Events 2023

16th ECR Workshop

"Science meets Industry"

The MAPEX Center for Materials and Processes hosted the "Science meets Industry" workshop on December 7, 2023. The workshop took place in the LION building on the campus of the University of Bremen and was open to MAPEX doctoral and postdoctoral researchers.

    Do I want to work in industry after my doctorate?

The workshop offered the opportunity to get in touch with alumni of the University of Bremen who transferred from research to industry after their doctorate. In presentations and moderated discussions, participants were able to get to know the individual career paths of the invited guests. Between the sessions, there was an opportunity to exchange ideas with the guests and other early career researchers.

Dr. Deepanjalee Dutta made the start. The biomaterials scientist presented her research and gave visitors an insight into her career. At the University of Bremen, she recently conducted research into an antibacterial alloy for potential bone implants and ceramic-based wound dressings. She will be moving into industry in the new year.

Dr. Diana Ebersberger then presented the services offered by the Bremen Early Career Reearcher Development (BYRD) at the University of Bremen. The invited alumni Dr.-Ing Heike Sonnenberg from ArianeGroup GmbH and Dr. Felipe Macul Perez from Bayer AG complimented the BYRD's offer and agreed that it had given them excellent impulses on their way from academia to industry.

    "If you want it, then try it"

This was followed by a discussion with Sonnenberg and Perez. Dr. Hanna Lührs, Science Manager at MAPEX, moderated the discussion and asked the two MAPEX alumni questions about their experiences. "If you want it, then try it," Sonnenberg summarized her answer to the question of whether it makes sense for researchers to enter the private sector.

After a presentation of the MAPEX qualification program, Dr. Enis Bicer, program coordinator at MAPEX, moderated another discussion with Dr. Laura Luhede and Dr. Marzellus große Holthaus. After completing her PhD with a focus on materials science, Luhede started as a product and marketing manager at Hitachi Zosen INOVA, whose core business is the recovery of valuable resources from waste. Since completing his doctorate, Holthaus has been working for the Bremen-based family business BEGO Implant Systems, where he has been Technical Managing Director for four years. Both presented their careers and answered questions from the workshop participants.

Finally, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rainer Fechte-Heinen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Leibniz Institute for Materials-Oriented Technologies (IWT) in Bremen, presented his professional path. It led him from research to working at thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG and back into research at the IWT.

Detailed programme

MAPEX Symposium 2023

"Materials for Environmental Engineering – Sensing, Control, Sustainability"

The symposium brought together researchers working on material-based approaches to tackle urgent environmental issues, especially anthropogenic climate change and the pollution of air, water, and soils. It took place on October 11 and 12, 2023.

The programme comprised 13 keynote talks by invited experts from Bremen, Augsburg, Oldenburg, Kiel, Ferrara (IT) and Paris (FR). With backgrounds in physics, chemistry, biology, geosciences, and engineering, their presentations offered a platform for lively discussions paving the way for new interdisciplinary collaboration.

The programme was rounded off by a poster session with short presentations.

Detailed programme and list of speakers

15th ECR Workshop

"Building bridges across faculties and institutes"

MAPEX and the MAPEX Doctoral Qualification Programme organised the 15^th ECR Workshop on June 8 2023, under the motto 'Building bridges across faculties and institutes'. The focus was to provide Early Career Researchers an opportunity to come into contact with ECR peers from across the STEM fields.

Three interesting ECI talks by Dr. Paul Benjamin Klar, Dr.-Ing. Ingmar Bösing and Dr.-Ing. Anastasiya Tönjes showed the importance and variety of different approaches to materials research. This has only been exceeded and surpassed by two inspiring MAPEX PI talks by Prof. Dr. Gordon Callsen and Prof. Dr. Andreas Rademacher, demonstrating deep insights into their scientific work and their career trajectory to a proffessorship at the University of Bremen.

ECRs submitted their academic projects by presenting scientific posters and discussing their work with collegues ECR peer from different disciplines at the workshop.

Detailed programme

The future of Materials Science and Engineering

How to participate and get the most out of the Digital Transformation

MAPEX invited Chris Eberl for a talk: On February 21st ^, the Deputy Director of Fraunhofer IWM, lectured about “The future of Materials Science and Engineering: How to participate and get the most out of the Digital Transformation”.

In the first part of this talk, Eberl introduced the goals and realistic possibilities of ongoing initiatives. He also addressed the role of the National Research Data Infrastructure NFDI, and specifically the NFDI-MatWerk, as well as the BMBF MaterialDigital initiative.

In the second part, an introduction to practical examples from within the Fraunhofer IWM was used to show various aspects of digitalization and their use and how it might be implemented.

Chris Eberl is Deputy Director Fraunhofer IWM and Full Professor at Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials, University of Freiburg, IMTEK, Faculty of Engineering. Since 2021 he is Spokesperson at NFDI-MatWerk, since 2019 Board Member at the Innovation Platform MaterialDigital (BMBF) and also Board Member at the “Excellence Cluster livMatS”, Uni Freiburg. Chris Eberl is a member of the Fraunhofer Vintage Class.

14th ECR Workshop

"Science meets Industry"

MAPEX and the MAPEX Doctoral Qualification Program organized the 14th ^ECR Workshop, which was held in February 2023 under the motto 'Science meets Industry'. The focus of the workshop was to provide Early Career Researchers an opportunity to come into contact with graduates who are now successful in their careers in industry and business. A particular highlight of the workshop was the focus on the aspect of spin-offs from the academic research.

In two interesting and impressive career talks two experienced scientists gave a very personal view on their professional development. Dr. Mar Fernández-Méndez introduced her innovative project and idea of ​​​​aquafarming the open ocean with the aim to reduce pressures on coastal natural ecosystems and their biodiversity and also contributing to reduce Carbon Dioxide at scale. As co-founder of "Seafields", she shared her personal challenges and necessities of being an academic researcher and a company founder at the same time.

Prof. Dr. Jan-Henning Dirks from Hochschule Bremen - City University of Applied Sciences gave an insightful talk about his personal career trajectory, highlighting his professional and personal experience in the private sector as well as in academic research. He explained why it was exactly the right decision for him to return to academia after a short time in industry, which eventually led to a professorship. He presented his scientific interesting work on the biomechanical properties of the cuticle exoskeleton.

Two panel sessions gave an opportunity for direct discussion and exchange with the invited panellists. In the panel discussion “moving from academia to industry”, Dr. Valentin Baric (ArcelorMittal Bremen) and Dr.-Ing. Mirko Christ (OHB System AG) gave insights into their individual career paths. They have successfully started a career in industry after being a scientist in the MAPEX community. The focus of the discussion was on important skills and competences necessary in their current professional work as well as on the differences in the daily work routine between the academic and the private sector.

“Starting a company from academia” was the second panel in which Dr. Marin Holi (TOPAS Industrial Mathematics) and Dr. Andreas Grund (GCP-Service International Ltd. & Co. KG) shared their unique perspectives and expertise on starting a business from academia. What does it take to turn ideas into a successful business model? How to deal with possible setbacks along the way? These were only some of the questions the participants discussed with our guests. In this context, Jeroen Langejan introduced BRIDGE's broad range of services as a central contact point for start-up support for members of Bremen's universities.

Finally, the workshop featured two presentations on scientific and applied work by Early Career Investigators at MAPEX. Dr. Tim Radel from BIAS gave an overview of different laser procedures for surface modification, including laser polishing and laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS). Dr. Manuel Alonso-Orts from the Institute of Solid State Physics presented his scientific work on Gallium Oxide. His goal is to overcome technical challenges related to the UWBG system by developing and applying novel fabrication methods and designs for visible and near-UV optical cavities based on epitaxial Ga ₂ O ₃ .

Detailed programme