With the Humboldt Research Fellowship, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation enables outstandingly qualified young researchers from all over the world to realize their projects in Germany. The INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials is currently hosting two Humboldt fellows who are carrying out their personal research projects in cooperation with INM scientists.
Since December 1, Dr. Xuan Zhang has been researching at the Leibniz Institute in Saarbrücken with funding from the Humboldt Foundation. Zhang studied Mechanical Engineering at Tsinghua University in Beijing, where she received her doctorate in 2018. Under the guidance of Prof. Eduard Arzt, head of the program area “Functional Microstructures” and chairman of the INM management board, she will devote the next two years to research on so-called metamaterials. These materials have a defined microstructure and thus new mechanical properties that also allow new applications. They will be manufactured by a 3D printer. The design is developed beforehand using computer-based simulations. Such metamaterials are used, for example, in adhesive systems, where the microstructure enables the adhesion to be switched on and off.
Dr. Gülistan Koçer is an engineer in chemical and biomedical engineering. She first studied in Turkey and Denmark and received her Ph.D. from the University of Twente in the Netherlands in 2018. Koçer is working on a topic that could affect us all: When a heart attack occurs, heart muscle cells die, tissue scars and the heart’s pumping capacity decreases. In her project, the scholarship holder is researching the development of a special 3D material intended to support the proliferation and maturation of heart muscle cells and thus increase the heart’s performance again. She is supervised by her host, Professor Aránzazu del Campo, head of the “Dynamic Biomaterials” program group and scientific director at INM.
Arzt and del Campo agree: “We are very pleased that these two young scientists have chosen the INM as their host institute. It shows that the institute enjoys a high scientific reputation, especially among young researchers.”
Your expert at INM
Prof. Dr. Eduard Arzt
Scientific Director and Chairman of the Management Board
Head Functional Microstructures
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: +49 (0)681-9300-501
Prof. Dr. Aránzazu del Campo
Scientific Director
Head Dynamic Biomaterials
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: +49 (0)681-9300-397