Barner-Kowollik and his team are investigating how light can be specifically controlled to create new materials from soft matter, for example using light-controlled 3D printing processes. With this expertise, he is already active in the joint Cluster of Excellence 3D Matter Made to Order (3DMM2O) of KIT and Heidelberg University. Barner-Kowollik was already Professor of Polymer Chemistry at KIT from 2008 to 2017.
Using specific wavelengths to optimize materials
With his working group, the chemist and materials scientist made a groundbreaking discovery in photochemistry. Barner-Kowollik and his team discovered that there is often a discrepancy between the absorption capacity and the photochemical efficiency of molecules. This discovery revolutionizes the understanding of photochemical processes.
"Next Generation Materials"
Christopher Barner-Kowollik is to be appointed Director of the Institute for Functional Interfaces (IFG) at KIT. The aim is to scientifically realign the IFG into an agile and innovative "multi-team platform institute". The focus will be on research into "next generation materials". If the appointment negotiations are successfully concluded, the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship will be awarded to Barner-Kowollik next year.
About the person
Christopher Barner-Kowollik studied at the University of Göttingen, where he completed his doctorate in physical chemistry in 1999. Following his postdoctoral studies at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, he became Professor of Polymer Chemistry there. In 2008, he joined the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology as Professor of Molecular Chemistry before returning to Australia in 2017 to found the Soft Matter Materials Laboratory at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane.
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. It is awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to world-leading researchers who have previously worked abroad. The award money is intended for the first five years of research in Germany.