With his research, Professor Christopher Barner-Kowollik makes it possible to develop high-precision materials and surfaces for special applications in nanotechnology and materials science. Now the macromolecular chemistry expert has been selected for an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship. Next year he is expected to conduct research on new materials and polymer-based systems at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
“Christopher Barner-Kowollik is one of the world’s leading researchers in macromolecular photochemistry, a field that enables many applications with great benefits for society. Moreover, he and his team stand for exactly the kind of open and international scientific cooperation that we need in order to meet the challenges of our globalized world. His Humboldt Professorship is very well deserved,” said Professor Jan S. Hesthaven, President of KIT.
Barner-Kowollik, a chemist and materials scientist, investigates with his team how light can be manipulated to create new soft matter materials, for example using light-driven 3D printing methods. He is already putting this expertise to work in the 3D Matter Made to Order (3DMM2O) Cluster of Excellence, a joint initiative of KIT and Heidelberg University. From 2008 to 2017, he was a professor of polymer chemistry at KIT.
“An Alexander von Humboldt Professorship is a special honor that recognizes our work in photochemistry over the years,” Barner-Kowollik said. “My team and I are overjoyed by this award, which gives us a unique opportunity to bring fundamental insights from photochemistry research to a wide range of applications.”
Groundbreaking Discovery: Specific Wavelengths for Optimized Materials
With his working group, Barner-Kowollik made a breakthrough that challenged a basic assumption accepted in traditional photochemistry for 200 years – that molecules are most reactive at the wavelength where they absorb the most light. In that case, if a molecule absorbs light especially well at a certain wavelength, it should also exhibit the greatest chemical conversion rate at that wavelength. But Barner-Kowollik and his team found that there is often a discrepancy between the absorption capacity and the photochemical efficiency (quantum yield), meaning that a molecule does not necessarily exhibit maximum quantum yield at the wavelength where it absorbs the most light. This discovery revolutionizes our understanding of photochemical processes. Now applications in phototherapy, light-driven synthesis and materials development can be improved significantly, and new reactions have become possible when researchers and engineers choose wavelengths to optimize quantum yield instead of merely maximizing absorption.
Next-generation Materials Focus of Research at KIT
Plans call for Barner-Kowollik to be appointed director of KIT’s Institute of Functional Interfaces with the goal of scientifically realigning it as an agile and innovative “multi-team platform institute” focused on investigating next-generation materials. On successful conclusion of the appointment negotiations, the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship will be bestowed on Barner-Kowollik next year.
About Christopher Barner-Kowollik
Christopher Barner-Kowollik studied at the University of Göttingen, where he earned a doctorate in physical chemistry in 1999. After his post-doctoral studies at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, he became a professor of polymer chemistry there. He came to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology as a professor of molecular chemistry in 2008 and returned to Australia in 2017, where he established the Soft Matter Materials Laboratory at the Queensland University of Technology. Among his many awards are the David Craig Medal of the Australian Academy of Science and the Centenary Prize of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
About the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship
The Alexander von Humboldt Professorship, Germany's most highly endowed international research award, is endowed with up to five million euros. With this award, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation recognizes leading international researchers of all disciplines who have previously been working abroad. They are expected to conduct forward-looking research at German universities in the long term. The money is earmarked for the first five years of research in Germany. The award is financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The Humboldt Professorship enables German universities to attract top international researchers and to strengthen their own profile in global competition. The award is linked to an obligation to offer the new Humboldt Professors long-term prospects for their research in Germany.
Five Humboldt Professorships were awarded in the current round.
Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.
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