The Faculty of Applied Chemistry has a long history steeped in tradition. Following the foundation of the Städtischen Polytechnischen Schule (city polytechnic school) in 1823, the first chemist, Dr. Friedrich Wilhelm Engelhart, was appointed as a teacher of physics and chemistry at the school in 1829.

Today, around 500 students are taught by 17 professors in the bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes, supported by over 40 adjunct teaching staff and scientific and technical staff.

Two Ohm awards for the AC Faculty

On 19 June, the Ohm awards for excellent academic performance were presented. This year, two students from the AC Faculty received much sought-after awards from the “Bund der Freunde”. Only six of these awards were granted amongst all of the Ohm Faculties. The prize winners are:

Sabrina Hofmann, who worked on “Bioinformatische Auswertung komplexer Datensätze aus Nanoporesequenzierungen” [Bioinformatic evaluation of complex data sets from nanopore sequencing] in the Biochemistry lab led by Prof. Ronald Ebbert. In her work, Hofmann focused on processing huge amounts of data generated by modern sequencing methods when analysing the microbiome (all bacteria, in this case in the intestines of premature infants). As this is a current area of research, there are hardly any set solutions and no current consensus on the best analysis strategy. There are many different methods. She successfully developed a workflow that reduced the complexity of the data and enabled the comparability of the results for the individual samples.

Julian Beier explored the topic “Selektiv spaltbare Gruppen zum chemischen Recycling polymerer Netzwerke” [Selectively cleavable groups for the chemical recycling of polymer networks] in the Macromolecular chemistry and polymer engineering lab led by Prof. Dominik Söthje. He will continue to pursue this line of research in his doctoral work at the Ohm. Beier’s master’s thesis focused on a novel method for chemical recycling of polymer networks. He investigated and identified functional groups that can act as predetermined chemical cleavage points in polymer networks. These results will be the basis for the development of polymers that can be selectively recycled under mild conditions.

The Faculty congratulates both students on their excellent work!

SMART-H2 research project in Prof. Eichelbaum’s research group

One focus of Prof. Maik Eichelbaum’s research group is to gain a deeper understanding of the processes associated with the degradation of fuel cells. Once these processes are understood, ways to reduce or avoid the degradation effects can be developed. This will facilitate using hydrogen as an energy carrier for commercial vehicles over long distances, in addition to other applications. SMART-H2 stands for smart monitoring of degradation and regeneration of truck hydrogen fuel cells using neural networks and impedance tomography. This exciting project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and is presented in the following video.

SMART-H2 - The Ohm

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Fighting hospital germs with gene switches

A new research project from Prof. Ronald Ebbert’s Biochemistry lab and Prof. Ralph Bertram, his research partner at the Klinikum Nürnberg, is featured in an article in the the new Ohm-Journal. The project is focused on finding biomolecular and biochemical methods of determining points of application for fighting antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The article is available online (in German).

Impressions from the Biochemistry for Advanced Students lab in semester 6.

These pictures are of a transilluminator. A device that enables us to see DNA fragments that were segmented using agarose gel electrophoresis.

It works like this: The DNA fragments were stained with a fluorescent dye. If the gel is exposed to UV light from below, the stained DNA pieces appear blue. The orange-coloured cover improves the visibility of the fluorescing bands and makes them appear green. This green light is less harmful for participants in the lab.

The final step is that individual bands can be cut from the gel and used in further analyses.

(c) Photos: Christina Zaimidi

Prof. Dennis Troegel visited a sustainability podcast

Silicones in the home

We encounter silicones at every turn in our everyday lives. In some applications like shampoos or cosmetics, they are more frowned upon, in others like silicone baking forms, they’re very popular and widespread. In the “Silikone im Haushalt” [Silicones in the home] episode of the BAYERN-1 sustainability podcast, “Besser leben” [Living better], some aspects of silicone in our everyday lives were examined and some questions and myths about them were addressed. And it was shown that in many things, silicones are often better than their reputation.

 

What is natron?

Natron and soda are broadly used in households and kitchens, primarily as cleaning agents, effervescent tablets or powders, and leavening agents. Which is why questions like, “What is natron, actually?”, “Are natron and soda different?”, “Is natron bad for the environment?”, or “Do I need to take care using these substances in my home?” relevant for many consumers.

These questions and other aspects from chemistry and consumer protection are addressed in the podcast.

Click to access the podcast, “Silicone im Haushalt”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click to access the podcast, “Was ist Natron?”

Impressions of the Faculty of Applied Chemistry

At the Faculty of Applied Chemistry, chemistry is not only studied and researched, but also celebrated and discussed and we are passionate about communicating our love of all aspects of chemistry at events like the Long Night of Sciences, the KinderUni, Science Slams, or many other events and workshops.

Here are a few pictures from our current activities - more information and more pictures are available on our web pages. Enjoy!

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Faculty of Applied Chemistry

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