring colleague. His contributions to semiconductor physics will continue to have an impact on future generations - in science as well as in our modern information society in general.

On June 30th 2024, Johanna Lill and Jonas Fußangel will travel to Lindau for the Nobel Laureate Meeting. Although the doctoral student and the student from our faculty will probably still need some time to win the Nobel Prize, they have already been nominated and selected to take part. According to the event website, the Nobel Laureate Meeting is a "globally recognised forum for exchange between Nobel Laureates and young scientists". The extremely personal exchange of experiences with outstanding scientists is a unique and unforgettable experience.

Cooperation between the University of Duisburg-Essen and Karl Ziegler School: The Energy Science project course presents its results

Prof. Dr. Dietrich Wolf, Prof. Dr. Martin Mittendorff, Dr. Florian Mazur and the buddies Lindsey Posorski and Nele Stumme from our faculty's Buddy System took 2 hours to look at the results of the students' work from the Energy Science project course and to talk to everyone involved about this form of teaching.

The Energy Science project course, led by Chris Holzhauer, had previously attended various lectures at the university in order to acquire a wide range of theoretical knowledge on sustainable scientific topics in the field of physics. Afterwards, the participants chose their focus from 6 proposed topics, resulting in 3 teams of 2 students each, who carried out experiments on the topics of fuel cells, dye solar cells and the production of OLEDs and presented their experiences and findings in the form of posters. The explanations they gave to the university representatives about the posters were very well received. In the subsequent discussion, Prof. Wolf expressed his appreciation for the high level of student participation.

Dr. Mazur was particularly interested in how further cooperation could be improved. Lina Luhser and Ragnar Gerwinat responded: "We were very satisfied, the practical parts of the internship together with the lectures gave us a very close understanding of how important the results of our experiments are for everyday life." Burak Oezkan explained: "Through the project course, we got to know topics better that we had little access to at school. The topic of radioactivity in particular remained open to me and others. More content and experiments on this would have been very exciting." This was met with great understanding, especially from Prof. Wolf, who also said that radioactivity was also a challenge for the university as part of Energy Science.

The course teacher, Mr. Holzhauer, wants to continue the project course series, which has now almost become a tradition, next year together with the university. He and Dr. Mazur are already planning the framework conditions.

Text: Karl Ziegler School, Mülheim a.d. Ruhr

Programme Wednesday, 28 February:

• 11:00 - 14:00 Opening session and presentation of the CRC, room MD 162
• 14:00 - 17:00 Poster session, foyer in front of MD 162

Guests are welcome.

It's hard to think of a cooler title for a research alliance. Seven groups from different German universities have joined forces to jointly develop AI methods for space and microgravity experiments. Many of the methods are planned for use on the ISS. This time, sub-project leader Jens Teiser has invited them to one of the regular meetings and they are all coming to our faculty in Duisburg from 6 February to 1 March 2024.

In addition to Priv.-Doz. Dr Jens Teiser, Prof. Dr Gerhard Wurm is co-project leader. Kolja Joeris is a doctoral student and Nico Wenders is a research assistant. In Duisburg, the focus is on the provision of training data for the development of algorithms and the optimisation of methods for image acquisition, particularly with regard to the requirements of experiments on the ISS or other experiments in weightlessness (e.g. parabolic flight or on research rockets).

Depending on the sub-project, there are other different objectives. For example:
AI in 3D image processing: detection of collisions, characterisation of particle movement in 3D, even under limited observation conditions.
AI in microscopy: e.g. automatically detecting the growth of tumour cells or root growth and tracking the associated movements of messenger substances
AI in experiment control: Automated image processing and analysis to control experiments in-situ and reduce data streams between the ISS and ground stations.

The research consortium consists of the following partners:
University of Duisburg-Essen
Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg
University of Cologne
University of Greifswald
Technical University Berlin Cottbus Senftenberg
University of Giessen
Central Hesse University of Applied Sciences

The Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection, together with the German Aerospace Centre, is funding the interdisciplinary network with a total of approx. 2.5 million euros.

by Ulrike Bohnsack

The Faculty of Physics mourns the loss of Prof Dr Dietrich von der Linde. The esteemed expert in laser light passed away on the night of 6th to 7th February at the age of 83. "He always endeavoured to take science a step further and thus had a decisive influence on our faculty. Dietrich von der Linde's attitude will have an impact beyond his death," says Prof Dr Uwe Bovensiepen.

Professor von der Linde was regarded as a passionate scientist, profound and demanding. He had chosen his research focus with foresight: laser physics. He focussed on how to generate extremely short X-ray and electron pulses in order to apply them to studies of matter with high temporal and atomic spatial resolution. His work was groundbreaking, led to the establishment of the Collaborative Research Centre Energy Dissipation at Surfaces in 2002 and continues to influence the current Collaborative Research Centre SFB 1242, which will be reviewed for further funding at the end of this month.

Prof. von der Linde studied physics in Karlsruhe and Munich and received his doctorate from the Technical University of Munich in 1971 with a thesis on the generation and application of extremely short laser pulses. From 1972 to 1976, he conducted research at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill/USA in the field of optical memory, among others. He continued his work in semiconductor physics at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart until 1979, when he accepted a professorship in experimental physics at what was then the University of Essen. As Dean from 2001 to 2004, together with his Duisburg colleague Prof Klaus Usadel, he organised the merger of the two physics departments.

Science must also take place in dialogue with society - Dietrich von der Linde was convinced of this. Even in retirement, he never tired of bringing physics closer to a wide audience and making research accessible to people who are not experts in the field. This was also the case on November 22th 2018, when he gave an evening lecture on the current Nobel Prize in Physics. The video with him is available:
https://www.uni-due.de/sfb1242/outreach_videosveranstaltungen.php

The funeral service will take place on Friday, February 23th 2024 at noon in the chapel at Kupferdreh Catholic Cemetery, An den Friedhöfen.

by Birte Vierjahn

Brains, inventiveness and creativity are required: the popular freestyle-physics at the UDE are entering their 23rd round. The tasks for the tinkering competition are now online, and students and their teachers can apply until 2 June. Whether it's a free-kick machine, harbour crane or chain reaction - not only the best teams win, but also the most creative. The final will take place from 24 to 28 June at the Duisburg campus. If you are not yet familiar with freestyle-physics, the short video will give you a first impression.

Teams from grades 5 to 13 now have until the end of June to realise the tasks as precisely and imaginatively as possible. During the final week in the summer, the jury of physicists from the UDE will compete every day to honour the best solutions. The three best implementations will be honoured; special prizes will be awarded for creativity.

Monday: Duisburg harbour crane
The small versions of the Ruhrort role models span at least 40 cm and carry 400 g with a minimum dead weight without collapsing. Only paper, string and paper glue are allowed.
Tuesday: Free-kick machine
In the middle of the European Championship, this device shoots a tennis ball over a defence wall and into the goal. Whoever scores the most goals in 2 minutes wins.
Wednesday: Mousetrap boat
The self-built boat travels 1 metre through water and is propelled only by the energy supplied by a tensioned mousetrap spring.
Thursday: Chain reaction
Roll, roll, roll, ding!, bang!, bam! In the chain reaction, as many different effects as possible trigger each other. The more imaginative, the better.
Friday: Water rocket
As always, the classic closes the week: The water rocket is launched using 1 litre of water and 5 bar of air pressure - the winner is the one whose rocket stays in the air the longest.

Each task has its own challenges. For example, the harbour crane has to be very stable but as light as possible and the mechanism that slows down the fall of the water rocket must not be triggered during the launch. So brains are required here!

Every year since 2002, young physicists (and not only) from all over NRW have competed in this fun competition. Organiser Dr Andreas Reichert is expecting around 2,000 boys and girls again this year: "It's always a pleasure to see how the kids surprise the professors with their great ideas!"

Further information:
https://www.freestyle-physics.de/index.php

The Faculty of Physics mourns the loss of Prof. Dr. Dietrich von der Linde. He passed away in the night from February 6th to 7th, 2024. Prof. von der Linde played a decisive role in shaping our faculty for many years. In the years 2001 to 2004 in particular, as Dean of the Department of Physics in Essen, he shaped the merger with the Department of Physics in Duisburg together with Prof. Dr. Klaus Usadel.

Prof. von der Linde studied in Karlsruhe and Munich. He received his doctorate from the Technical University of Munich in 1971 with a thesis on the generation and application of extremely short laser pulses. From 1972 to 1976, he conducted research at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, N. J., USA, in the field of optical storage, among others. After subsequent research work in semiconductor physics at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, he accepted a professorship in experimental physics at the University of Essen in 1979.

By choosing to focus his research on the generation of extremely short X-ray and electron pulses and their applications for investigations of matter with high temporal and atomic spatial resolution, he and his research group made decisive contributions to the (completed) CRC 616, which also had a decisive influence on the current CRC 1242, which will be reviewed for the third time at the end of February 2024.

Long after his retirement, Prof. Dr. Dietrich von der Linde continued to illustrate research with public lectures - long before science communication became as important as it is today.

His evening lecture from 22 November 2018 on the Nobel Prize in Physics 2018 can still be viewed.

The funeral service will take place on Friday, 23 February 2024 at 12.00 noon in the chapel at Kupferdreh Catholic Cemetery, An den Friedhöfen.

by Birte Vierjahn

For a long time, research has posited that massive stars are born as twins, triplets, or even higher-order multiples. This has now been substantiated through systematic observations for the first time. The study, with significant contributions from astrophysicists at the UDE, has just been published in Nature Astronomy.

assive stars, exceeding eight times the mass of our Sun, hold particular interest for astronomers. They give rise to neutron stars and black holes, including the black holes that merge and emit copious amounts of gravitational waves. Additionally, these stars are exceptionally bright, shining up to a million times more than our Sun, making them visible across large distances, so these are the stars we see in other galaxies.

Until now, although there was a good theoretical understanding of star formation under those circumstances, key evidence was missing until the advent of the ALMA Observatory in Chile in the 2010s. The observatory in its present form, with up to 66 radio antennas combined into a single colossal radio telescope, enabled the international group of astronomers to observe thirty promising massive star formation regions between 2016 and 2019.

The analysis, based on data from one observed star formation region (G333.23–0.06), took several years: Each individual observation yields around 800 GB of data, and the images have to be reconstructed from the contributions of the various antennas involved. The result now published is based on the analysis of one of the observed star-forming regions (G333.23-0.06). It was led by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA). The Numerical Astrophysics team at the University of Duisburg-Essen provided the interpretation of the data from a theoretical point of view, in particular to clarify the question of whether the detected objects were born in a so-called circumstellar disk or out of the surrounding cloud.

In region G333.23-0.06 the researchers found the early stages of four binary star systems, one triple system, one quadruple system, and one quintuple system, confirming the role of multiple births in the formation of massive stars. The astronomers are now working on a similar analysis for other massive star formation regions, aiming to elucidate the temporal development details.

Image: False-color image of the massive star formation region G333.23–0.06 from ALMA Observatory data. The smaller images highlight regions where researchers detected multiple protostar systems. The star symbols indicate the locations of each newly forming star. The image covers an area of 0.62 by 0.78 light-years.

Further Information:
https://www.mpia.de/news/science/2024-02-multiplicity-starformation
Prof. Dr. Rolf Kuiper, Computational Astrophysics, +49 203/37 9-1684, rolf.kuiper@uni-due.de

An important decision will soon have to be made for all those finishing school this year: the decision for or against a course of study and the choice of degree program.

The Faculty of Physics at the University of Duisburg-Essen is happy to provide support and information. We will present our Energy Science, Physics and Physics Teacher Training degree programs via video conference on the following dates

• Thursday, 18.01.2024, 6-7 p.m.
• Wednesday, 21.02.2024, 14-15 h
• Saturday, 16.03.2024, 3-4 p.m.

Afterwards, questions can be asked in a relaxed round. Contact persons are at least two students and one full-time lecturer. The students are part of our buddy system. Within the Buddy System, we offer all-round advice for future students before the start of their studies and during the first two semesters. Further information on the Buddy System can be found on the Buddy System homepage at https://udue.de/buddy and in the flyer at https://udue.de/budphys.

If you would like to take advantage of this offer (buddy@school digital 2024), please register simply and briefly (at least one week before the desired date) via the online form at https://udue.de/bas24. The offer is of course also available to those who will not be finishing school until the next few years but would like to find out more today.

We look forward to seeing you!