Annual Report 2015 Forschungszentrum Jülich at a Glance Contents

Annual Report 2015 Forschungszentrum Jülich at a glance Contents

U 2 Facts and Figures 0 2 Highlights 0 4 Board of Directors 0 5 Preface 0 6 60 Years of Research R e s e a r c h at the Centre 22 Climate Research Climate goals. Climate Records. Climate Models. 1 4 Chronology 28 Nanoelectronics Insights into the Resistance Generation 32 Energy Research Breaking New Ground in the Hydrogen World 36 Materials Research The Slipperiness Formula 38 Structural Biochemistry New Light Switch for Nerve Cells 40 Electron Tomography Nanoworld in 3D 42 Brain Research Changes in the Brain Caused by Depression 44 Climate Research A Chance Discovery for Climate Research 46 Computer Simulation The Birth of Elements 48 Materials Research New Steel for Energiewende 5 0 Research in Brief 5 2 Publications

Cooperation 5 4 The Computer Diplomat 5 8 International Cooperations (EU) 59 National Cooperations 6 0 Collaborations with Industry 6 1 JARA – Combined Expertise 6 4 Cooperations in Brief 6 8 Research for Practical Applications 7 0 Patents and Licenses

P e o p l e 7 2 The Tinkerer and the Networker 7 4 Promoting Young Talent 8 2 Personnel 8 4 Accolades 8 6 Professorial Appointments

Campus 8 8 Strategy Process of Forschungszentrum Jülich 98 Finances 9 0 Jülich’s Sustainable Campus 1 0 2 Bodies and Committees 9 1 Excellent Platforms 1 0 4 Organization Chart 9 4 Work at Other Locations 1 0 6 Contact Information/ Publication Details U3 Impressions from 60 Years of Research

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 1 Highlights 2015

Forschungszentrum Jülich is focused on use-inspired basic research. It faces up to the challenges of the present and researches for a future worth living. As a member of the Helmholtz Association, Forschungszentrum Jülich counts among the major interdisciplinary research centres in Europe.

Employees 10 years of JuLab 2,048 scientists incl. around 40,000 school students total university students 3,636 other 5,684

158 77 patents granted new patent applications

Horizon 2020 EU projects from the framework programme for research and innovation 2

6 of which ERC Consolidator Grants coordinated total by Jülich 43 1 ERC Advanced Grant

2 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 41,12 9 1,041 total usage time in hours visiting scientists of all devices in the Helmholtz Nanoelectronic Facility from 68 countries

1.4 1,73 8 300 funding turnover publications tonnes of CO2saved at Project Management Jülich in billions of euros in peer-reviewed journals through new Jülich mobility concept

42 30.2 DFG programmes percent women coordinated by Jülich among early-career scientists

Revenues in millions of euros 122 total joint professorial 238.4 third-party funding appointments 615.7 with universities; of which 15 new in 2015

ForschungszentrumForschungszentrum Jülich Jülich Annual Annual Report Report 2015 2015 3 Board of Directors

Professor Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt Professor Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt Member of the Board of Directors Member of the Board of Directors

Professor Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt Karsten Beneke Chairman of the Board of Directors Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors

4 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Preface

Communicating with one another is essential. These kinds of challenges for the future take This is certainly the case for the strategic reori- on global dimensions; but what happens at entation of Forschungszentrum Jülich as well as Forschungszentrum Jülich also has a direct im- for the neighbouring contacts in the region and pact on the surrounding region. Since spring for research with many international partners. 2015, the Neighbourhood Dialogue initiated by Forschungszentrum Jülich has been discussing Since the beginning of 2015, there has been a what kind of an impact Jülich can have. The fo- lively debate at Forschungszentrum Jülich taking cus here is on the perspectives for young people place in discussion forums, employee surveys, from the region as well as on the issue of how and during a two-day strategy conference with the town can improve its appeal, for instance respect to what the focus of future topics and for young scientists from abroad. One contribu- research should be. The subjects “energy” and tion to the dialogue is of course the Open Day at “information” have emerged as pioneering topics Forschungszentrum Jülich. In 2016, the motto of for the future. We are therefore tackling two ma- the Open Day was “60 Years – Research at the jor challenges facing society: the transformation Centre: Past – Present – Future”. of the energy sector and the increasing level of digitization. Dialogue and international networking are essential aspects of scientific research. The fact that The decision regarding how these challenges Jülich is a central hub in this regard is underlined can be overcome lies in the hands of the politi- by the large number of projects we are involved cal sphere. Forschungszentrum Jülich’s duty is to in within the EU Horizon 2020 research and in- provide the relevant bodies and decision makers novation programme as well our successful co- with scientific findings and results. We therefore ordination of the DEEP and DEEP-ER supercom- rely on regular exchanges with politicians – be puter projects. It is these projects in particular this through information events, activities as ex- that demonstrate how only through constant dia- pert advisers, or participation in various bodies logue can the major issues of the future and the such as the German Ethics Council. Jülich scien- associated scientific challenges be overcome. tists contributed, for instance, to the IPCC report We here at Jülich will continue to make our fair on climate change, which was an important as- contribution. pect of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 5 BRAIN ENVIRONMENT ENER GY INFORMATION

Green IT Structural Battery & biology Bioeconomy storage Data systems science

Nuclear Future Biophysics waste information Quantum technologies Neuroscience management High- technology performance materials

Plant Fuel cells Climate research research 1990 Simulation renamed science “Forschungszentrum Jülich” Micro- & Imaging Photo- nanoelectronics techniques Systems voltaics (PET/MRT) research

Bio- Fusion Atmospheric technology Materials Neuro- research chemistry biology research Energy research & High-performance Soil research reactor technology computing Information Particle physics technology Nuclear (e.g. with neutrons, had rons) chemistry

Nuclear medicine Life sciences (biology, agriculture) Physics (plasma & nuclear physics, Applied neutron research) Chemistry mathematics

1961 renamed “Nuclear Research Centre Jülich” (KFA)

Nuclear Research

11 December 1956 Decision by NRW state parliament 6 to build a nuclear research facility BRAIN ENVIRONMENT ENER GY INFORMATION BRANCHES OF KNOWLEDGE Green IT Structural Battery & biology Bioeconomy storage Data Since its foundation in 1956, For systems science schungszentrum Jülich has been stead- ily growing – but as the graphic shows, Nuclear Future this growth has not been haphazard. Biophysics waste information Quantum technologies Jülich’s seed is nuclear research, from Neuroscience management High- technology performance which have developed various branch- materials es. Researchers work on the topic of radioactivity, ranging from radiation-re- sistant reactor materials to radioactive Plant Fuel cells Climate research tracers for medicine and agriculture. research 1990 Simulation Over the years, this expertise has also renamed science been used in non-nuclear fields. The “Forschungszentrum Jülich” widespread crown is formed with the Micro- & main topics comprising information Imaging Photo- nanoelectronics and the brain as well as energy and the techniques Systems voltaics (PET/MRT) research environment. An increasing number of branches are crossing several sections, highlighting the interdisciplinary nature Bio- Fusion of Jülich research. Atmospheric technology Materials Neuro- research chemistry biology research Energy research & High-performance 1956 – 1970 Soil research reactor technology computing Information Particle physics technology FOUNDATION AND OPERATION Nuclear (e.g. with neutrons, had rons) chemistry 1970 – 1990

Nuclear EXPANSION AND FURTHER DEVELOPMENT medicine Life sciences (biology, agriculture) Physics (plasma & nuclear physics, 1990 – 2016 Applied neutron research) Chemistry mathematics ORIENTATION ALONG SOCIAL CHALLENGES

1961 renamed “Nuclear Research Centre Jülich” (KFA)

Nuclear Research

11 December 1956 Decision by NRW state parliament to build a nuclear research facility Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 7 1956 –19 7 0

FOUNDATION AND OPERATION

In December 1956, the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) decided to build an “atomic research establishment” in Jülich. The founders’ main objective was the use of all nuclear research for peaceful purposes. Leo Brandt, a Social Demo- cratic policy-maker on science issues, became the facility’s first director. The research reactors started operation in 1962. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ver- suchsreaktor GmbH (AVR), a joint venture involving 15 energy companies, built a high-temperature reactor with spherical fuel elements next to the site of the establishment, which by then had been 1956 1957 1958 1959 renamed Nuclear Research Establishment of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (KFA). The reactor was operated from 1967 until 1988. Jülich scien- State Parliament Foundation stones of NRW resolves to laid for the research tists soon started also working on environmental found an “atomic reactors MERLIN research centre” (FRJ-1) and DIDO research and agriculture. Nuclear medicine was a (FRJ-2) particular area of interest right from the start.

8 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 We must never make the mistake of doubting technology; those who do not believe that utopias can be realized by technical progress will not work towards this end and will get nowhere.

Leo Brandt (1908 –1971) engineer, founder, and first director of Forschungszentrum Jülich

1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

The Institute of Plasma The nuclear research Reactors MERLIN Conversion to a The isochronous Physics is the first establishment is and DIDO begin limited company cyclotron JULIC institute to be founded officially opened by the operating (GmbH) is built to investi- Prime Minister of North gate elementary Rhine-Westphalia, Franz constituents of Meyers, in the presence matter of the Nobel laureate Otto Hahn

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 9 1970 –1990

SOCIAL CHANGE, NEW HORIZONS

The institutes grouped around nuclear research used their expertise and infrastructure in a cross-disciplinary approach and established new focal points, such as solid state research. As nuclear energy attracted increasing criticism, reactor safety research became more and more important. New programme groups were set up to study the interactions between humans, the environment, technology, and society. With large- scale facilities such as TEXTOR and supercomputers, Jülich underlined its status as a major research centre.

1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

Institute of Solid Plasma with a The Jülich project The world’s lowest ever State Research (IFF) temperature of 100 management agency (PtJ) temperature is recorded at is founded million degrees is implements the first energy IFF’s cryo-facility, allowing generated for the first research programme superconductivity to be time: it is a prereq- investigated uisite for achieving nuclear fusion

10 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 The start of a new dimension of computing.

Wolf Häfele (1 9 2 7 – 2 0 1 3 ) Chairman (1981–1990), commenting on supercomputer CRAY X-MP/22, whose 16 MB of memory made it a sensation (see below)

1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

TEXTOR, the Unveiling of the Shutdown of the Foundation of the Shutdown of Peter Grünberg large-scale fusion supercomputer research reactor High Performance the AVR reactor discovers the GMR experiment based CRAY X-MP, one MERLIN (FRJ-1) Computing Centre effect, for which he in Jülich, goes into of the fastest com- (HLRZ) is awarded the Nobel operation puters in the world Prize in 2007

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 11 19 9 0 – 2 016

STRATEGIES FOR THE FUTURE

From 1995 onwards, Jülich became a beacon of supercomputing, as simulation increasingly began to establish itself as a bridge between experiment and theory. Soil and environmental research evolved with the addition of climate research and now embraced the entire spectrum. As of 2006, Jülich defines energy and the environment, information technology, and neurosciences as its core fields. The goal is to research key technologies for the future, as the German government’s plans to phase out nuclear power can only be achieved through innovations in energy research. Demo- graphic change, meanwhile, requires improvements to how brain diseases like Alzheimer’s are diagnosed and treated. The subjects “energy” and “information” have emerged as pioneering topics for the future.

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Centre renamed The PHOEBUS The COSY The magneto- Water molecules The SAPHIR “Forschungszentrum photovoltaic particle encephalograph makes become visible for atmosphere simulation Jülich” plant on accelerator brain functions visible the first time by chamber is inaugurated campus produces commences scanning tunnelling electricity for operation microscopy the first time

12 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 We want to create foundations for new technologies across discipline boundaries.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt Chairman of the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich since July 2014

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

PhyTec experimental Brain tumour The DIDO Foundation Inauguration Electron microscope Three-dimensional Separation of facility for plants is diagnostics with reactor is of the Jülich of “9komma4” PICO enables exact brain atlas nuclear research; inaugurated an FET tracer decommis- Aachen (a 9.4 tesla MR/ study of atomic “Big Brain” is made merger with improve the sioned Research PET hybrid structures available AVR GmbH to create accuracy of Alliance tomograph) JEN mbH tumour detection

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 13 Chronology

11 May 2015 Europe’s Forests are Sweating 28 May 2015 The amount of steam produced by Euro- Dipole Magnet for 9 April 2015 pean forests has increased on average Accelerator Light Switches for by five percent over the last 100 years. This surprising result is revealed in stud- Nerve Cells ies conducted by an interdisciplinary re- Optogenetics uses natural, light-sensitive search team involving Jülich. It had pre- proteins as molecular switches in order to viously been assumed that the increased

control the activity of nerve cells with tar- level of CO2 in the atmosphere leads to geted light pulses. An international team reduced stomata in leaves and needles, of researchers in which Jülich is involved and thus less water evaporating from the successfully develops a new “tool” for this forests. research discipline. p. 38: “New Light Switches for Nerve Cells” 18 May 2015 The first of a total of 44 dipole magnets Calculating the for the High-Energy Storage Ring (HESR) arrives in Jülich. Each one of the magnets Perfect Tyre weighs over 34 tonnes – similar in weight Jülich scientists expand on their theory to a heavy-duty truck. Planned and con- for predicting the friction of rubber tyres ceived in Jülich, and built by a French using calculations. They now take into ac- company, the magnets will later be used count the role of shearing forces, which to keep the HESR’s particle beam on tar- are predominantly caused by the short- get. The ring is Jülich’s major contribution term binding of rubber molecules with to the FAIR international accelerator com- the street surface. p. 36: “The Black plex in Darmstadt. Ice Formula” 24 April 2015 4 June 2015 The DIY Virus 22 May 2015 Deciphering Brain In order to multiply, certain viruses require Simulating Bacterial bacteria as host organisms. Scientists Signals from Forschungszentrum Jülich and LMU Movement Scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich Munich demonstrate for the first time: the Some strains of bacteria begin to move and Swiss university EPFL present a new viruses themselves provide the proteins in circles close to a surface. How tight method for analysing brain signals using required for the inner-cell organization of these circles are and what direction the a computer. By means of this technique, their reproductive system if the bacteria bacteria take depends on the slip of the researchers can gain new insights into do not have them. surface, as Jülich physicists discover with how nerve cells interconnect to form net- the aid of computer simulations. The find - works comprising thousands of cells. ings could be useful in order to separate different bacteria for biomedical studies.

14 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 18 June 2015 Dialogue with 21 July 2015 Neighbours Measurement Flights Roughly 20 local representatives from in the Monsoon churches, industry, administration, trade, 29 June 2015 schools, and science take part in the first neighbourhood dialogue meeting initiated Discovery in Primitive by Forschungszentrum Jülich. The representatives outline a series of goals for the Microorganisms future work of the group. All cells, even those of humans, require the protein actin to retain their shape. The actin molecules link up to form elon- 23 June 2015 gated filaments that are always – or at The Path to a least this was the previous assumption – two-stranded. A research team in which Terahertz Source Jülich is involved reports the discovery of actin filaments in an archaebacterium, which, in spite of possessing only a single The research aircraft HALO takes off to- strand, are extremely strong. The micro- wards Cyprus, the Maldives, and India. organism lives in hot springs at tempera- Among other devices, it carries twelve tures of 90 degrees Celsius. instruments for the measuring campaign OMO. With this project, climate researchers – including Jülich scientists – want 14 July 2015 to study how pollutant emissions on the The Premier’s Visit Earth’s surface and their transport to high altitudes during monsoons affect the at- Premier of the state of North Rhine- mosphere’s ability to chemically cleanse Westphalia Hannelore Kraft pays a visit to itself. Jülich as part of her “NRW 4.0” four-day summer tour. At the Jülich Supercomput- ing Centre, she learns about the contri- 22 July 2015 butions made by Jülich researchers to the digital transformation of society. Hair Ice Mystery Solved Hair ice forms on dead branches of de- ciduous trees at temperatures just below Terahertz radiation could be used in body freezing. It is fine, silky, and reminiscent scanners, ultrafast wireless connections, of candy floss. A Jülich chemist together non-invasive early cancer screening, and with two researchers from Brabach and food inspections, among other applica- Bern (Switzerland) succeeds in demon- tions. However, terahertz radiation is strating that behind this natural phenome- hardly used in everyday life, as it is diffi- non is the fungus Exidiopsis effusa. When cult to generate. Jülich scientists togeth- this fungus “digests” the dead branches, a er with international partners succeed in number of substances that are created in conducting supercomputer simulations this process pass through tiny channels in that pave the way towards compact tera- the branches. They are the crystallization hertz sources with tunable wavelengths. nuclei for the formation of the ice.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 15 24 August 2015 Membrane Centre 22 July 2015 Inaugurated The Various Propor- Research State Secretary Thomas Rachel inaugurates the new Membrane Centre, tions of Plant Parts 3 August 2015 which received funding of € 15.5 million How is the biomass of a plant distributed Miracle Material from the Federal Ministry of Education among its leaves, stem, and roots? An and Research. Membranes can separate international research group including Produced climate-damaging greenhouse gases from scientists from Jülich publishes a response flue gases much more efficiently than to this question after having compiled and conventional methods. In addition, they analysed a global database. The result also form the basis for novel fuel cells and of the study revises the common theory batteries. that a plant forms its parts proportionally according to a certain scaling relationship.

30 July 2015 Bonds to Coinage Researchers of the Jülich Aachen Re- search Alliance, including a 23-year-old Metals physics student, present a new method for producing ultrahigh-quality graphene on a large scale. Graphene is viewed as a 1 September 2015 “miracle material” due to its special properties and is of particular interest to the Pooling of Nuclear fields of optoelectronics and medicine, among others. Competences Jülicher Entsorgungsgesellschaft für Nuklearanlagen mbH (JEN) is launched. 3 August 2015 The merger of the nuclear units of Microscope Measures Forschungszentrum Jülich and Arbeits gemeinschaft Versuchsreaktor GmbH The bonds between organic molecules Conductivity (AVR) sees the pooling of existing knowl- and inorganic solids are used for the Jülich scientists successfully measure the edge and experience in the dismantling of construction of organic light-emitting surface conductivity of silicon, the most nuclear installations at Jülich. diodes and solar cells, and are also used important material in the semiconductor as catalysts, among other applications. industry, with unprecedented accuracy. 1 September 2015 Researchers from Jülich, Berlin, and To do so, they use a scanning tunnelling Heidelberg demonstrate that the bond microscope with four tips that the team Brain Simulation strength of the organic molecule ben - developed themselves. Silicon conducts zene to all three coinage metals – gold, electric current much better at the sur- Needs to Think Big silver, and copper – is the same. face than on the inside. The aim behind simulating brain functions using supercomputers is to understand the processes in our brain. However, even the most powerful computers in the world are still a long way off being capable of imaging the activity of around 100 billion nerve cells. This is why current models of the brain reduce the number of nerve cells and contact points. Jülich scientists demonstrate that this leads to distorted results.

16 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 5 October 2015 Electron Orbitals Made Visible 7 October 2015 Electron orbitals provide information on the whereabouts of the electrons of atoms Vibrating and molecules. Researchers at the Uni- 29 September 2015 versity of Graz, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Biomembranes Super Data Storage and Physikalisch-Technische Bundesan- In Nature Communications, Jülich re- stalt report in Nature Communications that searchers describe a new method for Systems they have succeeded in experimentally re- measuring the vibrations of biomem- Nature Nanotechnology publishes the recording these cloud- and balloon-shaped branes. Such measurements are impor- sults of researchers from Jülich, Japan, structures in all three dimensions. tant for comprehensively understanding South Korea, and the US. The researchers how these ultrathin and highly elastic sep- decoded processes in memristive mem- arating layers influence the transport of ory cells, which are on the verge of be- substances in cells. ing launched on the market, for example as super data storage systems. p. 28: 7 October 2015 “Insights into the Resistance Generation” Nerve Fibres Made 5 October 2015 Visible E l e c t r o n Jülich scientists develop a method known as “3D polarized light imaging” to recon- 5 October 2015 Tomography struct the routes of neural fibre tracts in Solar Cells for Water the brain at microscopic resolution. To- gether with researchers from the Universi- Splitting ty of Gronigen, they are now able to show Jülich researchers present a multijunction that the physical model used to determine solar cell made of silicon which can be neural fibre tract routes provides reliable manufactured in a relatively cost-efficient results. manner and produces hydrogen directly from sunlight using the principle of artificial photosynthesis. The overall efficiency of the cell amounts to 9.5 percent. p. 32: “Breaking New Ground in the Scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich’s Hydrogen World” Ernst Ruska-Centre present the 3D tomographic reconstruction of a nanotube. 7 October 2015 They generated the three-dimensional representation on a computer from Research with CO2 roughly 3,500 images that they had recorded in just 3.5 seconds with a trans- from the Power Plant mission electron microscope. p. 40: Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWE Power “Nanoworld in 3D” AG present their collaboration in Nieder außem. At the town’s power station, a

pilot plant separates CO2 from flue gas.

Jülich plant researchers use the CO2 to feed microalgae in order to produce, for example, bio-oils as a basis for fuels.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 17 16 October 2015 Reading out Bits of the Future 5 November 2015 New Super- 14 October 2015 Testing of Potential computer II The EU research project DEEP, which is Alzheimer’s Drugs being coordinated by the Jülich Supercom- Drug candidates for treating Alzheimer’s puting Centre, presents its prototype of an have previously failed time and time again innovative computer architecture, setting in clinical trials with humans. Researchers the course for future supercomputers. from Jülich and Düsseldorf succeed in pre- p. 54: “The Computer Diplomat” senting a method that can better estimate Nature Communications publishes a pro- the potential activity of the substances in posal by Jülich researchers of how data 17 November 2015 advance. This method is for the first time saved in tiny magnetic vortices can be able to differentiate between the sizes of read out. These magnetic vortices, also Guest from the toxic protein aggregates, which the known as skyrmions, are viewed as poten- drug candidates are aimed at tackling. tially being the bits of the future, as they Brussels can be processed extremely energy-effi- Günther Oettinger, the EU Commissioner ciently and stored on the tiniest of spaces. for Digital Economy and Society, learns about the Jülich Supercomputing Centre’s role in advancing high-performance com- 15 October 2015 puting using supercomputers. Fuel Cell World R e c o r d A stack of high-temperature fuel cells “made in Jülich” has been running for over eight years – longer than any other solid oxide fuel cell. This type of fuel cell is viewed as being ideally suited to sup- plying electricity to households, commer- 15 October 2015 cial vehicles, trains, and ships in an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly Mobility of Polymers manner. 1 December 2015 Many everyday products such as car tyres and drinks bottles consist of polymers. Discovery in 2 November 2015 Their properties are largely dependent on Satellite Images how mobile the individual polymer mole- New super- cules are. Jülich researchers now present An international team of researchers, in- a much easier and more accurate meth- computer I cluding Jülich scientists, observe distur- od of determining these: with the help The JURECA Cluster computer, which has bances in the Earth’s middle and upper of neutrons, they are able to investigate a computing power of 2.2 quadrillion op- atmosphere which can be caused by air the often decisive lateral deflection of erations per second, begins operating at flows. They do so by means of infrared im- molecules. Forschungszentrum Jülich. It was devel- ages from NASA environmental satellites. oped by the Jülich Supercomputing Cen- p. 44: “A Chance Discovery for Climate tre together with Russian manufacturer Research” T-Platforms and software firm ParTec. JURECA’s fields of application range from life sciences and geoscience to materials research and medicine.

18 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 2 December 2015 The Formation of Heavy Elements In Nature, scientists from the universities of Bonn and Bochum, Forschungszentrum Jülich, and two US universities present a new method for simulating the scatter- 11 January 2016 ing of helium nuclei inside stars. p. 46: “The Birth of Elements” 1,000 Hours of Hydrogen Production 17 December 2015 In the EKOLYSER project, experts at Depression and Forschungszentrum Jülich together with 14 January 2016 Grey Matter partners from science and industry are advancing the proton exchange mem- Blood Cells in Jülich neuroscientists demonstrate that brane (PEM) electrolysis method, by depression is associated with organic which hydrogen is produced from water. Action changes in the brain. The grey matter in Large amounts of renewable energy can For the first time, biophysicists from the medial frontal pole is reduced in indi- be stored using hydrogen. A test facility Jülich, Münster, and Paris apply physical viduals suffering from depression. in which the researchers are investigating methods to demonstrate how red blood p. 42: “Changes in the Brain during more robust and inexpensive materials cells move. The issue of whether red blood Depression” achieves its envisaged operating time of cells actively “wriggle” of their own ac- 1,000 hours. cord, or whether their motion is triggered by external forces had previously been a 2 January 2016 subject of debate among experts. It turns 14 January 2016 Winter Smog in out that both theories are true: fast mole- Antiferromagnetic cules nearby cause the cell membrane of B e i j i n g the blood cells to wriggle, but if they have Jülich atmospheric researchers launch Data Storage Systems enough time to react then the blood cells a new measurement campaign in China. themselves also become active. The atmospheric researchers will spend a month measuring the chemical compo- 3 February 2016 sition of the air in the urban area of Bei- jing to find out what substances increase Investigating the formation of smog in winter. p. 22: “Climate Goals. Climate Records. Climate Evacuation Times Models.” The project “Safety of People with Physi- cal, Mental, and Age-Related Disabilities” The renowned journal Science publish- is launched. The Jülich researchers in- es a concept to utilize antiferromagnetic volved in the project are investigating by materials for digital data storage systems. means of simulations realistic evacuation European researchers, including two the- times in the event of a fire breaking out in oretical physicists from Jülich, developed a building or on premises, or, for example, the concept. Such data storage systems if a technical accident were to occur. are smaller and can be switched faster than ferromagnets. For the first time, the researchers succeed in electronically switching and reading the magnetic moments of an antiferromagnet.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 19 19 February 2016 Ozone Hole above the Arctic 12 February 2016 Building Block for Spintronics 25 March 2016 An international team of researchers in- Reliable Quantum volving Jülich reports about a new effect that can be used to selectively generate Physics Software and control spin currents by means of la- Science publishes a study conducted by ser light. Spin currents are based on the A team of climate researchers, including scientists from more than 30 research in- principle that electrons have a quantum atmospheric researchers from Jülich, stitutes on quantum simulations of materi- mechanical angular momentum, which find indications that considerable ozone als properties. Jülich researchers are also is referred to as spin. The scientists have depletion began above the Arctic during involved in the project. The result: the var- thus provided an important building block winter. This is the first conclusion of a ious quantum physics programmes of the for spintronics – a technology that is ex- measurement flight conducted as part current generation deliver equally precise pected to enable an extremely fast and of the POLSTRACC campaign, taking results – partly thanks to the comparison energy-efficient transmission of data in place over a period of several weeks. The methods developed for the study. future computers. measurements are expected to provide a better understanding of the mecha- 29 March 2016 nisms of ozone depletion. The GLORIA detector, which was developed by scien- Graphene and tists from Jülich and Karlsruhe, is used in the campaign. its Carrier

23 March 2016 Movement in Light-Sensitive Protein In nature, “LOV photoreceptors” stimulate, for example, the formation of photo- 12 February 2016 synthetic pigments in bacteria. Research- Novel Neutron ers from Jülich, Düsseldorf, Aachen, and Garching demonstrate by means of neu- The carbon compound graphene – which Source tron spectroscopy that there are move- is only one atom thick – is harder than di- Research with neutrons provides unique ments inside these light-sensitive proteins amond, light, flexible, and extremely con- insights into the heart of matter, and is that are crucial for their function. LOV ductive. However, if it is deposited on the therefore viewed as a key technology. photoreceptors are also of biotechnologi- “wrong” substrate, it can end up losing its Jülich scientists present a concept for cal relevance. outstanding electric properties. Jülich re- cost-efficient neutron sources that are ex- searchers demonstrate that the efficient pected to replace medium-sized research insertion of foreign atoms into graphene – reactors and can function without the a process known as “doping” – is also chain reaction typical of reactors. dependent on the choice of substrate material.

20 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

Research Pages 21 – 52

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 21 CLIMATE RESEARCH Climate Goals. Climate Records. Climate Models.

In December 2015, 195 states reached a new agreement to tackle global warming at the climate change conference in Paris. Jülich researchers made important contributions to the scientific basis for the agreement.

he year 2015 was the warmest since records “The final documents of the Paris Agreementdescribe began back in 1880. Current satellite data re- the reality that we as scientists see,” explains Prof. veal a significant reduction of Arctic sea ice Andreas Wahner, Director at Jülich’s Institute of Ener- in winter.T For 13 years in succession, the ice surface gy and Climate Research (IEK). “However, the 1.5 de- of the North Pole has been shrinking in a seemingly grees Celsius target, for example, is being celebrated unstoppable manner. It is a similar story in Siberia, in the press and in the brief summaries of the agree- Greenland, and at a majority of the world’s glaciers. ment as a new objective. But it is not a realistic one,” he stresses. Wahner points out that all model calcu- “It is virtually certain that globally the troposphere lations suggest this target can only be reached if we has warmed since the mid-20th century,” states the immediately succeed in implementing a near absolute latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on halt to emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon diox-

Climate Change (IPCC). Hundreds of scientists from ide. “As long as CO2 continues to be emitted over the across the world contributed as authors and experts next few years, all our expertise tells us that limiting to the five progress reports that have been published the rise in temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius will no so far. Jülich researchers Dr. Martina Krämer and longer be possible,” the researcher explains. Dr. Rolf Müller, for example, worked on the latest report from the years 2013 and 2014, which served However, Andreas Wahner sees a positive develop- as a basis for the Paris Agreement. ment in the fact that the report does not focus solely

on limiting CO2. “This was the first time that negotia- tions at this political level also discussed the reduction of pollutants such as methane, nitrogen oxides, trace gases, and soot,” he emphasizes.

Farewell to summer smog One significant contributor to rising temperatures is, for example, ground-level ozone. The trace gas was regularly referred to as “summer smog” in newspaper headlines up until ten years ago. Researchers have also been surprised to see that ground-level ozone, 13years in succession the ice surface of the for example in Germany, has disappeared much more North Pole has been shrinking at a relentless quickly from newspaper reports and also from the rate. Glaciers and permafrost soil are also on troposphere than model calculations had predicted. the decline. So what happened?

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Astrid Kiendler- Scharr, Martin Riese, The introduction of catalysts for petrol- and diesel- hydrocarbons had been reduced to the same extent Andreas Wahner, and engine vehicles led to a measurable reduction of one over the years, we would have had to contend with their teams study the group of substances in particular that contributed to high ozone values for a lot longer,” explains Astrid atmosphere – from summer smog – namely hydrocarbons. “Surprisingly, Kiendler-Scharr. “This is because it is the relationship the soil right up to it was for this very reason that the formation of the between hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides that de- the stratosphere. ozone declined strongly, as nitrogen oxide emissions termines how much ozone is produced, not the abso- were not reduced to the same extent as those of hy- lute values of the two classes of substances.” drocarbons,” explains Prof. Astrid Kiendler-Scharr, Director at IEK. “We believe the continuing high nitro- In fact, the values for hydrocarbons in the air have de- gen oxide values can be traced back to the catalysts clined to such a strong extent over the past 20 years of some diesel cars apparently not doing an effec- that researchers believe it is now high time to reduce tive job of removing these emissions,” says Andreas nitrogen oxide pollution on a massive scale. Wahner. In a new study, Jülich troposphere researchers are Ozone is created as a by-product whenever hydrocar- investigating how plant emissions react with atmos- bons from exhaust gases react in the air with existing pheric pollutants from exhaust gases. “These data OH radicals in the presence of nitrogen oxides and are urgently needed to more accurately determine UV light. Nitrogen oxides also react with OH radicals, the influence this interaction between human and but this creates nitric acid (HNO3) instead of ozone. plants has on the climate,” emphasizes Astrid Kiend- Hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides thus compete for ler-Scharr. Whenever the volatile organic substanc- the OH radicals in the atmosphere. If there are fewer es – of which plants emit several million tonnes every hydrocarbons in the air but still just as many nitro- year – are oxidized in the atmosphere, this leads to gen oxides, the reaction between nitrogen oxides and the formation of ozone and other larger compounds, OH radicals outweighs that of hydrocarbons and less known as aerosols, as by-products. Aerosols are able ozone is created as a result. “If nitrogen oxides and to scatter sunlight or contribute to the formation of

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 23 Felix Plöger calculates global air circulation in clouds, thus having a cooling effect. However, some new measuring campaign in China at the beginning of the stratosphere. of the organic plant substances are able to suppress January 2016. For a period of two months, the chemi- the formation of aerosols. This is partly dependent on cal composition of the air in the heavily polluted urban whether the plants are suffering from drought stress area of Beijing was measured. “One major objective or insect damage. is to present the Chinese government with concrete recommendations for action, as has previously Whilst the atmospheric chemistry processes in the been the case with other campaigns,” says Andreas summer months have largely been accounted for, Wahner. “The data will also help us to improve our nu- the scientists are now intensively investigating which merical computer simulations and to review whether substances enhance the formation of smog in win- we really do have a proper understanding of the pro- ter. “Fine dust and smog not only result from traffic cesses in the atmosphere,” he notes. There appear and industry,” explains Andreas Wahner. “The major- to be more OH radicals in the atmosphere than is ity of the pollutants are actually first formed in the forecast by conventional computer models. Where air – through OH radicals and other, as yet unknown these additional molecules come from, however, is substances.” For this reason, the research team still unclear. headed by Wahner and Kiendler-Scharr launched a “Whenever theory and data measured in real time just do not match up at all, the existing data sometimes need to be completely reinterpreted,” adds Dr. Felix Plöger from IEK. Global air streams in the strat- The circulation patterns osphere are his area of expertise. He investigates air parcels in the tropics that rise out of the troposphere of air masses worldwide into the stratosphere, i.e. at altitudes of roughly 15– 50 kilometres, and migrate into polar latitudes where have shifted within the the air masses sink again. “The air ages on its way through the stratosphere, and an air parcel usually last decade. needs five to six years for this circulation. Fast mixing processes between the tropics and the polar latitudes Felix Plöger | Institute of Energy and Climate Research also influence this transport of the air,” explains Felix

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Plöger. Researchers have thus far used the age of the The latest calculations of Dr. Bärbel Vogel, who also air parcels as they arrive in polar latitudes to deter- conducts research at IEK, reveal just how quickly an mine the speed of the global circulation. air parcel can migrate from the tropics to Europe. During a measurement campaign carried out in the stratosphere over Europe, she discovered trace gas- Recalculating the mixing processes es, such as carbon monoxide, methane, and water All current climate models indicate that air mass- vapour, in amounts that are usually found in the tropo- es migrate faster between tropics and polar lati- sphere. Her model calculations show that air masses tudes as a result of global warming, meaning that in Southeast Asia rise from atmospheric layers close air parcels are getting younger. Scientists use an to the ground to the upper troposphere, i.e. rough- accelerated circulation as a measure of how fast ly 15 kilometres, within one to two days as a result climate change is progressing. Satellite and weath- of typhoons. In summer, these air masses then end er balloon data from the last 35 years paint a differ- up in the large-scale Asian monsoon circulation. It is ent picture, however: the stratospheric air parcels this circulation that is responsible for the air parcels of the northern hemisphere, its subtropical areas, along with the pollutants being transported to Europe and middle latitudes appear to be older, while only in just five weeks. Coordinated by scientists at IEK, those of the southern hemisphere seemingly circu- an aircraft measurement campaign in India will for late faster. Have the researchers made a mistake in the first time gather data at these altitudes in summer their calculations? “Models and data measured in 2016, in order to gain a detailed understanding of the real time would appear to contradict one another at processes. first glance,” Plöger notes. In his model calculation, Plöger therefore took into account both the large- A study by Dr. Mengchu Tao and Dr. Paul Konopka, scale global air flow and the mixing processes that both of whom work at IEK, reveals just how essen- lead to tropical air parcels accumulating older air tial it is to record natural processes so that they can molecules from high latitudes on their way north. be integrated as necessary in climate forecasts. “These mixing processes are more intensive in the northern hemisphere, as the larger land masses here create greater turbulences,” Plöger elaborates. This is why the air parcels appear to be older than they would be without the additional mixing. This phenom - enon is known as “ageing by mixing”.

A recalculation published by Jülich scientists in 2015 reveals that between 1990 and 2013 the age of air parcels declined almost everywhere in the world, with the exception of parts of the northern hemisphere. After taking into account the mixing effects, this does not contradict the notion of an acceleration of the global circulation. Furthermore, for the period from 2002 until 2012, in accordance with satellite data, a clear asymmetry between the northern and southern hemispheres is now found in the model simulations. “The age of an air mass is the result of a very fine bal- Jülich researchers ance between two contradictory effects,” Felix Plöger measure the atmos- summarizes. “Changes to the age of air parcels are pheric chemistry in not a clear indication of an altered stratospheric cir- remote polar deserts culation,” he stresses. “It is only when the mixing ef- as well as in heavily fects in the lower stratosphere are taken into account polluted metropo- that a clearer picture is drawn.” In particular, the lises. circulation and mixing patterns worldwide appear to have shifted within the last decade. What effect this has on the climate is the subject of intensive research at IEK.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 25 Terrestrial Systems Modeling Platform

Plant-available water can be calculated with the TerrSysMP. The images reveal how much water is stored in the soil and available for plants.

Researchers worldwide expect an increasing content creased humidity in the stratosphere strengthens the of water vapour in the atmosphere as a result of glob- greenhouse effect, while a decrease in water vapour al warming. As water vapour is the most important concentration can help offset global warming. The greenhouse gas, it is essential to differentiate be- effect of these fluctuations on the global climate is tween natural fluctuations and man-made influences. the subject of intensive international research. The Jülich scientists have determined that there is a direct sudden stratospheric warmings not only lead to a dri- connection between the strong sudden stratospheric er stratosphere, but also to the break-up of the polar warmings that occur periodically and the water con- vortex over the North Pole in winter, which in turn re- tent of the stratosphere. “Over a period of 35 years, sults in unusually high temperatures over a number we were able to demonstrate that eight such strato- of days. spheric warmings took place in the 1980s, only one occurred in the 1990s, and eleven have been recorded since the year 2000,” explains Paul Konopka. “The New guide for ice clouds stratosphere also became drier during these warm “The effect of ice clouds on the climate also needs to periods, while in the 1990s it was correspondingly be reassessed,” says Dr. Martina Krämer, likewise a moister,” he adds. This has an effect on the climate researcher at IEK. In 2015, she published a scientific at the Earth’s surface: researchers assume that in- guide for ice clouds – known as cirrus clouds – that

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is highly regarded in the scientific community. In the “Cirrus Guide”, Krämer distinguishes between two types of cirrus clouds. To put it simply, a distinction is made between ice clouds that are optically thinner and those that are optically denser, with both types created in completely different ways and made up of 30percent of the tropics on average are covered different compositions: the thinner clouds contain with cirrus clouds every year. fewer ice crystals, the denser ones more. These differences also determine how the clouds cope with thermal radiation from the sun and the Earth’s surface.

Adjusting climate models Such a comprehensive simulation requires enormous The first type, the optically thinner clouds, is seen computing power in order to provide up-to-date re- to have a warming effect on the climate, while the sults every day. The researchers therefore use the second type has a cooling effect. “Optically thinner Jülich supercomputers JUQUEEN and JURECA for their clouds let more sunlight through because they con- calculations. The results, which reveal experimental tain fewer ice crystals. The denser clouds allow less predictions for up to 72 hours, are made available as sunlight through as a result of their optical proper- videos on YouTube. www.fz-juelich.de/terrsys ties – many ice crystals in a tight space,” explains Martina Krämer. “At present, however, the models are The videos demonstrate, for instance, how the working with a number of ice crystals that is too high, groundwater level changes and how much water is and thus with imprecise forecasts on feedback,” she stored in the soil. While some of the data might be of observes. Nevertheless, 30 percent of the tropics on interest for water suppliers, farmers above all want to average are covered with cirrus clouds every year. Be- know how much “plant-available water” there is. ing able to correctly calculate their influence would represent a milestone in climate research. The Cirrus Guide now helps in making adjustments to existing Advising industry and politicians climate models. “The next step is to further expand the system and to amalgamate our calculations, for example, with sat- In order to gain a better overview of the effects of cli- ellite data,” Kollet underlines. “Furthermore, in the mate change on the water supply in Europe for the long-term we are looking to link up with industry to agricultural industry and the population, Prof. Stefan help transfer this knowledge to end users,” he says. Kollet and Prof. Harrie-Jan Hendricks-Franssen from the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences (IBG) and Dr. The work of Jülich researchers reveals how complex Klaus Görgen from the Jülich Supercomputing Cen- the processes in the terrestrial Earth system and in tre (JSC) are treading new paths with the the Geover- climatic processes are. Together with international bund ABC/J’s Centre for High-Performance Scien- teams of scientists, the aim is therefore to contin- tific Computing in Terrestrial Systems. Together with ually improve the precision of models that project colleagues from the German Research Foundation’s terrestrial water and energy cycles and the climate. (DFG) collaborative research centre Transregio 32, “We provide the scientific basis to permit predictions they are developing models to simulate the interac- for shorter time-scales than has previously been the tions between water, energy, and material flows – case. Such projections form an important founda- from the groundwater right up into the atmosphere. tion for the political sphere. They help in making de- For this purpose, the researchers developed a mod- cisions about the necessary measures for curbing el system that they named the “Terrestrial Systems global warming, but also with respect to adaptations Modeling Platform”. In addition to calculating typical to climate change,” summarizes Prof. Martin Riese, atmospheric data such as air temperature and precip- Director at Jülich’s Institute of Energy and Climate itation, this model for the first time also permits fore- Research (IEK). casts on coupled water cycle processes in the soil. “This enables, for example, plant-available water and changes to the total water volume in the soil to be calculated,” explains Stefan Kollet.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 27 NANOELECTRONICS

Insights into the Resistance Generation

Computer storage systems that are fast and have a good memory could in future consist of novel components known as memristive cells. The cells are not yet mature, but that looks likely to change in the near future. And Jülich researchers are contributing detailed insights into these storage processes.

ith the PC, the set-up is so familiar that Researchers from science and industry are also you hardly pay it a second thought: familiar with this sharing of tasks between the stor- there’s the hard drive where you per- age systems. In contrast to many of us, however, the Wmanently store your files, and then there’s the dy- researchers are interested in this division of tasks, namic random access memory. We are generally only and in particular whether the division can be broken made aware of the existence of the latter storage up. They are researching the possibilities of storing area, also known as DRAM, when buying a comput- data faster and permanently in the smallest possible er – or if a computer’s performance is too weak to space and with low energy requirements. Memris load the commands and programmes quickly when tive cells, also known as ReRAMs, are particularly starting it up. There is good reason why the PC has to promising candidates for such a storage system. They have two kinds of storage systems in the first place: store the two basic elements of all computer languag- the data in the DRAM are lost as soon as the power es – “zero” and “one” – in a way that is fundamentally is switched off. This ensures that data in this working different to hard drives or conventional working mem- memory can be written and read out at a much faster ories. A ReRAM saves a bit using its electrical resist- rate than the hard drive with long-term memory. ance which can be switched between high and low values – and it retains its state even when the external voltage is switched off.

Surprising and groundbreaking Jülich and Aachen are home to a research team that has caught the attention of international competition in the field of ReRAM time and again. The research team headed by Prof. Rainer Waser was once again successful in achieving surprising and at the same time groundbreaking discoveries in 2015.

The special properties of memristive cells material- ize in different ways. Experts distinguish two types of ReRAMs: valence change memory (VCM) cells and A glimpse into Jülich’s electronic Oxide Cluster laboratory, where electrochemical metallization memory (ECM) cells. In materials for data storage systems are manufactured and investigated both cells, ions flow back and forth between the two in an ultrahigh vacuum. electrodes – as in a battery. In contrast to a battery,

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Regina Dittmann in Jülich’s electronic however, the electrodes can be found on both sides of The switching characteristics of a VCM, however, Oxide Cluster labo- a metal oxide layer only a few nanometres (millionths have thus far predominantly been attributed to the ratory. Together with of a millimetre) thick. flow of oxygen ions. Contrary to the ECM’s metal ions, other researchers, the oxygen ions are negatively charged. If a voltage is she analysed pro- “It has so far been assumed that VCMs and ECMs dif- applied, they move out of the metal oxide layer. The cesses that occur fer vastly,” says Waser. In an ECM, positively charged subsequent vacancies then form filaments which, in in valence change metal ions start to flow if a voltage is applied. This contrast to the surrounding metal oxide, are conduc- memory cells. leads to the formation of fibre-like structures, also tive. In order to store data, the respective processes known as filaments, between the electrodes. Once with VCMs and ECMs need to be controlled in a tar- the filament has formed and an electrically conduc- geted manner. The Jülich and Aachen research team tive contact has been established between the two headed by Rainer Waser and Ilia Valov have now dis- electrodes, the resistance of the entire cell suddenly covered that the differences between the two cell decreases and it is in the ON state. This corresponds types are smaller than previously assumed. p. 31: to the “one” in computer language. When a voltage diagram with reverse polarity is applied, the filament dissolves and the resistance of the cell increases to a high val- Together with colleagues from South Korea, Japan, ue. This corresponds to the OFF state, or the “zero” in and the USA, they found that the insights gained to computer language. date from research of the switching process in VCMs

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 29 “Suddenly, we observed a switching characteristic similar to that of an ECM cell,” Valov explains. The researchers were able to confirm their assumption that this was due to the activity of free metal ions through further experiments. For this purpose, they used scanning tunnelling microscopy. The research team’s results were published in the journal Nature Nano- technology in September 2015.

And how can the current findings be used for practical applications? “New kinds of VCMs can, for instance, be built with a carbon interlayer, making it possible to jump from one switching process to the other,” says Valov. Above all, however, a correct, more in-depth understanding of the processes taking place will help to improve VCMs in a targeted manner. This optimization today takes place not only in lab experiments, but also with the help of computer simulations. The latter only deliver realistic results if the underlying computer models are able to render as fully as possible the processes in the world of atoms, Rainer Waser heads a team of researchers from Jülich molecules, and ions. and Aachen that has caught the attention of international competition in the field of super data storage systems time and again. Cooperation with industry In research on memristive memory cells, the activities of basic research-oriented researchers are closely intertwined with the various development di- have not yet been fully clarified. The researchers visions of the industrial sector. Rainer Waser’s team, discovered that not just oxygen ions but also posi- for example, collaborates with Samsung Electronics tive metal ions contribute to the formation of the fil- and Intel. A number of companies have already pre- ament – as in an ECM. “This process was first made sented VCM prototypes for the market. In addition, visible after we suppressed the movement of oxygen products are already being manufactured in small ions,” says Valov. To do so, the researchers applied series for special applications. However, the tech- a thin carbon layer directly on top of the electrode nology is not yet mature enough to displace conven- material. In one case, they used the “miracle material” tional types of storage on a large scale. “Memristive graphene, which comprises only one single layer of cells do not yet work reliably enough. That limits their carbon. commercial use,” says Prof. Regina Dittmann, a colleague of Rainer Waser. While laboratory experiments show that some of the cells can store data for at least ten years, others lose their data much faster. “For a long time, it was not clear why,” says Dittmann. In The essential processes do close cooperation with researchers from the Jülich- Aachen collaborative research centre (SFB) “Nano- not occur throughout the entire switches”, she has now been able to shed light on the matter. component, but only at the tiny The researchers were able to make the reactions oc- filaments and near the electrode curring in VCMs visible, with an accuracy of a few nanometres. “The essential processes do not occur interface. throughout the entire component, but only at the tiny filaments and near the electrode interface,” Dittmann Regina Dittmann | Peter Grünberg Institute explains. It has taken the researchers several years

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just to improve existing measurement and prepa- The aluminium oxide layer is indeed able to prevent ration methods so that they can cope with the high VCM cells in the ON state from unintentionally revert- demands. ing to the OFF state and losing information through the inflow of oxygen ions. It might be assumed that such a layer would also prevent the outflow of oxygen The secret of stability ions from the metal oxide, thus slowing the desired In Jülich’s electronic Oxide Cluster laboratory, the switching process of the VCM cell from the OFF to the scientists discovered how in a vacuum, the VCM elec- ON state. Prof. Regina Dittmann is able to dispel such trodes can be mechanically removed in a precise concerns, however. “During the switching process, fashion so as to expose the metal oxide. They were both voltage and temperature rise in the material.” subsequently able to analyse the metal oxide in vari- This leads to oxygen transport increasing abruptly, ous switching states at the Elettra synchrotron centre Dittmann adds. in Italy by means of microscopic X-ray spectroscopy. The researchers published their findings in the Octo- Upon investigating VCM samples from a strontium-ti- ber 2015 edition of Nature Communications. “We are tanium oxide (SrTiO3), they discovered that for all the first team worldwide to derive a rule for ReRAM samples that had been stable over a long period of design based on the microscopic understanding of time, a strontium-oxide (SrO) layer had formed on oxygen transport in a memristive cell,” says a delight- the surface to the electrode. “This led us to the idea ed Rainer Waser. that this layer only transports oxygen ions very slow- ly, thus preventing the undesirable return flow and in turn improving the stability of the cells over time,” recalls Dittmann. Calculations made by an Aachen- based SFB group have confirmed this idea. The researcher team further followed up on its assumption by applying a layer of aluminium oxide, which is known for being a poor oxygen ion conductor.

This is how a valence change memory cell (VCM) works

OFF state Voltage supply ON state In the OFF state, the VCM has a high electri- When a voltage is applied, the tantalum ions An electrically conductive filament com- cal resistance. Positively charged tantalum are liberated from the tantalum electrode. prising tantalum and oxygen vacancies is ions (green) and areas where there are Together with oxygen vacancies, they mi - thus created between the two electrodes. no negative oxygen ions (oxygen vacancies, grate to the platinum electrode. Electrons In this state (ON), the VCM has a low resist- L, blue), are distributed between the from this negative electrode turn the ions ance. When a voltage with reverse polarity is electrodes. into atoms again. applied, the filament dissolves again (OFF state, Fig. 1).

Ta Ta + Ta

5+ 5+5+ L LL TaTaTa 5e5−5e−e− 5+ 5+5+ TaTaOTaxOOxx 5e5−5e−e− TaTaTa TaTa5+Ta5+5+

Pt Pt - Pt

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 31 ENERGY RESEARCH Breaking New Ground in the Hydrogen World

Environmentally friendly hydrogen produced using solar and wind energy could in future replace crude oil and natural gas. Two Jülich research groups are adopting vastly different approaches to improve the chances of successfully making the transition to a hydrogen energy economy.

range of experts believe hydrogen is an im- multifamily housing also use hydrogen, albeit ob- portant cornerstone of the transformation tained in the device from natural gas in a complicated of the German energy sector. If in 2050, process. A8 0 p ercent of electricity is generated from renewable energy sources – a target set by the German Federal However, there are currently a number of obstacles Government – large amounts of energy will likely have complicating the leap towards a hydrogen future. to be stored on a temporary basis. During times in Peter Wasserscheid has tasked himself with which a surplus of energy is being generated by wind removing these obstacles in an innovative fashion. and solar power, this energy can be used to produce Wasserscheid is the Founding Director of HI ERN, hydrogen. The vision is that whenever a lot of energy a branch office of Forschungszentrum Jülich. is required but there is insufficient wind or sunlight, the stored energy can be converted emission-free into electricity. Increased safety, lower costs One of the obstacles is that the “volumetric energy Prof. Peter Wasserscheid from the Helmholtz Institute density” of hydrogen is extremely low. This means Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy Production that in every litre of hydrogen gas at normal pressure, (HI ERN) believes that a hydrogen energy economy only a fraction of the energy contained in, for exam- would offer further advantages: “If the climate pro- ple, one litre of super unleaded fuel is stored – spe- tection goals are to be taken seriously, there needs cifically 3 watt hours instead of 8,760 watt hours. To to be a strong reduction in carbon dioxide emissions increase the energy density, hydrogen is transported not just in the production of electricity, but also in in tanker lorries, usually at a pressure of 200 bar, or in the transport and heat sectors. This would be funda- liquid form at minus 253 degrees Celsius (2,360 watt mentally possible with hydrogen.” There are already hours per litre). However, handling hydrogen in either prototypes of fuel cell vehicles and Toyota has even compressed or liquid form requires greater security launched its first series car powered by hydrogen. measures and leads to increased costs. Another diffi- Fuel cell heating devices for single-family homes and culty on the path to a hydrogen future is the fact that a very expensive network of hydrogen pipelines and filling stations needs to be built.

The solution to both these obstacles is to get hydrogen to react with an unsaturated organic compound – a liquid in which the carbon atoms are linked with double bonds and readily combine with hydrogen and other elements. This sees the liquid convert into a higher energy compound that only contains carbon– carbon single bonds and which chemists therefore 650litres of hydrogen or more can be held by one litre of an LOHC. define as saturated. This liquid can then be stored

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Peter Wasserscheid, founding director of the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg, presents his research on the future of energy supply.

and transported in a similar way to crude oil or pet- a thermal oil and is not classed as a dangerous mate- rol. Wherever energy is needed to power cars, heat rial. The oil can be pumped, stored, and transported houses, or in the form of electricity, for example, the with the current petrol infrastructure. hydrogen can be re-released from the liquid. As part of this process, the organic compound returns to the lower energy unsaturated state and can react with hy- Industry shows its interest drogen again at the next opportunity – and thus the The DBT-PHDBT system is already more than just an cycle begins all over again. Liquids that are able to academic experiment. Wasserscheid is one of the assume this kind of energy storage and energy trans- founders of the Erlangen-based company Hydrogen- port function are referred to by experts as Liquid Or- ious Technologies GmbH, which offers commercial ganic Hydrogen Carriers, or LOHC for short. prototype systems in which either DBT is saturated p. 35: diagram with hydrogen, or the hydrogen is removed from the PHDBT. Other companies including Areva, Clariant, In theory, a whole host of substances could be and Siemens have also shown an interest in the LOHC deemed suitable as LOHCs. “Crucial to the success system. “But even if the technology is at the start of of the concept, however, is that the LOHC system sat- the commercialization phase, there is still more than isfies the requirements in all important aspects, such enough research left to conduct in this field,” says as hydrogen capacity, conversion rate, stability, se- Wasserscheid. curity, and environmental friendliness,” says Wasser scheid, who is convinced that the right liquid has been The efficiency of energy storage depends considera- found: dibenzyltoluene (DBT), which in combination bly on the catalysts available for hydrogenation – the with hydrogen can be converted into perhydrodibenz- reaction with hydrogen – and dehydrogenation – the yltoluene (PHDBT). It has already established itself as removal of hydrogen. Catalysts are substances that

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 33 accelerate a reaction and ideally remain unchanged in the process. The team headed by Wasserscheid is attempting to gain a more accurate understanding of the molecular processes at the active centre of the catalyst. The researchers want to find out, for example, how hot the hydrogenation process can be without undesirable side reactions taking place. The team also develops catalysts that have a similar structure to an egg, in which the egg shell encases the egg white and yolk. The egg shell in this case is represented by the catalytically active material and the inside of the egg by an inactive particle. It has been shown that such “egg-shell catalysts” can be more effective than conventionally built catalysts: the valuable, catalytically active metal component is much more easily accessible for LOHC molecules in egg-shell catalysts. This is why with a certain amount of metal, more hydrogen can be bound or released per unit of time.

Together with other researchers from the Institute Catalysts improve efficiency of Energy and Climate Research, Félix Urbain has The latest results from the research group reveal developed a module that produces hydrogen using solar that such improvements of the catalyst systems can energy. considerably increase the efficiency of the LOHC concept. to this principle. These facilities are barely economi- The fact that there is already a hydrogen carrier in cally viable at present, however, as surpluses are too existence with which energy can be advantageously rare for cheap electricity to be available on a regular stored and transported is without doubt good news basis. In addition, regeneratively produced hydrogen for the future of energy. But the issue of where the is still more expensive than that which is obtained hydrogen is supposed to come from is only vaguely from natural gas. clear: from electrolytic water splitting using wind and solar energy. This is not so easy to implement, however. One of the most conventional scenarios cur- Artificial leaf rently sees large electrolysis systems in times of low An alternative to power-to-gas technology involves demand using the energy that is produced by wind hydrogen being produced directly from the solar pan- and solar power and intelligently distributed via the els themselves. This type of solar panel is akin to an grid. In Germany, already around 20 “power-to-gas” artificial leaf: it converts solar energy into chemical demonstration facilities generate hydrogen according energy in a similar way to a leaf in nature. Scientists from Jülich’s Institute of Energy and Climate Research (IEK) developed this kind of solar panel in 2015. The solar panel is based on silicon and achieved a total We are able to generate efficiency record of 9.5 percent, thus producing more hydrogen under the same solar radiation conditions photovoltages with our than all other comparable panels. The former record for the solar panel with the highest total efficiency solar cells that are suffi- rate was 7.8 percent. cient for splitting water The new solar panel developed by Forschungszen- trum Jülich consists of three cells stacked on top of electrolytically. each other. “This ensures that the spectrum of sunlight can be more efficiently absorbed over various Félix Urbain | Institute of Energy and Climate Research wavelengths,” explains Félix Urbain, a researcher

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from Jülich’s Institute of Energy and Climate Re- silicon is not toxic or harmful to the environment. “We search. “We are also able to generate photovoltages believe that we can increase the total efficiency of our that are sufficient for splitting water electrolytically,” hydrogen-producing multi-stack solar panel to more Urbain adds. Conventional solar cells made of crys- than 10 percent,” says Friedhelm Finger. The panel’s talline silicon are unable to do so. Their photovoltage size is also to be increased without reducing the rate amounts to less than one volt, with at least 1.6 V re- of efficiency. If the Jülich researchers are successful quired for water splitting. In another variant of the in both these aims, the total efficiency of their “arti- panel in which four cells are stacked on top of each ficial leaf” could certainly be capable of competing other, the scientists were even able to achieve up to with current power-to-gas technology. “They present 2.8 V. “This allows us in future to use less noble met- the opportunity to produce hydrogen at the location als like nickel instead of expensive platinum catalysts of solar radiation, and therefore locally,” Finger ex- for water splitting,” says Dr. Friedhelm Finger, Head of plains. In addition, the amount of hydrogen produced Materials and Solar Cells at IEK. can be tailored according to local demand by inter- connecting a corresponding number of new panels. Unlike crystalline solar cells, Forschungszentrum Jülich’s silicon thin-film solar panels are not produced from a silicon wafer – a layer from a silicon block. A new option The researchers instead deposit layers onto a glass “The research is not currently focused on concrete or plastic substrate in a vacuum with the aid of var- applications, however. We are predominantly looking ious techniques. The structure of the silicon layers, to demonstrate a new way of producing hydrogen us- and therefore their optical and electronic properties, ing renewable energy,” clarifies Prof. Uwe Rau, Head can be customized. A fundamental distinction can be of Photovoltaics at IEK. Experts expect that in future, made between amorphous layers – in which the at- there will be many different energy generation and oms are not neatly arranged – and microcrystalline storage technologies used alongside one another. layers that consist of micrometre-large crystals and in which the atoms are neatly arranged. The new Jülich panel is thus able to function without any special high-performance semiconductor materials, which are much more expensive than silicon. Furthermore,

Hydrogen logistics The principle of the Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC) C C Storage H H

Hydrogen transport

C C Hydrogenation H H Dehydrogenation of the LOHC of the LOHC H H

H H • safe transport • transport via existing Hydrogen utilization Hydrogen production logistics For example in fuel Production via electrolysis cell cars or hydrogen using excess renewable combustion engines energy

C C

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 35 MATERIALS RESEARCH The Slipperiness Formula

What winter-sports enthusiasts love, drivers and pedestrians view as a hazard and tyre manufacturers as a challenge: the smooth slipperiness of ice. A new mathematical model developed by a Jülich researcher describes why ice is so slippery.

r. Bo Persson from Jülich’s Peter Such ideal conditions are important for the tiles transform into a slippery surface. Grünberg Institute first caught the manufacturers of energy efficient Researchers believe that a thin layer of the attention of all tyre manu- tyres. However, motorists are above all at water on the surface is also behind the Dfacturers worldwide around 20 years ago. risk on wet or even icy roads. Bo Persson smooth slipperiness of ice, in other words Back then, he made completely new ob- had something completely new to offer in for its low friction. As early as 1859, Mi- servations with respect to how large the this field in 2015: “I have proposed a phe- chael Faraday was able to prove that the actual contact area is when two objects nomenological law about shearing forces surface of water ice is liquid even at tem- come in contact with one another, for ex- that is able to describe the frictional force peratures considerably below freezing. ample between tyres and the road. Pers- of ice as a function of sliding velocity and Two ice cubes stick together immediately son then incorporated these observations temperature,” he says. The application of if they are brought in contact with one an- into a new theory concerning the static this slipperiness formula could help in the other: the thin layer of liquid or near-liquid friction of rubber, which he continually re- production of tyres and shoe soles that no water freezes upon contact, thus creat- fined over the course of the years. He did longer skid as easily on ice. It could also ing a solid connection between the two so by drawing comparisons with values make it possible in future to optimize ma- cubes. measured in practical tests, and also in terials that help skis and runners, for ex- cooperation with tyre manufacturers. ample, to slide better. For decades, it was assumed that the weight pressure of humans – whether on In 2015, Persson and his colleagues re- ice skates or not – was the reason why a ported about an expansion of their theory A 150-year old mystery significant amount of water melted. This that took into account a specific deforma- The question of why ice is so slippery in explanation for the slipperiness of ice was tion of the tyre known as “shearing”. “We the first place has been the subject of sci- stated in many physics textbooks up until believe that the short-term adhesion of entific research for over 150 years. Other recently. Calculations have now demon- rubber molecules makes a decisive con- solids made of metal or plastic have much strated that this effect is much too small tribution to the shearing force – this has more frictional resistance – even when to be deemed responsible for the smooth- been proven in tests,” Persson explains. they have been smoothed to perfection. ness of ice. The weight of a human or a car He stresses, however, that these results We know from experience at swimming alone does not cause ice to melt. only initially apply to dry and clean roads. baths, however, that if water is around,

Inaccessible contact area “The problem is that it is difficult to experimentally investigate the friction surface between the ice and the sliding object at Just a few atoms of melted water ice the molecular and atomic level,” explains Persson. “The object makes the contact are enough to considerably reduce the area inaccessible for electron and ion beams, for example, which are used to shearing forces, which are responsible research open ice surfaces.” This is why very little is known about the assumed for friction. thin layer of water on the contact area. It also makes it more difficult to propose Bo Persson | researcher at Jülich’s Peter Grünberg Institute theories on the slipperiness of ice.

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Jülich physicist Bo Persson successfully works on theories that are used to describe and predict the behaviour of tyres on dry, wet, and icy roads.

In developing his slipperiness formula, are exerted on the ice by a sliding object, ured the friction of rubber mixtures from Persson assumed that a layer of melted the melted atomic layers glide easily over various summer and winter tyres, and ice not only lies on top of the open ice each other. Based on this assumption, compared them with Persson’s calcula- surface, but also on the inaccessible con- Persson for the first time developed a tions. The results reveal that the experi- tact area between the ice and the mov- mathematical model that describes the mental data matched the theory almost ing object. He also assumed that friction frictional force between a layer of ice and perfectly. at the contact area is responsible for the the object found on it. water-like layer. “Even a layer of melted water ice just a few nanometres thick – Persson has since also factored the be- essentially just a few atoms – is enough to haviour of rubber – the conventional ma- considerably reduce the shearing forces, terial used for tyres – into his calculations. which are responsible for friction,” Pers- And with great success: a research team son says. In other words, for any strains from Vienna University of Technology in across the surface, such as those that cooperation with Hankook Tire has meas-

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 37 STRUCTURAL BIOCHEMISTRY

New Light Switch for Nerve Cells

Using pulses of light to control the activity of nerve cells: this is the focus of the still relatively recent area of research known as optogenetics. Scientists from Jülich, Frankfurt, Grenoble, and Moscow have developed a new molecular tool for this purpose.

t sounds like some kind of crazy re- from across the world have succeeded not search. The first molecule that research- searcher utopia: using red, yellow, and only in controlling single cells, but also, ers were able to exploit comes from the green lights to switch nerve cells on or for instance, the behaviour of flies, thread- saltwater alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Ioff. Fluorescent dyes are additionally used worms, and mice. Its channelrhodopsins form a sort of gate to visibly demonstrate which cells are cur- in the cell membrane. The gate opens up if rently active. However, the light organ is Light-sensitive molecules – as found in blue light is shone on the molecule. If the not a tale from the realms of science fic- many organisms in nature – represent algal gene for this gate is genetically built tion. Over the last few years, scientists fundamental elements of optogenetics re- into the nerve cells, then the latter produce the channelrhodopsin and integrate it into their cell membrane. If blue light is then shone on the cell, the gates open Stop and start within thousandths of a second. Positively How cells are controlled by light charged sodium ions then flow in through the gates. The inside of the cell, which in transmitted comparison to the extracellular region Blue light excitation is negatively charged in its resting state, leads to the influx of positive compared thus becomes more positive. If a certain positively charged Na+ + to the extracellu- threshold is surpassed, the cell becomes sodium ions (Na+); Na+ Na+ lar region “depolarized”. The electrical signal that is the nerve cell is Na+ activated. created during this process is passed on to other nerve cells.

A pump of marine bacteria At least of equal importance when con- Green light starts a pump that trolling nerve cells is being able to stop negative compared pumps potassium the excitation of the cell again in a precise - to the extracellular ions (K+) out of K+ manner. There already exists a switch for K+ region the nerve cell; the K+ K+ this purpose – for example a bacteria mol- excitation is halted. ecule – that reacts to yellow light. It then pumps negatively charged chloride ions into the cells; the intracellular region again becomes more negative than the extracel- Light-sensitive molecules lular region and the excitation is ceased. light-controlled channelrhodopsin from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii An international team of structural biol- modified ion pump from Krokinobacter eikastus ogists headed by Prof. Valentin Gordeliy,

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Valentin Gordeliy deciphers the structures of proteins and utilizes them for optogenetics.

national research team reported on these results in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.

Co-author of the study Vitali Shevchen- ko, who like Gushchin works in Greno- ble, Jülich, and at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, explains the advantages of the new pump: “Sodium and above all potassium ions are plentiful in the natural environment of the nerve cells. A pump that works with these ions is more physiological – in other words more natural – than a switch that pumps chloride ions into the cells.”

who runs working groups at Jülich’s Insti- der physiological conditions. Their anal- A useful tool tute of Complex Systems (ICS) – Structur- ysis revealed some unusual formations: It is then a case of integrating the new al Biochemistry and at Institut de Biologie “the structure of KR2 has many features switching molecule into different cell Structurale in Grenoble, has now added that have yet to be seen on any other ion types. If the cells are equipped with a a novel stop switch to the optogenetics pump,” says Ivan Gushchin from ICS. One channelrhodopsin from Chlamydomonas toolbox. The molecule, which comes from of these features is a type of lid that caps and a KR2 potassium pump, researchers the marine bacterium Krokinobacter eikas- over the outfacing opening of the pump. could control them as they wish, switching tus and is given the abbreviation KR2, re- An unusually formed structure was also the cells on with a blue light and off again stores the cell’s resting state in a different found inside the pump’s channel. “We hy- with a green light. “This definitely makes way. It pumps positively charged sodium pothesized that this structure could act the switch a fantastic tool for research,” ions out of the cell if a green light is shone as a kind of filter causing the selectivity of Shevchenko says. Looking further ahead, on it. KR2 for sodium ions,” Gushchin explains. he also sees the potential for the colourful The researchers put this hypothesis to the optogenetics toolbox to be used for med- Gordeliy and his team were able to find test, slightly altering the suspected filter ical purposes. “If we can better under- out more about the structure of this pump by exchanging the individual amino acids stand the activities of nerve cells and con- by means of X-ray crystallography. They in the “gate chamber”. This led to a swift trol them with light in a targeted manner, obtained high-resolution structural imag- change with the pump: one of the mutants this would perhaps be a starting point for es of the single protein and the five-part now started pumping potassium instead new therapies to treat brain diseases,” he complex that the KR2 molecule forms un- of sodium ions out of the cell. The inter- explains hopefully.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 39 ELECTRON TOMOGRAPHY Nanoworld in 3D

Scientists from the Ernst Ruska-Centre have improved a method used for making structures visible on a nanometre scale: electron tomography has been made faster, while the required radiation dose has been reduced. This enables not only technical nanocatalysts, but also biological cells to be modelled three-dimensionally.

any people have at least tures images of the tiny sample in rap- method offers the unique opportunity once undergone a comput- id succession from various angles. “The to investigate novel nanomaterials. It is ed tomography scan of their individual images do not show a cross also well suited to searching viruses and Mown body, whether it be for headaches section of the sample. Instead, the infor- bacteria for their weak points that can of uncertain origin or after an accident, mation from different layers of depth are be used as targets for pharmaceutical among other reasons. A rotating X-ray superposed and projected jointly onto one substances. source examines the patient as he or she plane,” explains one of the two directors is continually moved along the examina- of ER-C, Prof. Rafal Dunin-Borkowski, who However, there has so far been one mation table. The result is a series of layered is also a director at Jülich’s Peter Grünberg jor obstacle to contend with: an intense images of the area of the body being ex- Institute. As part of the process, struc- electron beam over several minutes dam- amined. These images can then be com- tures on the nanometre scale become ages the area that is supposed to be re- bined to form a spatial representation on recognizable. (One nanometre is one mil- searched. It causes damage to the struc- a computer. lionth of a millimetre.) ture of bacteria, viruses, and biological cells. Scientists at ER-C demonstrated This works in a similar way to elec- in 2015 that using novel detectors, the tron tomography, which scientists at Best selectivity required electron beam dose can be re - Forschungszentrum Jülich’s Ernst Ruska- Images generated using electron tomog- duced to a tenth of its previous value – Centre (ER-C) use to research structures raphy are therefore much more selec- without the image quality suffering as on the nanoscale. This method sees an tive than X-ray images. The resolution of a result. They simultaneously achieved electron beam replacing the X-ray. A electron tomography is by far the highest an enormous increase in the number of transmission electron microscope cap- achievable with today's technology. The images captured per time unit. The scientists were able to capture 3,487 images from one nanotube in 3.5 seconds, whereas previously it had taken around ten minutes to capture usually around 100 images.

Electron tomography is thus now enabling chemical reactions, electronic switching processes, and other dynamic processes to be made visible. “The acceleration and reduction of the radiation dose are opening up new perspectives, particu larly in the field of life sciences and the research of soft matter,” says a delighted In images like the one on the left, the tomographic 3D reconstruction of a Dunin-Borkowski. Soft matter includes, nanotube (right, orange) is based on a carbon layer (blue). for example, new material combinations

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Rafal Dunin-Borkowski (centre) from the Ernst Ruska-Centre is a pioneer in the field of electron tomography.

at the interface between nanotechnology, prises rare earth elements. Nanotubes lost over time,” says Vadim Migunov from polymer chemistry, and biology. made of lanthanides – a different term ER-C. This would subsequently enable the for rare earths – are currently being re- production of nanocatalysts that function searched because they are potentially consistently, which could be used, for Rapid series of images suitable for electricity generation from example, to generate hydrogen from wa- The novel detector with which scientists waste heat as well as new catalysts. ter with greater efficiency or to separate at ER-C have equipped their electron mi- Chemical processes are often only made harmful greenhouse gases from chemical croscope is able to register incoming elec- worthwhile for industry once catalysts ac- processes. Methodological progress in trons directly, without needing to convert celerate reactions. “Electron tomograph- the nanoworld can thus lead to advances them into photons, i.e. light, as has previ- ic studies with high temporal and spatial in our everyday lives. ously been the case. Employees at Jülich’s resolution could help to explain, for ex- Central Institute of Engineering, Elec- ample, why nanocatalyst functionality is tronics and Analytics helped develop the electronics in the detector. It ensures a significantly faster data read-out speed – the prerequisite for an extremely fast recording of images. In addition, only a few seconds of computation time are necessary to reconstruct the three-dimensional structure on the computer. This will allow researchers in future to follow ongoing experiments practically “live”. 3,487 The nanotube that the scientists exam- images of a nanotube were captured in just 3.5 seconds ined using an electron microscope com- by scientists at the Ernst Ruska-Centre

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 41 BRAIN RESEARCH Changes in the Brain Caused by Depression

X-ray images reveal if an arm is broken; lung function graphs show at what volume of air a patient starts to lose their breath. Mental illnesses, however, are usually not so easily depicted. Jülich scientists Dr. Sebastian Bludau and Prof. Simon Eickhoff have for the first time succeeded in revealing organic changes in the brain that are associated with depression.

epression is one of the most characteristic organic changes also occur Forschungszentrum Jülich – as a basis widespread illnesses alongside in the brain during depression. Sebastian for their research. In order to create it, ul- cancer and cardiovascular dis- Bludau and Simon Eickhoff were able to trathin slices of the brains of deceased Deases. However, it is often difficult to find demonstrate for the first time that in pa- individuals are analysed by means of state- tangible organic evidence that a person tients suffering from depression, there is a of-the-art image analysis, and compiled is suffering from depression. This mental smaller amount of grey matter in a region to make a three-dimensional model of the illness rarely has one single root cause. of the frontal brain known as the medial brain. Their research revealed that the ex- Often, it is due to a combination of sev- frontal pole. They were able to prove this amined region of the brain in the frontal eral factors, such as genetic predisposi- by comparing the magnetic resonance to- lobe (known as Brodmann area 19) is not in tion, hormonal imbalances, and traumatic mography images of 73 patients with the itself composed homogeneously – as had events. Those affected also suffer from a same number of images of healthy people. previously been assumed. In its structure variety of different symptoms: a feeling of The images were assessed with the aid of and also in its functions, the researchers inner emptiness, anxiety, sleeplessness, special computer programs. were able to distinguish between two are- concentration disturbances, and a major as: one that is located more centrally (me- lack of motivation. dial) and one at the side (lateral). 3D brain atlas as a basis for research Diagnoses have so far primarily been Scientists at the Institute of Neurosci- When Bludau and Eickhoff analysed the made on the basis of symptoms. A study ence and Medicine used the brain atlas volume of grey matter in both areas of by Jülich neuroscientists now shows that JuBrain – which was also developed at healthy individuals and those suffering from depression, they found that the volume of the medial area was on average smaller for depression sufferers. In contrast, there was no measurable difference compared to healthy individuals in the lateral area. This ties in with what was al- Simon Eickhoff ready known about the functions of the (left) and Sebastian medial region: “The medial frontal pole Bludau demonstrat- is involved in social-affective processes ed for the first time such as brooding or self-reflection, which that many patients are associated with depression,” explains suffering from Bludau. In addition, the neuroscientists depression have a discovered a connection between the du- smaller amount of ration/severity of the illness and the vol- grey matter in the ume of this region of the brain. “The more medial frontal pole severe the diagnosis of the illness and of the brain. the longer an individual had been suffer-

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People with depression often suffer from anxiety or sleeplessness.

ing from it, the smaller the amount of grey matter in the medial frontal pole was,” Bludau reports. JuBrain: the Digital Brain Atlas

“In addition to its clinical significance, the research also demonstrates Further studies planned the relevance of Jülich’s unique brain map JuBrain,” explains Prof. Katrin The research conducted by Jülich scien- Amunts. For more than 15 years, the neuroscientist together with Prof. tists could thus offer a perspective to- Karl Zilles and her team has been mapping the cerebral cortex and the wards a more substantiated diagnosis underlying core regions. The maps of around 100 regions of the brain of depression. While this measurement have since been made publicly available – a number that continues to alone is certainly not sufficient for a di- increase. The maps of the JuBrain Atlas also serve as a basis for gaining agnosis, this study demonstrated that it insights into the genetic characteristics of the regions and the signalling was possible to recognize in two-thirds to molecules of the brain as well as the connections between the individual three-quarters of cases – depending on areas of the brain. A first prototype of the brain atlas, which will integrate the specific process – whether the data all these various aspects, was recently made freely available to the public originated from a patient or a healthy in- as part of the “platform release” of the EU-funded Human Brain Project. dividual. “Further studies now need to de- www.humanbrainproject.eu/platform-release termine whether the reduced volume is a cause or a consequence of depression,” explains Sebastian Bludau.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 43 CLIMATE RESEARCH A Chance Discovery for Climate Research

Sometimes scientists have a stroke of good fortune and stumble across a discovery they hadn’t been specifically looking for. This was the case for an international team of researchers including Jülich scientists that was unexpectedly able to measure gravity waves in the upper atmosphere with the NASA environmental satellite “Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership”. In doing so, the team was able to gather important information for climate research.

he Day/Night Band (DNB) sen- now observed for the first time how the tres – relatively small by the standards of sor had originally been intended eruption of a volcano also triggers such atmospheric and climate researchers. for observing cloud formations in waves – a discovery highlighted in their Tspace at night. Since 2011, it has been or- results published in the journal PNAS. The The unexpected data the sensor recorded biting the Earth on board the environmen- air oscillations propagate sideways and are particularly revealing when combined tal satellite known in short as Suomi-NPP upwards from such a source, and the DNB with the measurements of a second sat- at an altitude of around 800 kilometres. sensor is able to detect this wave pattern. ellite. This is where the scientists at the The sensor itself detects weak light in the The images are recorded with unprece- Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) come visible and near-infrared region. Upon dented accuracy, with the pixel dimen- in to play: for a long time now, they have the evaluation of the recorded data, it sions amounting to just 740 x 740 me- been using supercomputers to analyse the emerged that the sensor is even more sensitive than had been assumed, as it registers a weak glow in the sky on moon- less nights. The DNB sensor is able to de- Two satellites see more than one tect what is known as a “nightglow”, which Gravity waves as seen by satellites is produced in the mesosphere – a layer Suomi-NPP satellite Aqua satellite roughly 90 kilometres above the Earth’s A thunderstorm causes surface – during chemical processes in- energy to be released. volving atomic oxygen, sodium, and hy- This makes the atmos- droxyl radicals. phere oscillate. Sensors on board satellites can space track the path of the gravity waves. Sharp images from the mesosphere The weak glow in the night sky changes in cold wave front mesosphere a characteristic manner whenever grav- warm wave front ity waves impact this layer of the atmos- measuring range phere. Such waves are created in a stable atmospheric layer if the latter is disrupted stratosphere by external stimuli – similar to how a stone dropped on a calm surface of water will produce circular waves. The “stone” in thunderstorm cell the atmosphere could, for example, be a troposphere tropical storm, a heavy thunderstorm, or simply air flowing over a mountain ridge. Earth’s surface The team of international researchers has

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Lars Hoffmann follows the path of gravity waves through various atmospheric layers.

results of an infrared measuring instru- on the circulation of air masses has so Further improvements to the DNB sensor ment on board a NASA satellite named far been insufficiently explained. This is a could also produce even better images Aqua. They investigate gravity waves in major source of uncertainty in the climate in future. “The sensor was of course not the stratosphere – i.e. at an altitude of models.” The gravity waves are crucial built for this task; the recording of gravity 30–40 kilometres – and examine their infor the exchange of energy between the waves was simply an unexpected byprod- fluence on climate-relevant processes. lower and upper atmosphere; they influ- uct,” Hoffmann explains. “If we were to “The combination of the various satellite ence wind, temperature, and the chemical now optimize the sensor for the purpose data now allows us for the first time to fol- composition of the Earth’s atmosphere. of these measurements, we would un- low the entire path of the gravity waves They thus play an important role in many doubtedly be able to record much more through the different atmospheric lay- climatic phenomena, such as the fluctu- informative data.” Hoffmann is convinced ers,” says a delighted Dr. Lars Hoffmann, ations of monsoon rains, El-Niño events, that what started as a fortunate discovery who heads the JSC’s climate SimLab. “We and the formation of polar stratospheric can certainly be improved through target- are now able to observe the propagation clouds. If their effects can now be better ed research efforts. of the waves from their sources at the accounted for, the climate researchers’ Earth’s surface through the troposphere models can be made much more precise, and stratosphere, right up until they break Hoffmann says. in the mesosphere.”

Impact on the climate When the waves break at this high alti- The discovery of gravity waves in the tude, they give off momentum and energy to the mesosphere. “And this is what new NASA data was an unexpected makes them so interesting for climate research,” explains Hoffmann. The gravity stroke of luck. waves ultimately control the major flows in the atmosphere. “The impact they have Lars Hoffmann | climate SimLab

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 45 COMPUTER SIMULATION The Birth of Elements

Around 13 billion years ago – roughly 400 million years after the Big Bang – carbon and heavier chemical elements were created inside the first stars. Jülich researchers together with international partners have now simulated a key process in this creation from scratch.

tars like our Sun are gigantic, actions in which no more than five nucle- Forschungszentrum Jülich, the univer- extremely hot furnaces. Inside ons – protons and neutrons, the building sities of Bonn and Bochum, and two US them, atomic nuclei bond to blocks of atomic nuclei – were involved. universities. Sform new elements. For example, three helium nuclei – also known as alpha parti- However, more nucleons play a part in cles – fuse to form the element carbon. If the birth of heavier elements. With every The researchers’ trick another alpha particle is involved, oxygen additional nucleon, the required comput- Using a trick, the team of researchers low- is formed – another prerequisite for life ing power increases sharply. This is partly ered the cost of computation: “We placed on Earth. down to the fact that for every nucleon, the protons and neutrons involved onto a the various quantum states that are theo- virtual lattice instead of freely into space. retically conceivable need to be account- The state of the lattice can be calculat- Enormous computing power required ed for. This leads to a huge number of ed very efficiently in parallel using a large In order to simulate the processes that possible combinations and interactions. number of processors, such as JUQUEEN lead to the formation of chemical ele- With the aid of a new computational pro- has,” explains Prof. Ulf Meißner, director ments, an enormous amount of computing cess, an international team of research- at Forschungszentrum Jülich’s Nuclear power is required. Even the world’s fast- ers in 2015 succeeded in simulating a Physics Institute and the Institute for Ad- est supercomputers have so far only been complex process in which a total of eight vanced Simulation. Using this method, the able to perform ab initio simulations of nucleons were involved: the deflection of computation time no longer increases ex- the creation of very light elements such as two helium nuclei, also referred to as the ponentially, but instead grows quadratical- deuterium – a special form of hydrogen – scattering of alpha particles. The team ly with the number of nucleons involved. and helium. Ab initio simulations do not used one of the world’s most powerful su- The cost of computation for a system with require any parameters to be experimen- percomputers – JUQUEEN – at the Jülich 16 particles is thus only four times larger tally determined and are based solely on Supercomputing Centre for their calcula- than for an 8-particle system. If the com- the underlying laws of physics. Previous tions. The renowned journal Nature pub- putation time increased exponentially – as simulations were therefore limited to re- lished the results of the scientists from previously the case – a supercomputer like JUQUEEN would no longer need only a few weeks, but instead require thousands of years.

The fact that the trick with the virtual lattice works so well is down to a better Without access to the Jülich super understanding of the theoretical princi- ples. “Over the last few years, particularly computer JUQEEN, our research would my colleague and former student Evgeny Epelbaum from Ruhr University Bochum simply not have been possible. and I have developed an improved theoretical description of interactions between Ulf Meißner | Nuclear Physics Institute/Institute for Advanced Simulation nucleons that is tailored to this sort of

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Simulating processes in stars that lead to the creation of chemical elements: Ulf Meißner

troubleshooting,” says Meißner, who is looking to simulate how oxygen is created help investigate how “life, the universe the 2016 winner of the Lise Meitner Prize from the fusion of an alpha particle with a and everything” – as science fiction au- awarded by the European Physical Soci- carbon nucleus – a process that has been thor Douglas Adams put it – was created ety. He also works at the Helmholtz Insti- described as the “Holy Grail of astrophys- from simple atomic particles. tute of Radiation and Nuclear Physics of ics”. The method could also open new per- the University of Bonn. spectives for simulations in the field of elementary particle physics, focusing on the A few years ago, physicists were able to behaviour of quarks and gluons instead investigate the basic conditions for the of atomic nuclei. Quarks are the constit- formation of carbon. Now, the new com- uents of nucleons; gluons help nucleons putational process has brought another to mutually attract one another. The new goal within reach: the researchers are simulation process can thus be used to

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 47 MATERIALS RESEARCH New Steel for Energiewende

Steam power plants need to become more flexible – increasingly often, they are only operated when there is not enough wind or sun as an energy source. Jülich researchers have developed a new type of steel that is better suited for start/stop operation than conventional materials.

or decades, coal-fired power However, the transformation of the Ger- load changes better than conventional plants have covered the base load man energy sector (“Energiewende”) has steels, and also rusts less easily. of the energy supply: they were created an additional challenge for steam Fpermanently in operation in order to sup- power plants: they are started up and “HiperForge” is the name that Jülich re- ply energy at any time – even in times of shut down at a more frequent rate. When- searchers have given to their new type low demand. For this continuous opera- ever the wind is blowing strongly, power of steel for steam turbine blades and tion, materials are required that are able from numerous wind turbines flows into high-temperature bolts. The first secret to withstand the conditions in the power the grid and the generation of electrici- of HiperForge can be found in its special plant – 620 degrees Celsius and highly ty from steam power plants is no longer chemical composition. The product is reactive gases – for as long as possible. worthwhile. The resulting start/stop op- based on another type of steel developed In addition, researchers are investigat- eration of the plant damages components in Jülich, which has been used by industry ing new materials that enable even higher much more than during continuous oper- primarily for high-temperature fuel cells operating temperatures. Why? “The effi- ation. On top of this, “whenever the plant and is marketed under the name Crofer ciency of a steam power plant can only be cools, condensate water accumulates 22. It contains additives of the chemical increased with higher temperatures,” says in the pipes. If this happens repeatedly, elements niobium, tungsten, and silicon, Jülich scientist Dr.-Ing. Bernd Kuhn. And if the risk of corrosion increases,” explains which combine to form precipitations in the power plant is able to generate more Kuhn. The researcher from the Institute the steel, but Crofer 22 is not firm enough energy for every tonne of coal or every cu- of Energy and Climate Research together for use in power plants. However, the Jülich bic metre of natural gas, it becomes more with his team has developed a new type researchers were able to change this: they efficient and environmentally friendly. of steel that can withstand the frequent reduced the chromium content and adjusted the proportion of precipitations for use at temperatures of 600–650 degrees Cel- sius; the required heat treatment and forming process were altered in a targeted manner to produce very fine precipitations.

The secret behind HiperForge “The difficulty is in distributing the precipitations as finely as possible in the steel – otherwise it can become brittle,” explains Kuhn. The second secret behind Hiper- Forge lies in the special forming process used to finely distribute the precipitations. The Jülich team with the Charles Hatchett Award (from the left): Prof. Tilmann Beck, Prof. Lorenz Singheiser, doctoral researcher Michal Talik, and Dr. Bernd Kuhn. On the This forming process is not necessary for right: Dr. Mike Hicks, President of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. less sophisticated applications. Instead,

48 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

If all goes according to Bernd Kuhn’s and his colleagues’ plan, pipes such as these will be made from HiperFer in the coming years.

the steels, which have been given the larger scale for steam turbines, however, tures, ideas are already in place to deploy name “HiperFer” by Jülich researchers, around twelve years of endurance testing the new steel types in technologies that are merely heat-treated after being man- is required. The new steel has so far com- use renewable power for the production of ufactured. In doing so, they can be better pleted roughly two years of testing. Until artificial natural gas and other energy car- welded or processed to pipes. “This heat testing is complete, the aim is to use the riers. They are also being considered for treatment process ensures a uniform mi- time to ensure HiperFer and HiperForge use in solar thermal power stations. The crostructure of the material, for example are fit for other applications. Due to their new material “made in Jülich” will thus be a near exact size and shape of the grains particular resistance to corrosion and available for a variety of possible uses re- in the material structure. The mechanical deformation strength at higher tempera- lated to Energiewende in future. characteristics of the steel are thus altered in a targeted manner,” explains Kuhn.

Prize-winning The British Institute of Materials, Miner- als and Mining awarded the Jülich materials scientists the 2015 Charles Hatchett Award, a prize that recognizes outstanding scientific publications in which the element niobium is involved. Ever since, industry interest in HiperFer and Hiper- Forge has increased considerably. In or- 620degrees Celsius – the temperature that the materials der for HiperForge to be marketed on a used in the power plant need to withstand.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 49 Research in Brief

and when it is vitrified. Furthermore, the Simulation scientists have compiled a sort of “cook Molecules with book” for developing novel colloids. Dual Functions this “waterway”, the researchers report in the journal Cell. Mutations of EAATS can Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) be found, for example, in patients suffering from epilepsy or movement disorders. Staying Mobile with The molecules are therefore an interest- Small Magnetic Fields ing starting point for the development of Many patients feel uncomfortable lying in- medications. side a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. The narrow tube inside the scan- Soft matter ner is a huge coil that generates magnetic fields. The interactions between magnet- Colloid Cook Book ic fields and radio waves enable the pa- Soft colloids are nano- or micrometre- tient’s tissue and organs to be examined. A team headed by Prof. Christoph Fahlke sized, dispersed particles or droplets of The same principle is also applied to NMR from the Jülich Institute of Complex Sys- proteins and plastic molecules, for exam- spectroscopy in order to analyse the mo- tems discovered how a molecule in the ple. They are used, for instance, in cos- lecular and atomic structure of liquids and membrane of nerve cells was able to metics, dispersion paints, and foodstuffs. solids. perform two separate functions. The re- Scientists at the Jülich Centre for Neutron searchers analysed a family of transport Science are part of an international team NMR devices tend to be large, expensive, proteins known as excitatory amino acid that has developed a model system for and work with ever stronger magnetic transporters (EAATs). One of its functions soft colloids consisting of water and block fields to obtain as much information as is to act as a sort of “clean-up squad”: af- copolymers – thread-like plastic mole- possible. However, Prof. Stephan Appelt ter the messenger substance glutamate cules with a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic from Jülich’s Central Institute of Engineer- has transmitted a signal between two component. In water, they form a star-like ing, Electronics and Analytics, together nerve cells, the proteins transport it back shape, with the hydrophilic ends facing with colleagues from the Institute of Ener- to the cell. This is because too much glu- outwards. gy and Climate Research and researchers tamate causes damage – as can be ob- from RWTH Aachen University, has dis- served in the case of a stroke. The gluta- The level of softness of the model col- covered a way of producing similar results mate transporter also functions as an ion loids can be adjusted over a wide range by with considerably weaker magnetic fields. channel. When open, it allows negatively changing the length ratio between the hy- “For this low-field NMR, we do not require charged ions – primarily chloride – to pass drophilic and water-repellent component. large and expensive coils. The scanner is through the cell membrane, thus altering The model enables a better understanding thus made smaller and also suitable for the excitability of the nerve cells. Using of the connections between the atomic mobile applications,” Appelt says. It could simulations on the Jülich supercomputer structure and the characteristics of the be used by industry, for example, to mon- JUROPA and conducting laboratory exper- colloids. It is now possible to predict, for itor chemical processes. The technology iments, the researchers have now clar- example, when a colloid solution is liquid could also be further developed into a ified what happens during this process. compact MRI scanner for medical purpos- The EAATs assume various forms during es. In 2015, the researchers presented the the transport of glutamate. In its inter- most important component of their NMR mediate form, a section of the molecule prototype in the journal Nature Physics. can be shifted. This creates a pore into The “external resonator” amplifies which water can flow. Chloride ions are measurement signals and suppresses able to cross through the membrane via undesired noise.

50 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

Structural biochemistry Parkinson’s Protein Halted Materials research New Path to Cool Chips

Nanoelectronics Detecting Cancer Cells Fast Is it cancer or not? This is the all-important question whenever a patient receives Molecules of -synuclein usually exist in an abnormal test result. Bioelectrochem- a standalone and disordered structure in ical sensors could help to provide a quick the nerve cells of the brain. If they instead answer in under an hour in future. Scien- combine to form fibrous aggregates, this tists from Jülich’s Peter Grünberg Institute Achieving high performance without heat- is seen as a key process that leads to Par- (PGI) together with colleagues from the ing too much – this is what researchers kinson’s disease. Scientists at the Jülich University of South Australia presented are looking for in the development of new Institute of Complex Systems and Hein- the new sensors in the journal ACS Nano. chips for computers and mobile phones. rich Heine University Düsseldorf together One material class discovered only a few with a Swedish colleague have found a Silicon nanowire transistors are equipped years ago is capable of fulfilling this goal: way to inhibit the formation of these fatal with antibodies that specifically bind with topological insulators. They conduct elec- fibrils, thus providing a possible founda- molecules on the surface of cancer cells. tric current at the surface, but not on the tion for future therapies. If a liquid with various cells flows over a inside, and therefore have a lower resist- microchip with such sensors, the can- ance and produce less heat than conven- The researchers focused on two segments cer cells cling on to the antibodies. This tional materials. In addition, the electric of the molecule – beta 1 and beta 2 – that changes the measurable conductivity in current – depending on the spin of the cohere easily with one another and can the transistor. Even an individual cancer electrons – only flows in one direction, be found in the nucleus of -synuclein ag- cell among ten million healthy lymph cells which is significant for the development of gregates. In experiments, the two reac- can be detected using this method, the spintronic devices. Scientists from Jülich’s tive segments were combined via a bridge researchers calculated. Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI) and RWTH consisting of two sulfur atoms, creating a Aachen University reported in Nature hairpin-like structure. Molecules modified “We have developed a highly sensitive test Communications how such advantageous in this way no longer combine with one an- that could be superior to previous clinical structures can be produced in a targeted other and also prevent normal synuclein standards. But this is something we still manner with the desired properties. molecules from forming toxic aggregates need to prove in clinical trials,” says Prof. in their surroundings, the scientists re- Andreas Offenhäusser, Director at PGI Prof. Detlev Grützmacher from PGI came port in the journal Angewandte Chemie. and Head of the Helmholtz Nanoelectron- up with the crucial idea: “Instead of alloy- The modified -synuclein also inhibits the ic Facility. ing two different types of semiconduc- accumulation of proteins associated with tors to produce a topological insulator, we Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes – stacked alternating atom layers of both an important insight to also help get to semiconductors by means of molecular the bottom of similarities between these beam epitaxy.” This enabled the research- diseases. ers to precisely control and analyse which layer thicknesses are associated with which characteristics – an important step on the path to customized chips.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 51 Microscopy “Our new method allows us for the first assume only very specific, distinguisha- Electrical Aura of time to quantitatively determine elec- ble energy states. The molecule at the tip tric fields close to a sample surface with of the microscope functions like a beam Nano-Objects an atomic precision of less than a nano- balance, which tilts to one side or the oth- Over the last few years, a team of re- metre,” says Temirov. Such electric fields er. A shift in one direction or the other searchers headed by Prof. Stefan Tautz surround all nanostructures like a kind of corresponds to the presence or absence and Dr. Ruslan Temirov from Jülich’s Peter aura. Their properties provide information, of an additional electron, which either Grünberg Institute have considerably ex- for instance, on the distribution of charges jumps from the tip to the sensor mole- panded the possibilities of scanning tun- in atoms or molecules. cule or does not. The molecular “balance” nelling microscopy. They succeeded, for does not compare weights but rather two example, in making the atomic structures The new method, known as quantum dot electric fields: that of the nanostructure inside molecules visible for the first time microscopy, also sees the researchers and that of the adjustable – and therefore by attaching a single molecule as a sensor placing a single molecule at the tip of the known – field around the tip. to the tip of a scanning tunnelling micro- microscope. This organic molecule com- scope. In 2015, they once again caught prises 38 atoms and serves as a quantum the attention of the scientific community. dot, which due to quantum effects can

Publications

Researchers very often make reference to database of media company Thomson Journals in which Jülich significant publications, with the number Reuters. The database comprises around researchers published of citations thus serving as an important 3,000 scientists from 22 disciplines. most frequently measure of a scientist’s influence within 2015 their field. Jülich scientists performed well In addition, a current survey by the jour- in this regard in 2015: Prof. Simon Eickhoff nal Lab Times, which assesses publica- Journal Number from the Institute of Neuroscience and tions from the years 2007 to 2013, reveals of publi- Medicine (INM), Prof. Björn Usadel from that Jülich researchers count among the cations the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Prof. most-cited neuroscientists in Europe. Rainer Waser from the Peter Grünberg In- Simon Eickhoff ranked 12th with 143 Physical Review/B 75 stitute, and Prof. Martin Winter from the scientific articles and 6,891 citations, Institute of Energy and Climate Research/ while JARA senior professor Karl Zilles Journal of Nuclear Materials 39 Helmholtz Institute Münster were all in- came in 18th place and Prof. Gereon Geophysical Research Abstracts 39 cluded in the “Highly Cited Research” Fink from INM ranked 19th. Physical Review/D 35

Atmospheric Chemistry and 28 Physics Jülich publications in the last five years Innovatives Supercomputing 28

Year Total in peer-reviewed of which with Books, other Doctoral Physical Review Letters 27 journals researchers from publications theses, Nuclear Fusion 26 other institutions habilitations PLOS ONE 26 2011 2,115 1,363 1,013 | 74 . 3 % 651 101 Atmospheric Chemistry 20 2012 2,233 1,452 1,100 | 75.8 % 688 93 NeuroImage 20 2013 2,414 1,485 1,175 | 79.1 % 825 104 Fusion Engineering and Design 20 2014 2,449 1,614 1,337 | 82 .8 % 713 122

2015 2,483 1,738 1,458 | 82 . 3 % 630 115

52 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

Cooperation Pages 53 – 70

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 53 SUPERCOMPUTERS The Computer Diplomat

More than 50 scientists from 20 research institutes and companies across seven European countries are together developing a new and innovative type of supercomputer: one that is able to perform operations in a particularly fast and flexible manner while consuming less energy. Special expertise is required to bring together the partners from various fields of work and cultures around one table for such a joint project.

r. Estela Suarez from the Jülich Supercom- appears to be having success: “Estela always finds the puting Centre (JSC) boasts these very skills: right tone in dealing with us nerds,” says Prof. Nortbert she coordinates the project’s activities and Eicker from the Jülich Supercomputing Centre. Eicker Dis responsible for its smooth running. knows how computer experts are often viewed as ec- centric geniuses, not particularly communicative, and Astrophysicists are interested in the physics of celes- limited in their ability to cope with everyday life. tial phenomena, comets, and distant galaxies. This could lead to the assumption that they are not really specialists in earthly problems and human activity. Many ways of thinking, many nationalities However, this is not the case for Estela Suarez. Since Whenever discussion between the project partners 2011, the astrophysicist has been responsible for en- comes to a standstill, the expertise of project manag- suring that more than 50 scientists – scattered all er Estela Suarez is called upon. “Generally speaking, over Europe – are fully committed to the project and everyone is in the right; they just have differing views pulling in the same direction. The majority of these and interests for reaching the project objective,” she scientists are computer and software specialists. says. “However, it is the differences in the mindset of Their shared objective is to develop a new generation the researchers that have a stronger influence on the of supercomputers. project than the differences resulting from their various nationalities.” Although the Spanish-born project For Estela Suarez, one of her main responsibilities is manager also looks to build bridges in this aspect as to stimulate and oversee communication between well. She speaks Spanish, English, French, Italian, and the teams of scientists. “Hardware manufacturers, German. “It can definitely be an advantage if you are software developers, and users have their very own able to speak to researchers in their native language,” special approach and also speak completely different Suarez says. This is particularly beneficial for the at- languages,” she explains. “I try to ensure that they mosphere of discussions, even if the common project all understand one another in spite of this.” And she language is English.

The project requiring this very expertise is called DEEP-ER. Estela Suarez is responsible for coordinating this project, as she was for its predecessor DEEP. The acronym stands for “Dynamical Exascale Entry Generally speaking, everyone Platform – Extended Reach”. The prefix “Exa”, meanwhile, represents the figure 10 to the power of 18, or is in the right; they just have one quintillion. This is how many floating point operations per second (flop/s) the next generation of su- differing views and interests. percomputers is expected to be capable of. Flop/s are used as a measurement for the performance of com- Estela Suarez | project manager of DEEP and DEEP-ER puters, just as kilowatts – previously horsepower –

54 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

The Spanish-born project manager coordinated the European large-scale projects DEEP and DEEP-ER from the Jülich Supercomput- ing Centre in 2015.

are for the engine performance of a Formula 1 racing In order to enter the exascale era, the performance car. The computing capacity of an exascale computer of the current fastest computers in the world needs corresponds to that of roughly ten million convention- to be improved by around one thousand times. “This al PCs. is difficult because previous solutions are starting to reach their limitations,” Suarez says. The fundamen- DEEP was launched in December 2011 with 16 part- tal aim of all approaches being made is to operate an ners. When project manager Wolfgang Gürich from increasing number of tasks in parallel. One such ap- JSC retired in April 2012, Estela Suarez was quickly proach is Clusters. This approach sees individual PCs, established as his successor. She had been especial- also referred to as compute nodes, interconnected ly prepared for this role, with Gürich also passing on via a fast network. This enables, for example, a simu- to Suarez his experience in the organization of pro- lation to be broken down into several similar individual jects as well as the management of scientist groups. tasks that are shared among the compute nodes. This “He was essentially my own personal mentor and massively accelerates the solution of individual tasks, showed me a lot of tricks,” Suarez recalls. She coor- and therefore the entire operation also. Another ap- dinated both projects from October 2013, including proach is the use of special accelerator processors: the complementary DEEP-ER project. Both projects they have many more processor cores than Cluster ran parallel to one another for almost two years until processors but each individual core is considerably DEEP was brought to an end in summer 2015. weaker. Such accelerator processors are particularly well-suited for transferring and operating much less “It was fantastic to experience how the excellent in- demanding individual tasks. terdisciplinary and international DEEP team successfully developed a completely new computer architec- In 2010, JSC head Thomas Lippert was the first to ture, which had originally started as just an idea on a wonder: “What would happen if two different com- drawing board during a round of discussions,” Suarez puter architectures were combined with one anoth- explains. This architecture is important for enabling er?” It was based on this notion that JSC scientists the next generation of supercomputers. developed the Cluster–Booster concept. In short, this

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 55 Cooperation partners DEEP/DEEP-ER

DEEP DEEP-ER • 16 partners • 14 partners Dublin • 8 European countries • 7 European countries Dwingeloo • duration: 2011–2015 • duration 2013–2017 • EU funding € 8.5 million • EU funding € 6.5 million Leuven Jülich

Kaisers- Regensburg Rocquencourt lautern Garching Paris Heidelberg Munich Amaro Lausanne

Bologna Toulouse

Barcelona

Cyprus COORDINATION Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany

Israel

HARDWARE PARTNERS SOFTWARE PARTNERS USERS Intel, Germany ParTec, Germany Cineca, Italy Swiss Federal Institute of Heidelberg University, Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven, Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Germany Spain Belgium Switzerland Eurotech, Italy German Research School for Simula- Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, Cerfacs, France tion Sciences (GRS), Germany Spain The Cyprus Institute, Cyprus Mellanox, Israel Universität Regensburg, CGG, France FHG-ITWM (Fraunhofer Institute), Germany Inria, France Germany Leibniz Supercomputing Centre, ASTRON, The Netherlands Seagate, Ireland Germany

concept works by running program parts that cannot implemented in collaboration with partners that can be parallelized very effectively on a Cluster architec- offer the required expertise and pose the right ques- ture. In contrast, the simple, parallelized program tions. “In addition to the new hardware, what we call parts are run on a new kind of system consisting of “middleware” also ultimately needs to be developed.” accelerator processors that the researchers devel- The latter ensures that the researchers are more or oped and named “Booster”. A special software sys- less able to create and run their programs as usual tem facilitates the allocation of program parts across despite the complex computer architecture,” explains Cluster and Booster and controls their communica- Suarez. “Such a development can only be achieved tion with each other. in cooperation with experienced partners from vary- ing scientific fields.” It is also important to involve the It was then a case of putting the concept into prac- users of supercomuters – researchers who simulate, tice. The Jülich researchers spoke about doing this for example, the climate, the human brain, or material with selected companies and European research in- properties, Suarez adds. They in turn profit from this stitutes. An ambitious project of this size can only be involvement, as it gives them the opportunity to mod-

56 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

ernize their software at an early stage and to adapt it to future supercomputer architectures. For hardware and middleware manufacturers, collaboration with the research institutes and users offers the perfect opportunity to develop and test new products right through to market maturity. “Cooperation in the projects is quite simply of enormous benefit for all partners involved,” says Suarez.

In what was the next stage of the project, the partners had to apply for funds from the European Un- ion. Estela Suarez, who had only just arrived at Forschungszentrum Jülich, assembled the various drafts of the partners into a unified work programme, adjusted the budget for submission, and negotiated The GreenICE-Booster (front) has an innovative cooling function. the individual details of funding with the EU after a positive verdict was reached by funding reviewers. Most recently, DEEP and its partners received € 8.5 50 degrees Celsius. The phase transition from liquid million in funds, while DEEP-ER, which runs until April to gaseous maximizes the cooling effect. This means 2017, again received € 6.5 million. that no waste heat is given off into space and the energy requirements for cooling are cut to about one percent of the overall system consumption. In con- Prototype presented trast, this percentage amounts to up to 25 percent for Despite such a promising starting position, projects conventional air-cooled systems. like DEEP are not guaranteed to be an automatic success, but instead require the skills of a capable coor- The DEEP-ER project is currently focused on develop- dinator. Thomas Lippert emphasizes that such a pro- ing a particularly efficient system for data input and ject can only be successfully managed by someone output. Some applications, such as climate simula- who understands the true spirit of the research topic tions, spit out not only few figures after calculations and can help to shape its content. “The project part- but a huge amount of data. If this in turn leads to bot- ners would quickly recognize a lack of expertise and tlenecks, the system as a whole slows down despite subsequently turn their backs on the coordinator,” its immense computing power. The researchers are Lippert says. Scientific programming captured Este- also working on making the Cluster–Booster comput- la Suarez’ imagination during her university studies. er more fail-safe. This will be particularly important While undertaking her doctoral thesis in astrophys- when in future, computers based on this concept are ics, she wrote a simulation program for a detector on fitted with more processors than the prototypes as a satellite. “At Jülich, she subsequently acquired the with a high number of processors, the likelihood in- necessary expertise about computer architectures creases that one of them will fail during an ongoing extremely fast,” recalls Gürich. simulation. There have not been any failures to note, however, among the many partners involved in the Suarez appears to be doing a great deal right in her project. “Their commitment and willingness to over- computer diplomacy: the project partners in 2015 come communication- and content-related bounda- presented a prototype with a computing power of 500 ries have made it possible to turn an idea into reality,” trillion flop/s, built according to the Cluster–Booster Suarez says. principle. They tested the prototype and were able to demonstrate that it operates with the desired level of energy efficiency and can also be used in a very flexible manner. The researchers presented a second, smaller prototype called GreenICE–Booster at the start of 2016. A particularly innovative cooling function is used with this prototype. The electronic assem- blies are immersed in a special, non-conductive liquid 500trillion flop/s – the computing power of the prototype which evaporates even at moderate temperatures of presented by the project partners in 2015.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 57 International Cooperations (EU)

EU-funded projects involving Jülich in 2015, Involvement in EU programmes within the Seventh Framework Programme and with funding in excess of € 1 million the European framework programme for research and innovation, Horizon 2020

Acronym Project title Contract EU programme Number of Coordinated Jülich volume approved by share of Jülich (in projects funding euros) (in euros)

EURO European Consortium for the 6,800,000 Seventh Framework Programme fusion Development of Fusion Energy Health 7 1 2,190,000 HBP Human Brain Project 3,618,200 Food 16 – 3,085,000 K SoNDe Solid-State Neutron Detector – A 2,966,330 new Neutron Detector for High-Flux ICT 16 3 9,715,000 Applications NMP 16 3 9,022,000

K ESMI European Soft Matter Infrastructure 2,774,539 Energy 15 2 6,750,000

K IMAGINE Imaging Magnetism in Nanostruc 1,984,340 Environment 10 2 4,892,000 tures using Electron Holography Space 4 – 1,420,000 K Pro- Proteolytic processing in plant stress 1,804,663 ERC 3 2 4,077,000 Plant- signal transduction and responses to Stress abiotic stress and pathogen attack People 15 4 4,957,000

K EPPN European Plant Phenotyping Network 1,615,852 Infrastructure 31 7 24,527,555

K POLP- Production of Polarized Antiprotons 1,509,900 ERA-NET 17 6 4,530,000 BAR Joint Techn. Initiatives 11 4 3,393,000 CUSTOM- Custom-made biosensors – 1,482,220 SENSE Accelerating the transition to a bio- EURATOM 14 1 4,000,000 based economy COST 2 – 360,000 K DEEP Dynamical Exascale Entry Platform 1,443,509 EU-Russia 1 1 315,500 SMART ERA-Net Smart Grids Plus: support 1,331,147 Science in Society 1 – 325,000 GRIDS for deep knowledge sharing between PLUS regional and European Smart Grids Research for 1 – 280,000 initiatives the Benefit ofSME s

K PRACE- Third Implementation Project Phase of 1,284,042 Regions of Knowledge 1 – 72,000 3IP the Pan-European High Performance Computing infrastructure and services Transport 1 – 62,000

K DEEP-ER Dynamical Exascale Entry 1,247,449 7FP total 182 36 83,973,055 Platform – Extended Reach Horizon 2020 K GREEN- Graded Membranes for Energy 1,178,580 CC Efficient New Generation Carbon EURATOM 3 – 7,051,453 Capture and Storage Process Excellent Science 24 3 16,397,946 EoCoE Energy oriented Centre of Excellence 1,174,480 Industrial Leadership 1 – 53,948 for computer applications Societal Challenge 15 3 4,638,902 K PRACE- 4th Implementation Phase of the Pan- 1,078,969 4IP European High Performance Comput- Horizon 2020 total 43 6 28,142,249 ing infrastructure and services

SINE2020 World-class Science and Innovation 1,017,360 with Neutrons in Europe 2020 K Projects coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jülich

58 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

National Cooperations

current projects in 2015 with funding in excess of € 2 million during the relevant project duration

Acronym Project title Funded Contract volume Jülich by (in euros)

– Construction of a petaflop computer MIWF 44,200,000

PetaGCS Acquiring and operating supercomputers for GCS as a contribution to the BMBF 42,423,000 national supply concept for Tier 0/1 as part of a European HPC ecosystem

HESR High-Energy Storage Ring of the future international Facility for Antiproton BMBF 38,220,000 and Ion Research (FAIR)

K DPPN German Plant Phenotyping Network BMBF 18,342,495

K BioSC Bioeconomy Science Center MIWF 17,872,137

– Further development of a petaflop computer MIWF 16,000,000

K IAGOS-D In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System, main phase BMBF 5,434,534

HI MS Helmholtz Institute Münster initial funding MIWF 5,000,000

MeMo High-temperature electrochemical energy storage systems based on BMBF 4,421,590 metal–metal oxides for central and decentralized stationary applications

K AUFWIND Algae production and conversion into aviation fuel: cost effectiveness, BMEL 3,155,501 sustainability, demonstration

VITI Virtual Institute for Topological Insulators HGF 2,900,000

SABLE Multi-scale and multi-modal 3D imaging of high-performance BMBF 2,900,000 electrochemical components

HI ERN Building project for Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg StMWI 2,634,454

MIE Molecular Interacting Engineering BMBF 2,588,276

SenseUP Spin-off project of Stephan Binder and Georg Schaumann BMBF 2,535,687 HTSR platform GoBio

MEET Hi-END Materials and components for high-energy-density batteries BMBF 2,516,692

HITEC Helmholtz Interdisciplinary Doctoral Training in Energy and Climate Research HGF 2,400,000

D3-Derivate Helmholtz Validation Fund “Validation of Alzheimer’s therapeutic substances HGF 1,996,211 derived from D3”

K LIST Extensive light trapping in silicon-based thin-film solar-cell technology; BMU 1,956,628 subproject: Optical functional layers and transparent contacts

AttendPredict How the human brain predicts the future: neuronal and neurochemical cor- BMBF 1,954,627 relates of attention-based expectations in healthy brains and after strokes

In 2015, Jülich was involved in 377 nationally funded projects, including 177 with several partners. Twenty-nine of these alliances were coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jülich.

K Projects coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jülich

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 59 Collaborations with Industry

Number of industrial collaborations

334 363 294 339 312

79 60 89 81 76 284 274 250 231 218

Prof. Otmar Wiestler, President of the Helmholtz Association, and Prof. Holger Hanselka, President of KIT, visiting the Jülich stand at the 2016 Hannover Messe trade fair. From left to right: Dr. Holger Jansen, Andreas Schulze Lohoff, Prof. Otmar Wiestler, Dr. Carmo Marcelo, Klaus Wedlich, Dr. Vitali Weißbecker, Prof. Holger Hanselka

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

international national

Important industrial collaborations 2015

Industrial partners Project

Sartorius Biotech GmbH Development of all-new membrane-based chromatographic single-use systems for the industrial purification of monoclonal antibodies

AeroMegt GmbH Development of a mass spectrometry process for atmospheric applications

BSH Bosch und Siemens Optimization of a PEM electrolyzer to operate Algae and other plants can be used as an Hausgeräte GmbH at low ambient temperatures alternative to crude oil for aviation fuel, as a Syngenta Crop Protection AG Proof-of-concept evaluation for the rapid raw material for the chemical industry, or for measurement of canopy and productivity traits food products. To grow, plants need carbon and application case studies in tomatoes using dioxide (CO2). Forschungszentrum Jülich re- stereo-imaging and spectral analysis ceives this raw material from RWE Power AG,

MAN Turbo AG Thermal barrier coating systems for cyclical which supplies it from its pilot CO2 scrubbing temperature loads KONTEST-2 plant at the Niederaußem power station. KIC InnoEnergy Germany Development of optically active layers for Dr. Reinhold Elsen, Head of Research and GmbH photovoltaics Development at RWE Power, Prof. Wolfgang Nanotechnology Solar GmbH Development of optically active layers for Marquardt, Chairman of the Board of Direc- photovoltaics tors of Forschungszentrum Jülich, Prof. Ulrich Schurr, Head of Jülich Plant Sciences, and Dr. Rolls-Royce Deutschland Life cycle tests Ulrich Hartmann, Executive Board Member of Siemens AG Elastic modulus characterization RWE Power (from the left)

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JÜLICH AACHEN RESEARCH ALLIANCE JARA – Combined Expertise

The Jülich Aachen Research Alliance, JARA for short, is a cooperation model between RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich which is unique in Germany. It is able to overcome the simple juxtaposition of university and non-university research and teaching.

For Kids that Want to Learn

In 2015, unusually young researchers part in JARA-Kids. As part of a pilot pro- For example, they built a functional fuel were able to profit from the collabora- ject launched in September 2015 under cell, worked with state-of-the-art radio- tion between RWTH Aachen University the umbrella of JARA, they learnt a lot therapy, and got to know the supercom- and Forschungszentrum Jülich. School about how scientists work and above all puters that simulate the neuronal net- students aged around 14 and 15 from had the opportunity to experiment them- works of the brain. In doing so, they were the Gymnasium Am Geroweiher school selves. Every two weeks, the nine girls and always accompanied by experienced in Mönchengladbach, who demonstrat- four boys would take turns to implement scientists. Following the successful com- ed particular interest and knowledge in their own sophisticated projects at RWTH pletion of the pilot phase, an expansion the STEM subjects – science, technolo- Aachen University and in Jülich’s JuLab of the JARA-Kids project is now being gy, engineering, and mathematics – took Schools Laboratory ( see page 75). considered.

JARA in figures

Budget in millions of euros

Total 500

Amount invested 60

Funds from the Excellence Initiative1) 13.6

1) for the period 2012–2017

Professorial appointments since 2006

Joint Professorial Appointments2) 53

2) as of 31 December 2015

Publications 2015

Publications of all institutes 2,197 involved in JARA3)

JARA-Kids offers school students the opportunity to experience science and Joint publications 801 research up close at RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich. 3) peer-reviewed publications, as of 31 December 2015

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 61 Latest from the JARA Sections

JARA, the alliance between RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich, tackles complex issues with united research expertise and capacities. JARA currently comprises six areas of research:

1 2 3

Translational Brain Medicine Sustainable Energy Research Forces and Matter Experiments JARA-BRAIN JARA-ENERGY JARA-FAME The new international research train- A research project led by Prof. Olivier The differences between matter and anti- ing group (IRTG) “The Neuroscience of Guillon, Director at the Institute of Energy matter discovered to date do not suffice Modulating Aggression and Impulsivity and Climate Research and a member of to explain the “survival” of a sufficient in Psychopathology” is researching how JARA-ENERGY, is focused on new synthe- amount of matter after the Big Bang. the environment, traumatic experiences, sis and manufacturing processes for inor- JARA-FAME scientists are hoping to gain personality, gender, culture, and genet- ganic materials. As part of the project en- new insights into the ratio between the ic predisposition influence aggressive titled “Manipulation of Matter Controlled two substances from their investigation and impulsive behaviour in humans. The by Electric and Magnetic Fields: Towards of the differences between neutrinos and spokesperson for the training group is Novel Synthesis and Processing Routes antineutrinos. Prof. Ute Habel, RWTH Aachen University. of Inorganic Materials”, processes are being developed to customize materials with An important experiment in tracking With the help of colleagues, JARA scien- the aid of electrical and magnetic fields down these findings is the international tists Prof. Thomas Nickl-Jockschat and for different uses, and to also change their Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Obser- Dr. Claudia Eickhoff have revised a hy- properties in a targeted manner. vatory, which is currently being built in a pothesis of schizophrenia. Previous stud- mountain 700 metres under the surface ies had suggested that a variant of the The focus is on energy efficiency, environ- in southern China. The core component of COMT gene is related to specific brain mental friendliness, and cost effective- the observatory is a spherical tank filled activation patterns with this disease. The ness. This project was chosen as one of with 20,000 tonnes of an oil that produc- COMT gene is the blueprint for an enzyme 18 successful concepts from 87 proposals es a tiny amount of light upon interaction which, for example, regulates the sub- in 2015, and will now be funded as a pri- with a neutrino. The tank is surrounded by stance dopamine. The researchers ana- ority programme by the German Research roughly 18,000 highly sensitive photosen- lysed 995 data sets from 14 studies on Foundation (DFG). sors in order to register such rare results. high-performance supercomputers, but The experiment is expected to determine were unable to discover an overall spatial the mass hierarchy of neutrinos. The pro- connection in the brain. It appears that ject has been partly funded within the many more patients must be examined to framework of a DFG research unit since draw well-founded conclusions, the scien- the start of 2016. tists say.

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4 5 6

Fundamentals of Future Information Technology High-Performance Computing Soft Matter Science JARA-FIT JARA-HPC JARA-SOFT A JARA-FIT project named “Magnetic Modern simulations using high-perfor- A team headed by Prof. Gerhard Gompper, Skyrmions for Future Nanospintronic De- mance computing generate huge amounts Director at the Institute of Complex Sys- vices”, or MAGicSky for short, aims to proof data. The aim of project JADE – Jülich tems/Institute for Advanced Simulation duce energy-efficient computer devices. Aachen Data Exchange – is to develop and a member of the JARA-SOFT section, As part of the project, scientists are using tools to deal with such large amounts of is researching how bacteria move freely an innovative concept for novel comput- data, and to realize their exchange be- with the aid of thread-like flagellates. For er devices based on magnetic vortices tween Forschungszentrum Jülich and example, a number of bacterial strains known as skyrmions. In the first step, they RWTH Aachen University in a user-friendly rotate near surfaces due to the shearing are looking to demonstrate that exploit- and efficient manner. The project is fo- forces that develop between the calm suring skyrmions for information processing cused on data exchange, archiving, secu- face and the moving mircroorganism. is fundamentally possible by means of a rity, multi-level data access, and flexible number of nanomagnetic components. access to the data. HPC experts from var- On the basis of mesoscopic computer ious divisions are working together on the simulations – an order of magnitude that The research group headed by Prof. Stefan optimization of the system. The various el- lies between microscopic and macro- Blügel, Director at the Peter Grünberg In- ements are being developed into an over- scopic – a formula to predict such move- stitute/Institute for Advanced Simulation all concept across multiple locations that ments in an exact manner has now been and a member of JARA-FIT, is researching can also in future be flexibly adjusted to developed. The findings could in future be the theoretical basis for doing so. JARA further requirements. used to separate various bacterial strains, scientist Prof. Barbara Terhal received a for instance. Such a differentiation would Consolidator Grant from the European Re- be of interest for biomedical studies in search Council for her project on quantum particular. error correction processes.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 63 Cooperations in Brief

Neuroscience Next-Generation Soil research Brain Scanners Optimal Land Use Images of the brain provide valuable infor- Neutron research mation for the research of dementia disorders, depression, and other psychiatric Integrating Russian disorders. A new positron emission tomograph (PET) that Jülich researchers are Neutron Source developing and looking to combine with a The project CREMLIN (Connecting Rus- 7 tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sian and European Measures for Large- scanner is now expected to produce much scale Research Infrastructures) is set to more precise images than before. The aim intensify European–Russian collabora- is to develop a market-ready device that tion in the construction and utilization of enables molecular, functional, and struc- large-scale physics research facilities. It tural imaging with an unprecedented level was launched in September 2015 and is How can the yield of agricultural areas be of quality. The Helmholtz Association has set to receive € 1.7 million in funding over increased without soil quality suffering set aside € 2 million in funding between three years as part of the EU research pro- as a result? This is a question that scien- 2016 and 2018 from its validation fund for gramme Horizon 2020. The Jülich Centre tists have been tackling since October the “Next generation BrainPET scanner for for Neutron Science is responsible for the 2015 as part of the new funding initiative 7T MRI” project. Siemens, Inviscan SA, neutrons work package, which is tasked BonaRes – short for “Soil as a sustaina- and Philips are also involved in the project with integrating the Russian research re- ble resource for the bioeconomy”. A total as industrial partners. actor PIK near St. Petersburg into Euro- of 48 research institutes are involved in pean research. From 2018 onwards, this the initiative. The Federal Ministry of Ed- high-performance neutron source will cre- Supercomputing/Energy research ucation and Research is providing € 33 ate new possibilities to gain insights into million in funding for the project in its Supercomputing for the structure and dynamics of materials. first three years within the framework of The Institut Laue-Langevin in France, the the BioÖkonomie 2030 national research Energiewende European Spallation Source in Sweden, strategy. Jülich researchers from the Insti- In October 2015, the Energy Oriented the Technical University of Munich, and tute of Bio- and Geosciences are involved Centre of Excellence (EoCoE) commenced Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht are also in the projects InnoSoilPhos (sustainable operations. The aim of this network of ex- partners of the project. management of phosphorus) and SOIL3 perts from the EU Framework Programme (sustainable groundwater management), Horizon 2020 is to ensure that Europe’s and are also coordinating the INPLAMINT supercomputing infrastructure can be project, which is investigating the interac- better used for energy research purpos- tions between plants, soil, and microor- es, thus accelerating the transition to a ganisms. They are receiving € 1.85 million sustainable, climate-neutral energy sup- in funding for their research. ply. EoCoE is being provided with roughly € 5.7 million in funding, and is coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jülich together with France’s Maison de la Simulation. Twenty-three research teams from eight countries are collaborating on the project, including five research groups from Jülich.

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Structural biology Focus on Harmful Protein Aggregates The aggregation of proteins occurs with various neurodegenerative disorders. In the case of Alzheimer’s disease, it is not the long threads found in the plaques that appear to be particularly harmful, but instead their precursors. In order to measure these soluble A -oligomers in bodily fluids, Jülich researchers from the Institute of Complex Systems developed the sFIDA (surface-based Fluorescence Intensity The EMPHASIS project is investigating how the outer appearance of crops alters when environ- Distribution Analysis) method. The meth- mental conditions change. od aims to make it possible to diagnose Alzheimer’s earlier. sFIDA could also help to optimize the selection of patients for drug tests, and thus better measure the Climate research Plant research efficiency of the drugs. The project is receiving € 1.5 million in funding from the Flying Laboratories Measuring Crops German Federal Ministry of Education Since spring 2015, a second Lufthansa What a crop makes of its genetic makeup and Research (BMBF), and has also been aircraft has been carrying measuring in- and environmental conditions, for exam- funded by NeuroAllianz, a partnership of struments for climate research purposes ple what yield it brings, is known by re- academic institutions and companies, alongside passengers. This means that searchers as the phenotype. The major since 2015. The EU is providing € 800,000 six aircraft from five airlines are now tak- European project EMPHASIS (European in funding and the international BAND ing part in the project IAGOS (In-service Multi-environment Plant pHenomics And (Biomarkers Across Neurodegenerative Aircraft for a Global Observing System). Simulation lnfraStructure) aims to under- Diseases) initiative $ 150,000 to investi- This European research infrastructure, stand the connections between heredity, gate similar aggregates for other diseases, which is coordinated by the Jülich Insti- environment, and phenotype, and how such as Parkinson’s and ALS. tute of Energy and Climate Research, is they can be used in plant breeding. From gathering data worldwide concerning cli- 2016, a European network will be created mate-relevant trace substances in the at- that is coordinated from Jülich. It links na- mosphere. The measurement results are tional platforms such as the German Plant transferred to the IAGOS database at the Phenotyping Network (DPPN) together Centre National de la Recherche Scienti- with institutes from France, Belgium, the fique (CNRS) in Toulouse, France. The data UK, and other European countries, while can be used by research institutes from all also cooperating with users from the in- over the world. The German Federal Minis- dustrial sector. In March 2016, EMPHASIS try of Education and Research in 2013 in- was included in the roadmap of the ESFRI cluded IAGOS in its roadmap of particular- forum (European Strategy Forum for Re- ly important research infrastructures and search Infrastructures), in which the EU is providing € 9 million in funding for the member states plan research infrastruc- national collaborative project. tures of central European significance.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 65 Plant research Obtaining Resin Sustainably Agarwood is a Southeast Asian tree resin that contains numerous structurally unique substances for the aroma and fra- grance industry. The strong international demand for the resin has led to illegal har- vesting and reduced the number of natural populations. The trees, which are protected by international agreements, form the resin whenever their wood is injured and infested with fungi. In the collaborative project VIETWOOD, Jülich researchers at the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences are investigating alternatives to overexploita- tion. Together with scientists from the Fluorescence reveals important information about a plant’s metabolism. Shown above is the im- Vietnam National University of Forestry age of a jewel orchid (Macodes petola). Xuan Mai, Hanoi, and the Vietnam Acad- emy of Science and Technology, they are developing techniques that can be used by Plant research Energy research the plantation industry for resin production. Furthermore, they are searching for A View of the Field Platform for Energy methods to obtain the valuable substances biotechnologically using cell and tissue from Space Technology Materials cultures. Roughly € 1.8 million is being When the European Space Agency’s Seven Helmholtz centres are pooling made available for the project from 2016 (ESA) Earth observation satellite FLEX is their expertise and equipment to devel- to 2018. It is funded by the German Feder- launched in 2022, its core component will op high-performance materials for the al Ministry of Education and Research and be a spectrometer that is to a large extent future energy supply. The establishing of the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and based on development work carried out the Helmholtz Energy Materials Charac- Technology. Symrise AG is an industrial at the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences – terization Platform (HEMCP) in 2015 cre- partner of the project. Plant Sciences. In late 2015, ESA gave ated a virtual joint venture for research- the go-ahead for this mission to serve the ing materials for fuel cells and solar cells, interests of plant research. The fluores- catalysts, and power plant technologies. cent radiation given off by plants is set Forschungszentrum Jülich is coordinating to be recorded worldwide. It is used as a the platform, which offers users from sci- measurement for photosynthetic activity ence and industry access to state-of-the- and changes specifically when plants are art methods such as ultrahigh-resolution under stress. The sensor for plant produc- electron microscopy as well as ion and tivity and health is based on the HyPlant synchrotron radiation. The German Fed- prototype, which was developed in Jülich eral Ministry of Education and Research and has already recorded similar data on (BMBF) and the Ministry for Economic board of aircraft. The Helmholtz Associa- Affairs and Energy (BMWi) are providing tion provided € 800,000 in funding for the roughly € 39 million in funding for the pro- project. Partners from science and indus- ject, more than € 15.5 million of which has try in ten countries are also involved as been earmarked for Jülich. partners.

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Neutron research Optimal Use of Innovation Potential Fusion research Forschungszentrum Jülich is receiving Structural biology A Split Second of more than € 1 million to develop new Wriggling methods and technologies for research Solar Plasma with neutrons. This research helps in ex- Molecules ploring and improving materials as well Not even in a crystal lattice do protein as analysing molecular structures. It is molecules keep still. There is always a part of the infrastructure project Sci- minimal residual movement, researchers ence and Innovation with Neutrons in Eu- from the Institut de Biologie Structurale rope (SINE2020), which started in Octo- (IBS) in Grenoble, Purdue University in ber 2015 with a planned duration of four Indiana, and the Jülich Institute of Com- years. The research is being funded as plex Systems (ICS) discovered. This is the part of the EU research and innovation reason why images produced by means programme Horizon 2020. SINE2020 in- of X-rays, which are supposed to reveal volves research institutions from 13 coun- the structure of the proteins, are nev- tries. The aim of the project is to optimally er as clear as would be expected from a use the potential of large neutron sources perfect crystal. The results, which were and to prepare science and industry for published in Nature Communications, also the possibilities of the European Spallation reveal how to minimize the blurring of the Source ESS. This neutron source will be The aim of fusion research is to generate images: the more tightly packed the crys- available from 2019 and will surpass the energy by fusing atomic nuclei. In Decem- tallized protein molecules are, the less radiation intensity of previous sources by ber 2015, a more easily generated heli- “wriggly” they are and the better the X-ray several orders of magnitude. um plasma was initially tested in the fu- structural images are. Jülich’s ICS and IBS sion facility Wendelstein 7-X. In February Grenoble have enjoyed a particularly close 2016, German chancellor Angela Merkel Energy research cooperation over many years, offering then switched on the first ever hydrogen mutual access to scientific infrastructure Better Batteries plasma and started the first experimen- as well as the exchange of expertise and tal phase with a discharge of around 250 personnel. for Less milliseconds. Jülich scientists are inves- Project FELIZIA (solid-state electrolytes tigating by means of measuring probes as enablers for lithium cells in automo- and simulations how the plasma, which tive applications) aims to develop long-life has a temperature of 80 million degrees, battery cells with increased energy den- interacts with the wall of the reactor. This sity and improved security while simulta- is a crucial aspect for the operation of fu- neously reducing costs. Researchers at ture fusion facilities. The superconducting Helmholtz Institute Münster and Jülich’s connector system, which supplies the fa- Institute of Energy and Climate Research cility’s magnetic coils with power, was de- are combining simulations and experi- veloped at Jülich, for example. The investments to research cathode materials with ment costs for the Wendelstein stellarator an increased rate of electron transfer and testing facility amount to € 370 million novel electrolytes. The project, which was and are being shouldered by the federal launched at the beginning of 2016, is be- and state governments as well as the EU. ing provided with roughly € 1.2 million in In addition to Forschungszentrum Jülich funding from the German Federal Minis- and the Max Planck Institute for Plasma try of Education and Research. Additional Physics, 15 scientific institutions from partners of the FELIZIA project include the Germany, Europe, the USA, and Japan are Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the Uni- also involved in the project. versity of Gießen, the Technical University of Munich, and the University of Jena, as well as industrial partners BMW Group, VW Group, BASF SE, and Schott AG.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 67 RESEARCH FOR PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Fuel Cells Driving the Way Forward

From the lab to the roads – both industry and society profit when Jülich scientists put their expertise in fuel cell research into practice, be this through the founding of a start-up or in cooperation with industrial companies.

uel cell stacks can be used as grees Celsius in temperature. However, filed in 2014. It was also through contact combined heat and power units gold-plated metal is expensive and more with Andrea Mahr from T that Weißbeck- to heat residential buildings or to than 300 of these plates are needed to er came up with the idea of marketing the Fpower cars with hydrogen in an efficient, power a car. This is why a much cheaper, coating in a new company. emission-free, and silent manner. They are but also heavier, alternative has mostly also the driving force behind a company been used so far: bipolar plates consisting founded by scientists at the Jülich Insti- of graphite or graphite-plastic mixtures. Impressive entrepreneurial potential tute of Energy and Climate Research (IEK). In 2015, T again financed Weißbecker’s In addition, fuel cell stacks have led to In 2012, Vitali Weißbecker investigated position. Why? “We are convinced not companies Daimler AG and Mann+Hum- various coatings for bipolar plates during only of the technology but also of Mr mel collaborating with Jülich atmospheric his doctoral thesis at IEK. More or less Weißbecker’s commitment and entre- researchers. in passing, he discovered a carbon com- preneurial potential,” says Mahr. “He has pound that did not yet exist on the mar- used the time with our support to develop The main mechanical component of the ket. His doctoral supervisor Prof. Werner a business model, take part in competi- fuel cell of the world’s first series fuel cell Lehnert recognized its potential for the tions for start-ups, and apply to the Fed- car, the Toyota Mirai, comprises a coat- cost-effective protection of metallic, and eral Ministry for Economic Affairs and En- ed metallic plate that separates reaction therefore light, bipolar plates. At External ergy for funding from the EXIST research gases and coolants. At the same time, this Funding and Technology Transfer (T), he transfer initiative.” “bipolar plate” conducts the electricity learnt about the possibilities of how to uti- away and therefore has to have good elec- lize this research. This approach has been hugely success- trical conductivity. Gold, for example, is ful. Weißbecker and his colleague Andreas currently being used as a coating material. The result was that T financed Weißbeck- Schulze Lohoff from IEK emerged the er’s position for half a year in order that he winners of the start-up competition AC2. The gold protects the plate from rusting could characterize the coating in more de- “More important than the € 10,000 in too quickly in the moist and acidic sur- tail, a prerequisite for a successful patent prize money were the many new contacts roundings, which are between 70–90 de- application. The latter was successfully and productive discussions with entre- preneurs and consultants,” Weißbecker says. Since the start of 2016, the EXIST research transfer initiative has been financing four positions and material costs for Weißbecker’s project. It will continue to do so for a period of 18 months in total. Should Weißbecker and his three col- Jülich researchers leagues found a company by mid-2017, measured concen- the second phase of EXIST funding, in trations of pollutant which further material costs are financed, gases on German will begin. roads with this measuring labora If all goes according to plan, this means tory on wheels. that an 85-kilowatt fuel cell stack in a

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Looking forward to their own enterprise: Andreas Schulze Lohoff, Klaus Wedlich, and Vitali Weißbecker (from left to right)

car will no longer weigh 150 kilograms, times along a 350 kilometre-long route roads that outline both the long-term as is the case when using graphite bipo- in North Rhine-Westphalia – through tun- effects and the peak values. lar plates, but only 50 kilograms. This in nels, over side roads, and on busy main turn will make the environmentally friendly roads. They recorded the concentrations “Over the next few months, we will put car lighter, more efficient, and it will also of nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide, into operation a new mobile measuring need to be refuelled with hydrogen less for example, at roughly three-second in- laboratory that also measures ammonia, frequently. tervals. “Although pollutant gases are a gas that is particularly damaging for fuel also measured by environmental sta- cells,” says Klemp’s colleague Dr. Chris- tions, these data are mean values meas - tian Ehlers. The project partners will then Pollutant gases pose a challenge ured over 1 hour each. We, however, be able to dimension their filters and fuel The more fuel cell cars on Germany’s need to know the short-term peak values, cells in such a manner that they are able roads in future, the less pollutant gases as they are crucial to the contamination to cope well with the adverse effects of there will be in the ambient air. Pollutant of fuel cells for a number of gases,” says pollutants to be expected realistically. This gases have an adverse effect not only on Dr. Dieter Klemp from IEK. There are as will potentially help the environmentally health but also on fuel cells. The Fuel Cell yet no comprehensive studies on the friendly and energy-efficient technology Research Center (ZBT) in Duisburg, Mann concentration of pollutants on German to achieve a breakthrough. +Hummel, Daimler AG, and Forschungs zentrum Jülich have therefore been investigating which filters in future need to be installed in cars and how fuel cells can maintain their efficiency in spite of contamination from air pollution.

For the joint project ALASKA, which is being funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Jülich atmospheric researchers from IEK in 2015 100the number of kilograms lighter a car with an 85-kilowatt fuel cell drove their measuring vehicle roughly 20 stack will be thanks to the newly discovered carbon compound.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 69 Patents and Licenses

Jülich research focuses on basic topics and creates innovations which benefit both industry and society and which lead to protective rights and licensing agreements. Protective rights include inventions for which patent applications have been filed (patent applications) as well as patents granted.

Patent portfolio Current patent activities 2015 2015

Patent families New patent applications 2011 – 2015

551 535 553 526 501 8 European patent applications

total 27 international 42 German PCT applications 77 patent applications 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

The patent portfolio is described by the number of patent families and the total Patents granted number of protective rights. A patent family consists of one or several patents 6 German patents in Germany or abroad which refer to one patentable technology. total 37 other 115 national patents patents abroad from 17 European patent Total number of protective rights 1 5 8 granting procedures total number, 2011–2015

16,159 16,897 17,559 17,956 16,634

Licenses Total number: 87 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 11 of which new The total number includes European and 23 from abroad (incl.12 from USA) international patent applications according to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), 66 from SMEs which each comprise several individual protective rights. Revenues from licensing and know-how agreements: € 442,000.

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People Pages 71 – 86

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 71 COMPANY FOUNDERS The Tinkerer and the Networker

One wears a suit and a shirt, the other jeans and a T-shirt: they say opposites attract and this is certainly the case with Georg Schaumann and Stephan Binder whose expertise in different areas work to the benefit of their company.

here is one all-important rule: “In everything gether,” says Schaumann. This is backed up by the we do, it is never about ego and only about success they have enjoyed. The two biotechnologists who can do what better,” says Stephan Bind- have not only received various awards – most recent- Ter. His colleague Georg Schaumann nods in agree- ly the North Rhine-Westphalian Innovation Award in ment and adds: “It all needs to serve the cause; any February 2016 – but have already come very close to personal ambitions come second.” Two young en- achieving their shared, major objective: to establish trepreneurs working in harmony; two men who find their company SenseUp on the market by mid-2017. themselves on different paths but with a shared The Jülich scientists have already received € 2.6 mil- objective. Schaumann (34), who wears a suit, blue lion in initial funding from the German Federal Min- checked shirt, and smart, brown shoes, is more the istry of Education and Research as part of the GoBio manager type. Binder (32), father of two, sitting along- programme. side him sports a beard, jeans, and T-shirt. “Georg has the right skills for the European stage. He’s communicative, to the point, and networks on a large- Glowing bacteria scale – qualities that are less pronounced with me,” The business model is based on a sensor system that says Binder, who himself prefers to stay closer to the is quickly and efficiently able to find highly productive laboratory, prepare test experiments, and work close- microorganisms that produce large amounts of use- ly with the team. “If processes are taking too long, for ful raw materials for foodstuffs, pharmaceutical sub- example, Stephan develops the missing component stances, and chemical substances. For a long time, it and solves the problem. In terms of technical exper- was difficult to find the most productive among mil- tise, he is simply amazing,” Schaumann says in ap- lions of cells. Conventional methods require weeks preciation of his colleague. It is an allocation of roles or even months to isolate and cultivate the bacteria. based on contrasting skills. “Even we were always “With our technology, we can do it in a few days,” amazed at just how well everything fitted together. says Binder. To do so, the scientists implant a ring- It is probably the healthy mixture of contrasting and shaped sensor molecule in the cell. The molecule en- common strengths that ensures we work so well to- sures that the bacteria start to glow whenever they produce the desired substance. The more productive the cell, the more fluorescent it is.

While Binder is working together with eight employees on transferring the technology from the laboratory to industrial production scale, Schaumann is out negoti- ating with potential customers from around the world. “The academic world works on solving fundamental, technological challenges, the relevance of which often translates exactly to industrial users. When I 5the number of awards Schaumann and speak to companies, however, they often tell me of Binder have received since 2013 completely separate problems and requirements.

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On the path to success: Georg That is why it is so important to sound out the needs The two company founders instead focused on what Schaumann (left) of the market,” Schaumann explains. they will need as of July 2017 to make profit with and Stephan Binder SenseUp: efficient technology and a well-function- with their company Taking the step from the laboratory to industry is in ing team. “Without our employees there would be no SenseUp itself a real learning process. “We are of course abso- SenseUp,” Binder explains. “We try to create a struc- lutely delighted with our glowing bacteria as a sensor ture in which they are free to express themselves. system, but it’s a long way from making an academic Whilst we set the objective, it is down to the team discovery to establishing a functioning business mod- to decide on how we arrive there. The success of el,” says Binder. On one occasion, for example, an SenseUp depends on the creativity of individuals.” investor approached the two scientists looking to expand the technology to a cancer-inhibiting substance. “At first we were absolutely thrilled,” recalls Bind- Looking to the future with confidence er. However, they then started to think about what Schaumann and Binder are not scared of going bank- the business model would look like. “Even if we had rupt. “Everything is going to plan and we have already developed the bacteria for clinical studies, it would achieved many goals on the path to market maturi- have taken years until we actually earned money,” ty,” says a confident Schaumann. The two scientists says Binder. It therefore quickly became clear that al- prefer to look to the future: “In the long-term, we are though it was an exciting project, it was not a possibil- looking to grow and establish a thriving company. We ity at this stage of founding the company. have plenty of new ideas and plans.”

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 73 JUELICH_HORIZONS Promoting Young Talent

juelich_horizons is a strategic concept for promoting young talent in which Forschungszentrum Jülich aims to encourage young people’s interest in science and research from an early age. Aspiring young scientists are provided support throughout vocational training or university studies while also being offered excellent conditions for a successful career in science.

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juelich_impulse juelich_tracks targets children and young people, is aimed at young people starting with kindergarten children in their training and early and covering all types of schools. career stages. A central element here is the JuLab Schools Laboratory.

juelich_horizons encompasses four areas

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juelich_chances juelich_heads offers university students aims to attract excellent early-career and postgraduates from Germany scientists with appealing research and abroad the opportunity to conditions and interesting career work in an excellent research prospects. environment.

74 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

1 juelich_impulse: Promoting science for children and young people

The guiding principle of Jülich’s JuLab Schools Laboratory is that enthusiasm for science cannot be generated early enough. At JuLab, school students are able to conduct hands-on experiments themselves from soil research right up to superconductivity, all the while discovering a place that is the home of “big science”.

Ten years of JuLab In 2015, the Schools Laboratory was able to look back on ten years of successfully putting this principle into practice. During these ten years, around 40,000 school students had the opportunity to experience just how exciting research can be at JuLab. “The JuLab Schools Laboratory’s highly motivated team is thus making an important contribution to the promotion of young scientists in Germany,” said Thomas Rachel, Member of the German Bundes tag and Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education and Re- search (BMBF), during a ceremony in De- cember. Chairman of the Board of Direc- tors Prof. Wolfgang Marquardt emphasized how “JuLab at Forschungszentrum Jülich plays an important role in the promotion of Experimenting on the stage at the JuLab anniversary celebrations: “Ellen Einstein” and the next generation of scientists.” It is also JuLab head Karl Sobotta a key element for ensuring Jülich is net- worked with the region, he added.

In 2015 alone, 3,957 school students from project. Roughly 100 teachers also take explains with delight how “we now meet classes 4 to 12 conducted experiments at part in advanced training every year, while a number of our former school students JuLab. Furthermore, JuLab is cooperating around 110 prospective kindergarten again as trainees or students here at closely with schools from the region, such teachers attend the St. Nikolaus-Stift vo- Forschungszentrum Jülich.” One such ex- as in the innovative School Meets Science cational college in Zülpich every year. ample is Benjamin Haxhiu, who first came project, which saw 440 school students to JuLab in the sixth grade and showed from four schools in the Düren district great enthusiasm. He went on to complete taking part in the 2014/15 school year. A JuLab as an inspiration an internship during the eighth grade and long-term cooperation has now been es- JuLab head Karl Sobotta has given a pos- ultimately training as a physics laboratory tablished with the schools involved in the itive assessment of the first ten years. He technician at Forschungszentrum Jülich. The 20-year-old has since acquired his vocational school leaving certificate and has been studying mechanical engineering at I don’t know if I would have chosen a FH Aachen University of Applied Scienc- technical occupation if it wasn’t for JuLab. es in Jülich since October 2015. Looking back, he views the JuLab Schools Labora- Benjamin Haxhiu | mechanical engineering student at FH Jülich tory as a crucial inspiration.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 75 Forty-seven trainees from Forschungs zentrum Jülich celebrated the completion of their courses in September 2015.

2 juelich_tracks: Training for the future

As their time at school draws to a close, ble for the implementation of the KAoA ini- technician even achieved the best possi- students are faced with a number of de- tiative in the district of Düren. ble result of 100 percent in his practical cisions, for example “which career is the examination. The industrial mechanics right one for me?” Forschungszentrum also received a certified additional Euregio Jülich not only offers a broad spectrum of Outstanding trainees Competence qualification for the Dutch qualified training courses, but also helps Vocational training at Forschungszentrum language as part of a cross-border pro- students in their career orientation. Jülich provides the best possible founda- gramme preparing them for the job mar- tion for a successful start in promising ket in the Euregio region. Three former occupations. In 2015, 75 young people Jülich trainees are among the best in their Finding the right training course completed their training at Jülich. Twenty- year in North Rhine-Westphalia. Henning In addition to the work placements for three achieved the grade “very good” Rumpf, Markus Timmermanns, and Marko school students that have long been on of- and 24 were awarded “good”; 20 train- Nonhoff performed outstandingly well in fer, 2015 saw the launch of the career ori- ees were able to cut their training short their final examinations and were hon- entation programme as part of the state by six months due to their outstanding oured at the event for the best regional educational initiative KAoA. The aim of performance. One chemical laboratory trainees in 2015 in Oberhausen. the initiative is to offer young people good career guidance in order that they know what to expect when they opt for a specific training course or studies. In 2015, 169 school students from three schools took part in the career orientation programme at Forschungszentrum Jülich. In addition, the head of the Vocational Training Centre sits on the steering committee responsi-

Karsten Beneke, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors Vocational competitions of Forschungszentrum Jülich (1st row on the right), Mathi- and project work ensure the as Ertinger, head of Human Resources (2nd row on the left), and Heinz Gehlen, director of the Aachen Chamber trainees rise above themselves. of Industry and Commerce (1st row on the left) congrat- ulated the 28 trainees who received their examination Ulrich Ivens | Head of Forschungszentrum Jülich’s Vocational Training Centre certificates in February 2015.

76 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

Taking part in competitions In addition to their outstanding perfor- mances in training, Jülich trainees also Dual study programmes take part in vocational performance com- incorporated into traineeships petitions. Christian Linden and Mark Reu- ter, two new electronics technicians for Dual study Total Years Semesters Period industrial engineering, had qualified for programmes duration to IHK to between IHK the German vocational championships in in years exami- bachelor’s examination mechatronics and were involved in the nation degree and bachelor’s degree qualifying stages for the German championships of WorldSkills Germany. The Jülich Bachelor of Scientific 3 3 6 approx. 2 team ranked 9th among 13 participants. Programming + months Forschungszentrum Jülich is a member of mathematical-technical WorldSkills Germany e. V., which promotes software developer and supports national and international (MATSE), IHK vocational competitions to motivate young Bachelor of Science or 4 3 8 0.5–1 year people to give the best possible perfor- Bachelor of Engineering + mances in training. chemical laboratory technician, IHK

Jülich trainees in the field of electrical en- Bachelor of Engineering 4 2.5 8 approx. 1.5 gineering took part in the “xplore New in Mechanical Engineering + years Automation Award” with their project for industrial mechanic, IHK the contactless charging of electric cars. Bachelor of Engineering 4 2.5 6 approx. 1.5 This international competition organized in Electrical Engineering + years by Phoenix Contact is aimed at students, electronics technician for industrial engineering, IHK technicians, and trainees. It seeks to establish a creative and innovative approach Bachelor of Arts Business 3.51) 3 7 approx. 6 to automation technology products. Administration + months office communications Jülich’s Future of E-Mobility team devel- specialist, IHK oped a method within six months for wireless energy transmission for electric cars Bachelor of Engineering 4.5 3.5 9 approx. 1 year in Physics Engineering + and was thus able to reach the final round physical laboratory of the competition. The team ranked as technician, IHK one of the top 30 out of 127 teams. 1) parallel to employment

Vocational training places new trainees 2015

Occupations of which including a dual study programme

Laboratory technicians 25 6

Electricians 10 –

Jülich’s Future of E-Mobility project team Metalworkers 12 2 reached the final round of the xplore New Administrative occupations 14 4 Automation Award. Mathematical-technical 26 26 software developers

Other 10 –

Total 97 38

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 77 3 juelich_chances: A platform for students and doctoral researchers

Undergraduates, postgraduates, and doc- erations. For both of them, it was a special hensible manner. Three doctoral research- toral researchers make use of the oppor- time with many lasting impressions and ers were able to convince HITEC’s interna- tunities Jülich offers them. They obtain new contacts all over the world. tional Advisory Board in spring 2015. First scholarships, ably present data from their prize (€ 1,500) went to Patrick Niehoff for doctoral projects, and meet Nobel laure- Yulia Arinicheva will continue to gain fur- his presentation on ceramic membranes ates. Forschungszentrum Jülich also ap- ther international experience, as she suc- for energy-efficient oxygen separation, peals to students and young researchers cessfully applied for a scholarship for a while second place (€ 1,000) was taken from abroad, as was highlighted again by research project with the University of by Cheng Wu for her work in the field of the number of people attending summer Bergen as part of the E.ON Stipendien- tropospheric research, and third place schools and scholarship programmes fonds foundation’s German–Norwegian (€ 500) was awarded to Bugra Turan from in 2015. “Energy Sciences” programme. She is Jülich’s Institute of Photovoltaics. The researching possible applications of rare HITEC graduate school was successfully earth orthophosphates for sustainable en- re-audited by a panel of international ex- Invitation to Nobel Laureate ergy technologies. perts in 2015. Meeting in Lindau Early-career scientists only receive the opportunity once in a lifetime to go to the HITEC presents Excellent doctoral research Nobel Laureate Meeting in Landau, which 2015 Communicator Awards In June 2015, Forschungszentrum Jülich Nobel Prize winners from all over the The Communicator Award handed out bid farewell to 42 doctoral research- world attend. Three excellent young wom- by the Helmholtz Graduate School in En- ers during the “JuDocs 2015 – Karriere en researchers from Jülich were select- ergy and Climate Research (HITEC) at made in Jülich” ceremony. Chairman of ed for this meeting in 2015: Nina Siebers Forschungszentrum Jülich focuses on not the Board of Directors Prof. Wolfgang from the Institute of Bio- and Geoscienc- only conducting excellent research but Marquardt reserved special recognition es, Dr. Saltanat Sadykova from the Jülich also presenting the results in a compre- for the doctoral theses of four young re- Supercomputing Centre, and Yulia Arini cheva from the Institute of Energy and Climate Research. From 28 June to 3 July 2015, Sadykova and Arinicheva attended the 65th meeting of Nobel Prize winners, which aims to provide a platform for the exchange of knowledge and experiences among various cultures and different gen-

It was a very inspiring experience to see scientific pioneers up close and get a sense of the infinite curiosity and passion for science at the Nobel Laureate Meeting.

Yulia Arinicheva | Institute of Energy and Climate Research Yulia Arinicheva – fellow of the “Energy Sciences” programme

78 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

fusion: the plasma, which is essential for • Six undergraduates from North Amer- the fusion of atomic nuclei, exposes the ica and the UK arrived in Jülich as re- reactor wall to considerable loads. This search trainees from the DAAD-RISE in turn leads to the plasma edge repeat- programme offered by the German Aca- edly becoming unstable for short peri- demic Exchange Service (DAAD). ods of time. In his doctoral thesis, Rack investigated methods of reducing these • Two scholarship holders of the DAAD- instabilities and their impacts. Rack is RISE professional programme for North the recipient of a EUROfusion fellow- American students in master’s and PhD ship, which grants him € 140,000 per programmes stayed in Jülich in 2015. year for two years to fund his postdoc Dr. Enno Kätelhön, Dr. Anja Klotzsche, Dr. position at Jülich. • Two fellows were funded in Jülich as part Michael Rack, and Dr. Sabyasachi Dasgupta of the NRW–Middle East scholarship (from left to right) are among the top 5 per- programme for students from Israel, cent of their peers. They were awarded the International programmes Jordan, and the Palestinian territories. 2015 Jülich Excellence Prize. for students and early-career scientists • Three doctoral researchers stayed at In 2015, 39 scholarship holders (doctoral Forschungszentrum Jülich as part of the searchers – three men and one woman – researchers and postdocs) funded by the CsF-Alemanha programme offered by who were awarded Forschungszentrum China Scholarship Council (CSC) began DAAD and Brazilian partners CNPq and Jülich’s Excellence Prize and each re- their stay in Jülich. CAPES. ceived € 5,000:

• Dr. Anja Klotzsche from the Institute Summer schools, laboratory, and compact courses of Bio- and Geosciences successfully selection 2015 used an electromagnetic geophysical technique for the first time that is able Name Location Participants International to demonstrate, for example, where participants and how fast pollutants spread in the soil. Total of Total of whom whom women women • Dr. Sabyasachi Dasgupta investigated the interactions that occur when nano- 46th IFF Spring School Jülich 263 63 192 36 particles attach themselves to cells in order to be partially or fully accepted JCNS Laboratory Course Neutron Jülich/ 55 26 20 11 and absorbed by the membrane. His in- Scattering 2015 Garching vestigations were part of his doctoral International School on Energy Seeon- 39 17 32 15 thesis at the Jülich Institute of Complex Systems – ISES 2015 Seebruck Systems. Joint European Summer School on Athens 50 14 36 10 Fuel Cell, Electrolyser, and Battery • Dr. Enno Kätelhön investigated how Technologies JESS 2015 nerve cells communicate with each oth- IAS School on Computational Jülich 41 11 13 5 er. To do so, he allowed cell networks to Trends in Solvation and Transport grow on microchips. He developed nov- in Liquids el sensor concepts to “eavesdrop” on Lattice Practices 2015 Jülich 30 5 18 4 them there. Together with his colleagues at the Peter Grünberg Institute/Institute Tutorium on Computational 24 4 24 4 of Complex Systems, he filed a patent Solar and Astrophysical Modeling, application for the “spy chips”. CSAM 2015 JSC visiting students programme Jülich 12 2 5 2 • Dr. Michael Rack is working at the In- stitute of Energy and Climate Research Atmospheric Chemistry and Cologne/ 39 16 19 12 Dynamics Summer School Wuppertal on a problem associated with nuclear

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 79 Doctoral Qualifications with Partner Universities 2015

Lead Graduate school/research training group Partner organizations Further information institution

Aachen Selectivity in Chemo- and Biocatalysis (SeleCa) RWTH Aachen University, Forschungszentrum www.seleca.rwth-aachen.de/ Jülich, Osaka University, Japan

Aachen International research training group: brain– RWTH Aachen University, Forschungszentrum www.irtg1328.rwth-aachen.de/ behavior relationship of emotion and social Jülich, University of Pennsylvania (USA), DFG cognition in schizophrenia and autism

Aachen Aachen Institute for Advanced Study in RWTH Aachen University, Forschungszentrum www.aices.rwth-aachen.de/ Computational Engineering Science (AICES) Jülich

Aachen Resistively Switching Chalcogenides for Future RWTH Aachen University, Forschungszentrum www.rwth-aachen.de/go/id/xve Electronics: Structures, Kinetics, and Component Jülich (JARA) Scaling “Nanoswitches”

Aachen Integrated Component Cycling in Epithelial RWTH Aachen University, University of Duisburg- incem.rwth-aachen.de/index.html Cell Motility (InCEM) Essen, University of Sussex, Hubrecht Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Scienc- es, Software Competence Center Hagenberg, ibidi GmbH, Gradientech AB, Andor Technology PLC

Aachen Functional Microgels and Microgel Systems RWTH Aachen University, Forschungszentrum https://sharepoint.ecampus. Jülich (JARA) rwth-aachen.de/vo/microgels/ aussen/Pages/default.aspx

Aachen, Geoverbund ABC/J doctoral programme: Centre Forschungszentrum Jülich, RWTH Aachen www.hpsc-terrsys.de/ Bonn, Jülich, for High-Performance Scientific Computing in University, University of Cologne, University Cologne Terrestrial Systems (HPSC TerrSys) of Bonn

Bonn Patterns in Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere-Systems: RWTH Aachen University, University of Bonn, tr32new.uni-koeln.de/index.php/ Monitoring, Modelling and Data Assimilation University of Cologne, Forschungszentrum Jülich, irtg/graduate-school (TR 32), (IRTG) DFG

Düsseldorf Interdisciplinary Graduate School for Brain Research Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Forschungs www.ibrain-duesseldorf.de and Translational Neuroscience (iBrain) zentrum Jülich, Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine (Düsseldorf)

Düsseldorf Communication and systems relevance for liver Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, www.klinikum-duesseldorf.de/in- damage and regeneration Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, dex.php?id=93900&no_cache=1 Forschungszentrum Jülich

Düsseldorf International Graduate School for Plant Science Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Michigan www.igrad-plant.hhu.de/ (iGrad-Plant) State University, East Lansing (USA), Forschungs zentrum Jülich, DFG

Düsseldorf Heinrich Heine International Graduate School of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, http://igrasp.hhu.de/ and Jülich Protein Science and Technology (iGRASP seed) Forschungszentrum Jülich

Jülich Helmholtz Interdisciplinary Doctoral Training in Forschungszentrum Jülich, RWTH Aachen Univer www.hitec-graduate-school.de/ Energy and Climate Research (HITEC) sity, Ruhr University Bochum, University of Cologne, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, University of Wuppertal

Jülich International Helmholtz Research School of Forschungszentrum Jülich, Heinrich Heine Univer www.ihrs-biosoft.de/ihrs-biosoft/ Biophysics and Soft Matter sity Düsseldorf, University of Cologne, caesar Bonn EN/Home/home_node.html

Jülich and German Research School for Simulation Sciences Forschungszentrum Jülich, RWTH Aachen www.grs-sim.de/ Aachen (JARA) University, Helmholtz Association, MIWF, BMBF

Jülich and Quantum-mechanic many-body approaches in RWTH Aachen University, Forschungszentrum www.rtg1995.rwth-aachen. Aachen (JARA) condensed matter Jülich de/cms/RTG1995/~ggss/ Das-Graduiertenkolleg/

Cologne Cellular and sub-cellular analysis of neural networks University of Cologne, Forschungszentrum Jülich, rtg-nca.uni-koeln.de/ MPI for Metabolism Research

Cologne and Bonn-Cologne Graduate School of Physics University of Bonn, University of Cologne, www.gradschool.physics.uni- Bonn and Astronomy Forschungszentrum Jülich, DFG bonn.de/

Leipzig Epithelial intercellular junctions as dynamic hubs Leipzig University, Forschungszentrum Jülich gepris.dfg.de/gepris/ to integrate forces, signals and cell behaviour projekt/255103767 (SPP 1782)

80 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

4 juelich_heads: Promoting excellent young scientists

Two young Jülich scientists received a particularly special boost to their careers in 2015: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Samir Lounis from the Institute for Advanced Simulation/ Peter Grünberg Institute and RWTH Aachen University as well as Dr. Hendrik Fuchs from the Institute of Energy and Climate Research obtained European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grants. The grants are worth a total of € 3.85 million in funding over a five-year period. Hendrik Fuchs researches the degradation of bi- European Research Council Consolidator Grant awardees: junior professor Dr. Samir Lounis ogenic organic compounds in the atmos- (left) and Dr. Hendrik Fuchs (right) pheric simulation chamber SAPHIR; Samir Lounis investigates the suitability of complex magnetic nanostructures for informa- a success rate of 50 percent, Forschungs New young investigators groups tion technology. zentrum Jülich therefore lies considerably Helmholtz funding for heads of young in- above the average. vestigators groups provides the best pos- The ERC’s coveted funds are allocated sible platform for an academic career. In solely according to criteria of excellence. 2015, 250 young scientists applied for this Any early-career scientist whose doctor- Success for Jülich postdocs funding, with 17 ultimately being chosen. al degree was conferred between seven The year after completing their doctor- Dr. Felix Plöger was one of the success- and twelve years ago and whose own in- ate, early-career scientists can apply for ful applicants in 2015. He will receive an- dependent working group is in a consol- funding from the Helmholtz Postdoc Pro- nual funding of at least € 250,000 over a idation phase may apply. However, the gramme. Two bright young minds from period of five years. Plöger analyses the competition is fierce. In 2015, 302 pro- Jülich were successful in 2015. Dr. Alex- exchange processes of trace gases in the jects (15 %) – including 48 projects from ander Grünberger from the Institute of stratosphere in order to better understand German research institutes – were chosen Bio- and Geosciences and Dr. Katherine and predict climate fluctuations ( p. 24). for funding from more than 2,000 propos- MacArthur from the Peter Grünberg Insti- After three to four years, the Helmholtz als submitted. A total of four young scien- tute will now each receive € 100,000 per young investigators group leaders are tists from Jülich applied for funding. With year over a period of three years. evaluated once again. If the evaluation is positive, they will also be offered perma- nent positions. Back in 2013, Plöger was awarded Forschungszentrum Jülich’s Ex- cellence Prize. Young investigators groups at Jülich Helmholtz and Jülich young investigators groups as well Helmholtz Institute Münster, which as those funded by third parties from 2011–2015 was established as a branch office of Forschungszentrum Jülich together with 21 25 18 21 18 the University of Münster and RWTH Aachen University, also saw the launch of new young investigators groups in 2015: Dr. Nathalie Sick has headed a group concerned with innovation and technology management since February. Dr. Elie Paill ard has been the head of a young inves- The previous tigators group researching polymer elec- years have been recompiled trolytes for modern battery systems since due to a re- March 2015. vised counting 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 method.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 81 Personnel

Executives have for a long time now searched globally for the most interesting positions. In order to attract first-class scientists and the best young talents, Forschungszentrum Jülich promotes itself on the international stage – from Jobinfo dag at KU Leuven in Belgium to the annu- For the second time, Prof. Hans Ströher, director at Jülich’s Nuclear Physics al European Career Fair in Boston, USA. Institute, received an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) Jülich is also treading new paths, for ex- in Brussels. The ERC is thus funding Ströher’s research into finding the electric ample with the participation in an online dipole moments of the elementary building blocks of matter – and therefore recruitment fair for engineers. the very foundation of our universe’s existence. The funding amounts to about € 2.4 million over a period of five years. The ERC awards Advanced Grants to In particular, Forschungszentrum Jülich outstanding established research leaders. is aiming to fill more scientific positions with qualified women. To this end, concrete objectives have been set at different salary group (W3/C4) increases from 8 The programme aims to motivate highly levels. Overall, the proportion of women percent to a targeted objective of at least qualified women postdocs for a scientific in salary categories W2/C3 and W1 has 11 percent. career and to support them along the way. increased considerably since 2012: from In the one-year programme, which com- 18 percent to 23 percent for W2/C3 and A diverse range of special qualifications bines training, networking, and mentoring, from 22 percent to 43 percent for W1. The for women is helping to ensure more wom- the participants expand their scientific ex- collective proportion of women for W1 and en scientists are qualified for executive pertise and soft skills with particular em- W2 appointments in 2015 amounted to positions. As of spring 2016, the person- phasis on executive tasks. They receive in- over 36 percent. Further efforts are still nel development programme TANDEMplus dividual support in the form of one-to-one required, in particular to also ensure the will be continued as a JARA cooperation mentoring from an experienced executive proportion of female professors in the top together with RWTH Aachen University. in the field of science.

One of the main reasons executive employees – both men and women – come to Jülich and stay here is the career op- portunities available and an outstanding research infrastructure. Employees also appreciate factors that improve their quality of life and in particular the reconciliation of work and family life. In 2015, childcare services were further expanded. At the start of the 2015/16 kindergarten year, the number of places in the daycare centre Kleine Füchse e. V. situated close to the campus was increased from 70 to 90, while the number of places for under- three-year-olds was doubled to 40. The additional space was created by leasing two mobile units on the Kleine Füchse The children of the Kleine Füchse e. V. daycare centre provided Thomas Rachel, site. This is only the first step, however. A Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research new daycare centre building will be built (back row, 3rd from the right), Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors Karsten on the Forschungszentrum Jülich campus, Beneke (right), and Petra Jerrentrup, chair of the Kleine Füchse association (back where up to 120 children will be looked af- row, centre), an insight into some of the new games at the extended daycare centre. ter as of the kindergarten year 2017/18.

82 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

Proportion of women employees at Forschungszentrum Jülich in percent (full-time equivalent)

2011 2015 2011 2015 2011 2015 2011 2015 2011 2015

36.2 32.0 30.2 30.6 31.1 24.8 22.5 22.2 19.4 15.9

Total Salary grades E12 to E15Ü as Scientific Total senior Total early-career employees well as those paid according to personnel positions scientists groups AT, B, C, and W

Overview personnel Visiting scientists As of: 31 December 2015

2015: a total of 1,041 from 68 countries Area Number of (in percentage terms) employees1)

Germany Asia Western Europe1) Other Scientists and technical personnel 3,595 50 24 14 2 of which scientists incl. university students 2,048

• of which doctoral researchers 537

• of which scholarship holders 12

• of which student assistants 104

• of which joint appointments 122 Eastern The with universities2) 1) excl. Germany Europe Americas • of which W3 professors 56 6 4

• of which W2 professors 52 of which W1 professors 14 • Prof. Kazuhisa of which technical personnel 1,547 Kakurai (right) from Project management organizations 1,029 the Japan Atomic Energy Agency Administration 699 receiving the Helm- Trainees and students on placement 361 holtz International Fellow Award from Total 5,684 Prof. Sebastian M. 1) only employees with a contract paid by Jülich, 2) excl. members of the Board of Directors Schmidt, member of

The total number of employees declined by 84 in comparison with the figures from 2014. the Board of Direc- This development can predominantly be traced back to the merging of nuclear expertise at tors of Forschungs Forschungszentrum Jülich and AVR GmbH to JEN mbH, which had a particular effect on the number of technical personnel. zentrum Jülich.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 83 Accolades 2015

Name Accolade

Prof. Katrin Amunts Listed by Business Insider as one of “50 scientists Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine who are changing the world”

Prof. Mei Bai Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award 2014 Nuclear Physics Institute

Paul F. Baumeister, Hans Boettiger, José R. Brunheroto, Hans Meuer Award (Best Paper Award) at the International Supercomputing Thorsten Hater, Thilo Maurer, Andrea Nobile, Dirk Pleiter Conference – High Performance (ICS’15) in Frankfurt Jülich Supercomputing Centre

Dr. Gustav Bihlmayer Honoured as one of the “Outstanding Referees for 2015” by the Peter Grünberg Institute/Institute for Advanced Simulation American Physical Society (APS) Dr. Johann Haidenbauer Nuclear Physics Institute/Institute for Advanced Simulation

Dr. Stefan Binder and Dr. Georg Schaumann North Rhine-Westphalian Innovation Award in the category for early-career Institute of Bio- and Geosciences scientists

Dr. Alexandra Boeske Barrie Hesp Scholarship at the Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Institute of Complex Systems Cellular Biology: Autophagy in Breckenridge, Colorado, USA

Marcus Brauns Poster prize from the German Chemical Society’s Liebig association for Institute of Bio- and Geosciences organic chemistry at the 15th European Symposium on Organic Reactivity (ESOR) in Kiel

Prof. Christoph Buchal 2016 Robert Wichard Pohl Prize from the German Physics Society (DPG) Peter Grünberg Institute

Prof. Svenja Caspers The city of Düsseldorf’s academic award for science Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine

Dr. Sabyasachi Dasgupta Excellence Prize of Forschungszentrum Jülich formerly Institute of Complex Systems Dr. Enno Kätelhön Peter Grünberg Institute/Institute of Complex Systems Dr. Anja Klotzsche Institute of Bio- and Geosciences Dr. Michael Rack Institute of Energy and Climate Research

Prof. Gereon R. Fink 2015 Max Delbrück Prize from the University of Cologne Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine

Dr. Sarah Finkeldei Prize for the best doctoral thesis from the German Chemical Society’s Institute of Energy and Climate Research Nuclear Chemistry Working Group

Prof. Dr. Julia Frunzke 2016 research prize from the Association for General and Applied Institute of Bio- and Geosciences Microbiology (VAAM)

Dr. Alexander Grünberger 2015 doctoral prize from the Association for General and Applied Institute of Bio- and Geosciences Microbiology (VAAM)

Dr. Johann Heidenbauer Honoured as one of the “Outstanding Referees for 2015” Nuclear Physics Institute by the American Physical Society

Dr. John Kettler Appointed to “Junges Kolleg” of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Institute of Energy and Climate Research Sciences, Humanities, and the Arts

Dr. Marina Khaneft, Dr. Olaf Holderer, Dr. Oxana Ivanova, Christian Friedrich Schönbein poster prize at the 5th European

Dr. Reiner Zorn, Dr. Wiebke Lüke, Prof. Werner Lehnert, and PEFC & H2 Forum in Luzern, Switzerland Dr. Emmanuel Kentzinger Jülich Centre for Neutron Science and Institute of Energy and Climate Research

Prof. Andrei Kulikovsky Christian Friedrich Schönbein Medal of Honour at the 5th European

Institute of Energy and Climate Research PEFC & H2 Forum

Dr. Jan-Philipp Machtens Du Bois-Reymond Prize from the German Physiological Society Institute of Complex Systems

Dr. Achim Mester Professor Dr. Karl-Heinrich Heitfeld Award for Young Researchers from Central Institute of Engineering, Electronics and Analytics RWTH Aachen University

Dr. Bernd Mohr Included in the list of People to Watch 2015 by the computer journal HPCwire Jülich Supercomputing Centre

84 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

Name Accolade

Andreas Müller 2015 medal of honour from Aachen University of Applied Sciences for his Jülich Supercomputing Centre bachelor’s thesis

Patrick Niehoff, Cheng Wu and Bugra Turan Communicator Award from the Helmholtz Graduate School in Energy and Institute of Energy and Climate Research Climate Research (HITEC)

Prof. Andreas Offenhäusser and Dr. Svetlana Vitusevich RWTH Innovation Award from RWTH Aachen University (2nd place) for the Peter Grünberg Institute/Institute of Complex Systems Cardiac Help team

Dušan Petrović Award from the Serbian Nenad M. Kostić Foundation for Chemical Sciences Institute of Complex Systems

Eugen Pfeifer Poster prize from the Association for General and Applied Microbiology Institute of Bio- and Geosciences (VAAM) at the annual meeting in Marburg

Paul Prigorodov Hans Walter Hennicke Lecture Award (1st place) at the German Ceramic Institute of Energy and Climate Research Society (DKG) annual meeting

Prof. Syed M. Qaim Crest of Appreciation from the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine

Prof. Willem Quadakkers Tammann medal from the German Society for Materials Science (DGM) Institute of Energy and Climate Research

Dr. Michael Rack 2015 European Physical Society PhD Research Award from the Plasma Institute of Energy and Climate Research Physics Division of the European Physical Society (EPS)

Prof. Dieter Richter Staudinger-Durrer Prize from ETH Zurich Jülich Centre for Neutron Science/Institute of Complex Systems

Katrin Röllen Poster prize from 2015 Gordon Research Conference on Proteins in Institute of Complex Systems Holderness, USA

Prof. Thomas Schäpers Teaching award for physics 2015 from RWTH Aachen University in the Peter Grünberg Institute category “best independent teaching”

Prof. Sebastian M. Schmidt Honorary doctorate from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University Board of Directors

Andreas Schulze Lohoff and Vitali Weißbecker Main prize of business plan competition run by the association for new entre- Institute of Energy and Climate Research preneurship in the Rhineland (NUK); 1st prize at AC2 start-up competition

Christina Schumacher Women in Nuclear prize for her bachelor’s thesis Operational radiation protection

Prof. N. Jon Shah Veski Innovation Fellowship from Monash University Melbourne, Australia, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine for the project “Quantitative Biomedical Imaging Transformational PET-MRI Technologies for Brain Research”; honorary doctorate from Georgian Technical University (GTU)

Nuno André da Silva ISMRM Merit Award Magna Cum Laude from International Society for Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine Magnetic Resonance in Medicine

Prof. Lorenz Singheiser, Michal Talik and Dr. Bernd Kuhn Charles Hatchett Award from the British Institute of Materials, Minerals Institute of Energy and Climate Research and Mining

Prof. Hans Ströher Appointed a member of Academia Europaea Nuclear Physics Institute

Prof. Andreas Wahner Honorary doctorate from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University Institute of Energy and Climate Research

Dr. Wei-Min Wang Young Scientist Prize 2015 from the International Union of Pure and Humboldt fellow at Jülich Supercomputing Centre Applied Physics (IUPAP)

Prof. Rainer Waser Honorary doctorate from University of Silesia in Katowice Peter Grünberg Institute

Prof.Dr. Martin Winter Carl Wagner Memorial Award from the Electrochemical Society (ECS); Institute of Energy and Climate Research/Helmholtz Institute Münster Battery Research Award from ECS; fellow of the International Society of Electrochemistry

Dr. Alexey Yakushenko RWTH Innovation Award from RWTH Aachen University (3rd place) for the Peter Grünberg Institute/Institute of Complex Systems Cardiac Help team Fedorov Project

Dr. Bernd Zimmermann ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel Dissertation Prize 2015 from the German Peter Grünberg Institute/Institute for Advanced Simulation Physical Society’s Magnetism Working Group

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 85 Professorial Appointments Appointments

• PD Dr. med. Dr. rer. pol. Svenja • Dr. Jeanette Orlowsky from Project • PD Dr. Simone Vossel from the In- Caspers from the Institute of Neurosci- Management Jülich was appointed as stitute of Neuroscience and Medicine ence and Medicine was appointed W2- Chair of Building Materials at TU Dort- was appointed W1-grade professor ac- grade professor at Heinrich Heine Uni- mund University. cording to the Jülich model at the psy- versity Düsseldorf. chology department at the University • Dr. Wolfram Schenck from the Jülich Su- of Cologne for the field of cognitive • Dr. Andrew Dingley from the Institute percomputing Centre was appointed pro- neurophysiology. of Complex Systems was appointed ad- fessor of computational engineering by FH junct professor at Heinrich Heine Uni- Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences. • Dr. Bernhard Wolfrum from the In- versity Düsseldorf. stitute of Complex Systems and Peter • Dr. Michelle Watt from the Institute of Grünberg Institute was appointed pro- • Dr. Irina Engelhardt from the Institute Bio- and Geosciences was appointed fessor at the Department of Electrical of Bio- and Geosciences was appoint- W3-grade professor according to the and Computer Engineering of Technis- ed W3-grade professor of hydrogeology Jülich model at the Faculty of Agricul- che Universität München. and hydrochemistry at TU Bergakade- ture of the University of Bonn for the mie Freiberg. field of crop root physiology.

• Dr. Moritz Helias from the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine and the In- Joint professorial appointments with universities* stitute for Advanced Simulation was ap- As of: 2015 pointed junior professor for the theory of neural networks at RWTH Aachen Univer- University Jülich of which new reverse of which new Total sity, Faculty 1, Department of Physics. model1) appoint- model2) appoint- total ments in total ments in • PD Dr. Patricia Hidalgo Jimenez from 2015 2015 the Institute of Complex Systems was appointed W2-grade professor accord- FH Aachen 8 8 ing to the Jülich model at Heinrich Heine HHU Düsseldorf 12 7 1 19 University Düsseldorf. RWTH Aachen University 46 7 7 1 53

• Dr. François Jonard from the Institute Univ. of Bochum 5 5 of Bio- and Geosciences was appointed professor of hydrology and remote sens- Univ. of Bonn 10 2 3 13 ing by Université catholique de Louvain Univ. of Duisburg Essen 4 4 (UCL), Belgium, Faculty of Bioscience Univ. Erlangen-Nürnberg 2 2 1 3 Engineering and the Earth and Life Institute. Univ. of Cologne 7 1 1 8

Univ. of Leuven 1 1 • Dr. Dr. Boris Musset from the Institute of Complex Systems was appointed W3- Univ. of Münster 1 1 1 grade professor at Paracelsus Medical Univ. of Regensburg 1 1 University’s Nuremberg location. Univ. of Stuttgart 1 1

• Dr. Ghaleb Natour from the Central Insti- Univ. of Wuppertal 5 5 tute of Engineering, Electronics and Ana- lytics was appointed professor of meas- Total 102 12 20 3 122 urement and testing procedures in joining * excl. members of the Board of Directors techniques at the Faculty of Mechanical 1) Jülich model: Scientists are appointed professor in a joint procedure with one of the partner universities and are simultaneously seconded by the university to work at Forschungszentrum Jülich. Engineering of RWTH Aachen University 2) Reverse Jülich model: Professors whose primary employment is at their university but also work at Jülich (secondary in accordance with the Jülich model. employment)

86 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

Campus Pages 8 7 – 10 5

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 87 CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT Strategy Process of Forschungszentrum Jülich

Research institutes regularly have to ask themselves: Are we doing the right things? And are we doing them in the right way? This applies to scientific goals as well as corporate and management culture. In order to set the course for the future direction of Forschungszentrum Jülich, the Board of Directors initiated the Strategy Process in early 2015.

wo strategic priorities will in future form the two major social challenges that the federal German focus of research: information and energy. government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia The aim is also to establish an even closer in- have identified as urgent. “The rising level of digitiza- Ttegration of the disciplines. “Our researchers are ex- tion is increasingly penetrating all areas of daily life. pected to create new developments across discipline It both requires and enables innovations. With our boundaries and thus ultimately establish the founda- expertise, we are able to promote this development,” tions for new technologies,” explains Chairman of the says Wolfgang Marquardt. Board of Directors Prof. Wolfgang Marquardt. “We have the best possible conditions for use-inspired This not only applies to information technology, basic research: excellent basic research, in-depth high-performance computing, simulations, and big knowledge in various disciplines, and exceptional data, but “concerns information as a guiding prin- multidisciplinary networking,” Marquardt stresses. ciple of science as a whole,” explains Sebastian M. Schmidt, member of the Board of Directors. “We want The approach is based on the strategic concepts of to expand quantum technologies and also the investi- the institutes and an intensive exchange between all gation of the structure and dynamics of materials. The scientific and administrative divisions. It corresponds same is also true for the coding of information in mo- with the Helmholtz Association’s mission to contrib- lecular–biological structures and neural information ute to solving the great challenges faced by society, processing in the human brain.” science, and industry. The Strategy is set to be in place by the end of 2016. Transformation of the energy system With “information” and “energy” planned as two stra- In the field of energy, Forschungszentrum Jülich will tegic priorities, the Jülich concept is oriented towards further extend its research with respect to the energy transition (Energiewende) and the transformation of the energy system. In doing so, Jülich is supporting the German government in its aims to expand renewable energy sources, increase energy efficiency, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “We view the safe- guarding of a reliable, economic, and environmentally friendly energy supply as one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century,” says Harald Bolt, member of the Board of Directors. “To overcome these chal- 200participants at the Strategy Conference gathered lenges, we are focusing on systems and value chains ideas to improve corporate culture, cooperation, for selected renewable energy sources and storage and processes at Forschungszentrum Jülich. technologies: from photovoltaics to electrolysis and

88 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

In 2015, the employees of Forschungszentrum Jülich intensively discussed the development of a new strategy.

novel battery systems up to and including Power-2-x- The will for change 2-Power technologies to store surplus energy in times One central aspect of the ongoing Strategy Process is of an oversupply of renewable energies.” In order to the intensive participation of employees. Right from concentrate energy research on issues of the Ener- the start, employees have been invited to put for- giewende, Forschungszentrum Jülich is planning to ward their proposals. The first ideas for improving the phase out reactor safety research and fusion research corporate culture, collaboration, and processes at in close coordination with all partners and funders. Forschungszentrum Jülich emerged from interviews Nuclear physics activities at Jülich are also set to be with 160 employees, an online survey, and a subse- discontinued. This is a decision the Board of Directors quent two-day Strategy Conference with 200 partici- has taken with a view to focusing topics and establish- pants. “It became clear that the employees regarded ing a clear profile for Jülich’s research. The planned Jülich’s potential as very positive. However, there is changes will be implemented together with the co- also a feeling that this potential is not being fully ex- operation partners affected over an appropriate time ploited due to a lack of synergies,” summarizes Nor- scale. bert Drewes, coordinator of the Strategy Process. “The involvement of the employees has shown that Closely associated with the topics information and there is very great interest in the further development energy is the bioeconomy, another future-oriented of Forschungszentrum Jülich and also a will to imple- field which looks to establish an industry that uses ment changes,” emphasizes Vice-Chairman of the renewables instead of fossil raw materials and also Board of Directors Karsten Beneke. does not produce any waste. “The global population is growing continuously and thus demand for food- The proposals are further developed and substan- stuffs and raw and useful materials is also rising. Giv- tiated in various working groups. All employees are en the finite nature of fossil resources and the limited regularly informed about the ongoing developments area of fertile arable land, a transition to a bioecon- and results. This includes personal discussions and omy is required in order to cover this need,” explains information events as well a discussion forum and Marquardt. It is here that the Bioeconomy Science video messages from the Board of Directors on the in- Center (BioSC), together with its research partners tranet. Wolfgang Marquardt places great value on this in the region, is expected to play an important role in open approach. He is convinced that “only a strategy providing the required basic findings and key tech- shaped by Forschungszentrum Jülich as a whole can nologies. During the course of further development, be a success.” BioSC is to be extended and expanded to become a national bioeconomy centre.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 89 SUSTAINABILITY Jülich’s Sustainable Campus

At Jülich, options for action are being researched and developed in order to ensure equally good living conditions for current and future generations. At the same time, the work being conducted at Forschungszentrum Jülich should itself also satisfy sustainable criteria.

hile scientists are making tion of the first phase of the project in or- to adopt DNK, Forschungszentrum Jülich important contributions in der to make contributions to our climate has assumed a pioneering role. As a DNK the field of climate research protection concept,” he says. Mentor, Jülich offers its experiences to W( page 22), efforts are also being made other institutions. to reduce emissions of the greenhouse After Forschungszentrum Jülich compiled gas carbon dioxide on the Jülich campus. a sustainability report for the first time in In addition, Forschungszentrum Jülich One successful model that has been in the previous year, it became the 114th or- is involved in the LeNa joint project to place since 2015 is the Jülich mobility ganization in Germany to commit to satis- develop a guide to sustainability man- concept, initiated as part of the Mobil. fying the criteria outlined in the German agement for non-university research Pro.Fit project. The latter encourages em- Sustainability Code (DNK) as of the start institutes. The interests of science are ployees to, for example, make the switch of 2016. This Code was formulated by the represented on the steering committee of from the car to a bicycle or pedelec. In German Council for Sustainable Develop- this project, which is funded by the Ger- 2016, the first charging station for e-bikes ment (RNE), which had been set up by the man Federal Ministry of Education and powered by photovoltaic modules will be federal government. With a declaration of Research, by Jülich Chairman of the Board installed on campus. Charging stations conformity to 20 criteria in the fields of of Directors Prof. Wolfgang Marquardt and for electric cars are also planned. Fur- strategy, process management, environ- Peter Burauel alongside representatives thermore, employees forming car pool ment, and society, as well as additional from the Fraunhofer Society and the Leib

groups help to lower CO2 emissions per indicators, users report to what extent niz Association. The guide is set to be in person. Passengers are able to find em- they are satisfying these criteria. In doing place by the end of 2016. Eight criteria ployees via the commuting portal on the so, they are transparent in demonstrating have so far been formulated for the con- Sustainable Campus intranet pages, which what makes up the core of corporate sus- cept of social responsibility in research. was set up in September 2015. In addi- tainability within their organization. As the They include transparency, user orientation, Forschungszentrum Jülich also saw first member of the Helmholtz Association tion, ethics, and interdisciplinarity. its fleet of six electric scooters expanded by the addition of four electric cars, two plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and a light commercial vehicle with electric drive. In terms of employee mobility, such meas-

ures helped to save 300 tonnes of CO2 in the project year. On 23 February 2016, the regional council of the district of Aachen honoured the company mobility concept, which is being funded by the Federal Min- istry for the Environment using funds from Germany’s National Climate Initiative. However, this is no reason to rest on the success achieved thus far, believes Dr. Peter Burauel, Head of Sustainable Cam- Ricardo Gatzweiler, Dr. Ellen Kammula, and Dr. Peter Burauel (from right to pus. “Our mobility team will continue to left) from Forschungszentrum Jülich received a certificate following successful work on these topics even after comple- completion of the Mobil.Pro.Fit project.

90 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

Excellent Platforms

Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS)

JCNS operates neutron research instru- Beam time allocated ments at leading international neutron in days, rounded, 2015 sources. It is responsible for the development and operation of the Jülich instru- 759 allocated through ments at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum 572 internal users review processes, (MLZ) in Garching near Munich, Institut of which: Laue-Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble, France, 386 users from and at the Spallation Neutron Source total Germany (SNS) in Oak Ridge, USA. These instruments are also available to external scien- 1,606 258 users from tists. In addition, JCNS develops several the EU instruments together with international 115 users from training activities partners for the future European Spalla- 50 the rest of the world tion Source in Lund, Sweden. 225 maintenance/ development

Use of the JCNS neutron scattering instruments by external researchers 2015

Acronym Instrument Days

BIODIFF Diffractometer for large unit cells 80

DNS Time-of-flight spectrometer with diffuse neutron scattering 40

HEiDi Single crystal diffractometer on hot source 91

J-NSE Jülich Neutron Spin Echo Spectroscopy 57

KWS-1 Small-angle scattering facility 1 71

KWS-2 Small-angle scattering facility 2 81

KWS-3 Small-angle scattering facility 3 61

MARIA Magnetic reflectometer 34

PANDA Cold triple-axis spectrometer 67

POLI Polarized hot neutron diffractometer 35

SPHERES Backscattering spectrometer with high energy resolution 46

ILL Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble 41

SNS Spallation Neutron Source, Oak Ridge 54

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 91 Helmholtz Nanoelectronic Facility (HNF)

The Helmholtz Nanoelectronic Facility at HNF in figures Usage times Forschungszentrum Jülich is the Helm- 2015 2015 holtz Association’s central technology Instruments Time [h/a] platform for nanoelectronics. HNF’s mission is researching, manufacturing, and Internal users 211 Wet benches 12,341 characterizing nano- and atomic struc- External users 44 Scanning electron microscopes 5,476 tures for information technology. The na- Usage days 220 Reactive ion etching systems 4,186 noelectronics laboratory offers universities, research institutions, and industry Maintenance days 35 Characterization 3,017 free access to know-how and resources Total usage time of all 41,129 Evaporators 2,679 for fabricating structures, devices, and instruments in hours Focused ion beam 2,445 circuits – from the atomic scale to com- External visitors 1,582 Oxidation furnaces 2,225 plex systems. The focus of work at HNF is Vistec electron beam exposure 2,000 resource-conserving “green information system technology”. Mask aligner (contact printer) 1,962 Fume hoods 1,706 Wafer sawing machine 1,031 SSEC wafer cleaner 1,031 Dektak 150 profilometer 680 Nanoimprint lithography 350 Ernst Ruska-Centre (ER-C)

Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Germany a unique insight into the world of Users Aachen University jointly operate ER-C as atoms and develops new methods for ma- according to region, in percent, 2015 a centre for atomic-resolution electron mi- terials research. Around 50 percent of the croscopy and spectroscopy at the highest measurement time on the five Titan micro- Europe NRW 34 20 international level. It is simultaneously the scopes (CREWLEY, HOLO, PICO, STEM, first national user centre for ultrahigh-res- and TEM) at ER-C is made available to uni- olution electron microscopy. The joint un- versities, research institutions, and indus- dertaking on the Jülich campus, which is try. This time is allocated by a panel of ex- 1) named after the inventor of the electron perts nominated by the German Research Rest of world Germany 1) excl. NRW 30 16 microscope, offers scientists from all over Foundation (DFG).

Allocated measurement time on the electron microscopy instruments of ER-C 1) in days 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Forschungszentrum Jülich 297 420 480 455 427

RWTH Aachen University 161 138 156 190 244

External users 266 463 412 471 686

Servicing and maintenance 178 150 220 373 233

Total 902 1,171 1,268 1,489 1,590

1) five of which are Titan microscopes

92 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC)

The Jülich Supercomputing Centre pro- the scientific evaluation of projects. The Approximately 70 percent of the comput- vides scientists and engineers working at Jülich supercomputer JUQUEEN ranked er is part of the national Gauss Centre for Forschungszentrum Jülich, universities, eleventh as one of the three fastest com- Supercomputing (GCS), which means that and research institutions in Germany and puters in Europe in the November 2015 this part of the computation time is allo- throughout Europe, as well as in the com- TOP500 list, which is revised every six cated to national and European projects mercial sector, with access to computing months and compiles a ranking of the through a well-established peer-review capacity on supercomputers, enabling world’s fastest computers. Forschungs process. The remaining 30 percent of them to solve highly complex problems zentrum Jülich operates JUQUEEN as part computing time is reserved for scientists using simulations. The John von Neumann of the Supercomputing research pro- at Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Jülich Institute for Computing is responsible for gramme of the Helmholtz Association. Aachen Research Alliance (JARA).

Relative numbers of users in percent, 2015

2 GRS 2 GRS 6 NIC international 27 Forschungs zentrum Jülich NIC JUROPA/ Forschungs GCS and 44 1) 48 JUQUEEN 71 national JURECA zentrum Jülich Prace Tier-0

1) Due to the change from JUROPA to JURECA in 2015, all factors have been converted to Based on the GCS computing time periods Nov. 2014 to Oct. 2015 and May 2015 JURECA. Based on the GCS computing time periods Nov. 2014 to Oct. 2015 and May 2015 to April 2016. to April 2016.

Research fields of ongoing User statistics European projects core hours in millions (core-h), 2015 PRACE Tier-0, in percent, 2015 Supercomputer Core-h

JUQUEEN 3,200

25 products JUROPA/JURECA1) 80 and processes engineering 48 physical and JUQUEEN analytical chemical Coveted computing time science 2015 27 condensed Supercomputer Overbooking factor matter physics

JUQUEEN 1.5 The numbers are based on the PRACE computing time period September 2014 to August 2015 (9th call for proposals for project access). JUQUEEN was no longer available in the 10th PRACE JUROPA/JURECA2) 2.5 call for proposals for project access, as Jülich had already fulfilled its obligations as stipulated by PRACE. 1) The transition from JUROPA to JURECA took place in 2015. All core hours figures for 2015 were therefore converted to JURECA core hours. The first expansion stage of JURECA was available for July to October. The entire system was only first made available as of November. 2) Due to the transition from JUROPA to JURECA in 2015, an averaged overbooking factor was derived.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 93 Work at Other Locations

Forschungszentrum Jülich operates unique instruments at locations in Germany and abroad. This is in addition to institutes run jointly with universities, institutions for promoting young scientists, and the branch offices of the project management organizations.

orschungszentrum Jülich is rep- Lund, Sweden. The aim is to establish Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) and Helmholtz- resented at other locations as a German branch office at ESS. Zentrum Berlin (HZB). It focuses on follows: research into renewable energy. F • The activities of the Peter Grünberg • I nAachen , Forschungszentrum Institute in the area of synchrotron ra- • T h eHelmholtz Institute Ionics in Jülich is represented via the German diation in Dortmund, Berlin, Trieste Energy Storage in Münster pools the Research School for Simulation (Italy), and Argonne (USA) are coordi- expertise of Forschungszentrum Jülich, Sciences (GRS) and the Jülich nated by the Jülich Synchrotron Radia- RWTH Aachen University, and the Uni- Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) tion Laboratory (JSRL). versity of Münster in battery research. ( p. 61). GRS GmbH is an independent subsidiary of Forschungszentrum • Project Management Jülich – as a • Since 1 September 2015, the Bernstein Jülich. largely independent organization at Network Coordination Site at the Uni- Forschungszentrum Jülich – has branch versity of Freiburg has been part of • At the research reactor in Garching offices inJülich, Berlin, Rostock, and Jülich’s Institute of Neuroscience and near Munich, where Heinz Maier-Leib- Bonn. P. 95 Medicine with regard to organization nitz Zentrum is run by the Jülich Centre and budget. The network, which com- for Neutron Science (JCNS)1), Tech- • I nDüsseldorf , Technology Transfer prises six centres in Germany and over nische Universität München, and Helm- runs the branch office of the biotech- 200 research groups, works on the elu- holtz-Zentrum Geesthacht. nology cluster BIO.NRW, funded by cidation of fundamental neural process- the Ministry of Innovation, Science, and es using computer models. P. 97 • At the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) Research (MIWF) of the State of North at Oak Ridge National Laboratory Rhine-Westphalia. BIO.NRW initiates (ORNL), USA, where JCNS operates cooperation between research insti- the only non-American measuring tutes, companies, investors, and policy instrument. makers.

• Forschungszentrum Jülich is a joint • The activities of Forschungszentrum shareholder of the high-flux reactor at Jülich in India are coordinated by an of- Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in Gre- fice inNew Delhi. noble, France, along with the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy • As a member of the Helmholtz Associ- Commission (CEA), the French National ation (HGF), Forschungszentrum Jülich Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), is also represented internationally by and the Science and Technology Facili- their offices. HGF has offices in Brus- ties Council (STFC) in the UK. Jülich has sels, Moscow, and Beijing. a share of 33 percent. • T h eHelmholtz Institute Erlangen- • Jülich coordinates Germany’s contribu- Nürnberg (HI ERN) is set up as a branch tion to the design update phase of the office of Forschungszentrum Jülich 1) JCNS is one of the institutes at Forschungszentrum planned European Spallation Source and is operated in close cooperation Jülich. It operates neutron scattering instruments at the leading national and international neutron sources FRM (ESS), which is being constructed in with Friedrich-Alexander-Universität II, ILL, and SNS as part of a joint strategy.

94 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

Project Management

Project management is responsible for implementing research and innovation funding programmes in a targeted manner on behalf of public authorities. Pro- ject Management Jülich (PtJ) and Project Management Organization Energy, Tech- nology, Sustainability (ETN) are located on the Jülich campus as largely independent organizations. PtJ supports clients in the German federal and state governments as well as the European Com- mission in achieving their funding policy objectives. Project Management ETN PtJ celebrated the 25th anniversary of its Berlin office together with clients, works exclusively as a project manage- partners, political guests, representatives of Forschungszentrum Jülich, and its ment agency for the federal state of North employees. Rhine-Westphalia.

in such a way that they become “smart” On 18 November 2015, PtJ marked the Project Management Jülich and thus ensure that energy conversion 25th anniversary of its Berlin office dur- With roughly € 1.4 billion in funding allo- and energy demand are interlinked in a ing a ceremony with around 300 invit- cated in 2015, PtJ counts among the lead- manner that is oriented towards demand ed guests. On 1 November 1990, PtJ, or ing project management organizations in and consumption. This is the aim of a project management for biology, energy, Germany. PtJ pools a broad spectrum of funding programme entitled “Smart En- ecology (BEO) as it was known at the time, specialist expertise in four business are- ergy Showcases – Digital Agenda for the began its work at the location in Berlin. as: key technologies, energy, sustainable Energy Transition” (SINTEG) launched by The aim back then was to support the economy, and non-technology-specific the German Federal Ministry for Econom- eastern German research institutions and innovation funding. Furthermore, it selec- ic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) launched in companies conducting research to inte- tively expands its expertise in cross-pro- 2015 and coordinated by PtJ. Through this grate themselves into the overall German gramme activities. programme, BMWi is providing funding research landscape. Furthermore, PtJ for model regions in the fields of wind and advised its clients in the development of One such cross-programme activity is solar energy that develop solutions for non-technology-specific innovation fund- digitization, a subject that continues to climate-friendly, efficient, and secure en- ing programmes that were aimed at the gain in significance. This can be seen, ergy supplies with high proportions of re- specific challenges in the federal states of for instance, with respect to the energy newable energies and are able to demon- former East Germany. transition (Energiewende), where the cen- strate them on a large-scale. tral challenge is to restructure conven- Non-technology-specific innovation tional power grids and energy markets PtJ also successfully acquired new con- funding today represents a central pil- tracts in the field of federal state funding lar of research and innovation policy. in 2015. For example, it undertook project This includes nationwide initiatives such management work for the Ministry for Ed- as the Leading Edge Cluster Competi- PtJ in figures 2015 ucation, Science and Culture of Mecklen- tion, the Federal Ministry of Education burg-Western Pomerania. This contract and Research’s (BMBF) Forschungs- projects coordinated 16,993 comprises the provision of comprehen- campus (research campus) programme, newly approved projects 5,478 sive scientific support in funding excellent and BMWi’s University-Based Business research using funds from the European Start-Ups, all of which are implemented funding invested € 1,407.4 million Social Fund (ESF). It will also see research by PtJ. At its Berlin office, PtJ is also re- funding programmes implemented as of sponsible, for example, for BMBF’s Re- employees 951 2016 using the state’s funds. search for Sustainability programme and

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 95 the Federal Ministry for the Environment, PtJ employees Nature Conservation, Building and Nucle- divided by location, 2015 31 ar Safety’s National Climate Protection Rostock Initiative. 366 Project Management Energy, Berlin Technology, Sustainability ETN has worked for the federal state of 545 North Rhine-Westphalia for 25 years now. Jülich The organization’s initial area of expertise – energy research – has expanded 9 over the last few years and the number of Bonn employees has risen to 78.

In cooperation with Project Management Jülich, ETN was awarded the contract to establish market agency LeitmarktAgen- tur.NRW. As a responsible authority, this agency is tasked with conducting fund- • more than 6,300 consultations; Within the LeitmarktAgentur.NRW agen- ing competitions as well as the selection cy, ETN exclusively organizes, approves, and approval of funding projects in the • over 450 project proposals involving and coordinates the state government’s eight leading markets that are impor- more than 1,500 partners; climate protection competitions. The aim tant for North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). of these competitions is to accelerate During these competitions, interested • 120 project proposals were recom- the launch of products on the market that parties are able to apply for funding pro- mended for funding. Roughly 450 demonstrate a high level of energy effi- vided by the European Regional Develop- grant notifications are being ciency and thus help to reduce emissions

ment Fund (EFRE) and the federal state compiled for the partners of climate-damaging gases such as CO2. of NRW. The response to the calls for involved. In addition, ETN looks to support projects proposals was huge, particularly among that promote municipal climate protec- small and medium-sized enterprises. This • r o u g h l y€ 150 million in funding is tion. These projects help NRW to imple- is highlighted by: being invested in the projects. ment its climate protection plan.

Funding projects from the eight leading markets

Lead market competition Sorted according Project No. of partners involved with Funding amount by launch date collaborations their own grant notifications in euros

CreateMedia.NRW October 2014 16 35 approx. 7 million

EnergieUmwelt.NRW November 2014 27 72 approx. 26 million

NeueWerkstoffe.NRW January 2015 12 53 approx. 23 million

Gesundheit.NRW February 2015 15 63 approx. 23 million

Produktion.NRW March 2015 18 78 approx. 21 million

MobilitätLogistik.NRW April 2015 10 32 approx. 13 million

LifeSciences.NRW May 2015 11 57 approx. 21 million

IKT.NRW (information and June 2015 11 54 approx. 16 million communication technology)

Total 120 444 approx. 150 million

96 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

Coordination Site for Computer-Assisted Neuroscience

The Bernstein Network uses computer this one can only be overcome through simulations to explore human thought interdisciplinary collaborations. The net- processes. The network is coordinated work’s researchers are, for example, aid- by a working group in Freiburg, which was ed by the Bernstein Network Coordination incorporated as a new branch office of Site (BCOS), headed by Dr. Andrea Huber Forschungszentrum Jülich on 1 Septem- Brösamle. Forschungszentrum Jülich’s ber 2015. new branch office, organizationally a working group of the Institute of Neuro- Named after the physiologist Julius Bern- science and Medicine (INM-6), supports stein (1839–1917), the Bernstein Network communication both within and outside Computational Neuroscience has been of the network. It is the point of contact in existence since 2004. It consists of six for the industrial sector and providers of centres and over 250 research groups in third-party funding. The branch office also Germany that together are dedicated to organizes central events, such as the big- one major topic: the elucidation of funda- gest annual computational neuroscience German physiologist Julius Bernstein mental neural processes using computer conference in Europe. (1839 –1917 ) models. This includes, for example, gaining a better understanding of learning and memory recall as well as processes that Training for young scientists programme is aimed at physicists, medi- form the underlying basis of neurological A further important task of the coordina- cal scientists, biologists, engineers, and disorders. tion site is supporting the next generation mathematicians who are on the verge of of scientists. For example, the Bernstein completing, or have just completed, their Being able to unravel the code of the brain Network created the “SmartStart – Joint master’s degree. The aim is to add to their will likely require much more effort and Training Program in Computational Neu- previous training with the concepts, the- computing capacity than the decoding of roscience” together with the support of ories, and techniques of computation- the human genome. A task as complex as the Volkswagen Foundation in 2015. This al neuroscience, and to ensure they are qualified for a doctoral thesis. Together with a mentor, participants develop an individual training programme where they can choose from a wide range of activities, such as workshops, courses, and laboratory rotations. BCOS supervises the participants, mentors, and lecturers, while also coordinating the SmartStart programme’s activities.

In addition to the running of BCOS, Jülich also plays another important role within the Bernstein Network: the Jülich Super- computing Centre’s Simulation Laboratory (SimLab) advises the network’s researchers on software development as the “Bernstein Facility for Simulation and Da- tabase Technology”. SimLab also teaches The team at the Bernstein Network Coordination Site headed by Dr. Andrea Huber researchers how to make the most of the Brösamle (2nd from the left) in September 2015, flanked by Prof. Sebastian M. capabilities of modern supercomputers to Schmidt, member of the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich (first from find the answers to their neuroscientific the left), and Prof. Markus Diesmann, Head of INM-6 (right). questions.

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 97 Finances

Investments in science and research secure our future. Financing from public funds makes it possible for Jülich to conduct the independent preliminary research that is essential to ensure sustainable development. In addition to this, Forschungszentrum Jülich also aims to generate income from licences with its industrially oriented research.

Balance sheet in millions of euros, 2015

Assets 2015 2014

A. Fixed assets 486.0 533.2 I. Intangible assets 2.6 2.9

II. Tangible assets 483.2 530.1

III. Financial assets 0.2 0.2

B. Current assets 273.3 625.1

I. Inventories 37.4 35.1

II. Accounts receivable and other assets 55.6 26.0

III. Government equity to balance the books 162.0 551.7

IV. Cash on hand and on deposit with Deutsche Bundesbank, deposits with credit institutions, cheques 18.3 12.3

C. Accruals and deferrals 4.4 9.8 Total assets 763.7 1,168.1

Liabilities 2015 2014

A. Equity capital 0.5 0.5 B. Special items for subsidies 566.7 587.4 I. for fixed assets 485.5 532.7

II. for current assets 81.2 54.7

C. Provisions 133.9 516.0

I. Decommissioning and disposal of nuclear installations 48.9 432.4

II. Pensions and miscellaneous 74.7 66.5

III. Provisions for taxation 10.3 17.1

D. Accounts payable 61.4 63.0 E. Accruals and deferrals 1.2 1.2 Total liabilities 763.7 1,168.1

98 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

Profit and loss account in thousands of euros, 2015

2015 2014

Income from subsidies 80,283 169,359 Other subsidies -4,367 78,807

from federal government -2,534 66,837

from state government -1,833 11,970

Third-party project funding 84,650 90,552

from federal government 45,204 50,426

from state government 9,242 4,741

from DFG 3,874 4,340

from others 13,896 15,002

from EU 12,434 16,043

Revenues and other income 599,312 641,417 Revenues from research, development, and use of research facilities 13,132 8,165

Revenues from licensing and know-how agreements 442 783

Revenues from project management organizations 87,732 80,952

Revenues from infrastructure services and the sale of materials 9,202 8,881

Revenues from the disposal of fixed assets 602 292

Increase or reduction in the inventory of work in progress and services 3,942 -3,115 (of which EU € 4,042,000; prev. year - € 5,171,000) Other own work capitalized 937 921

Other operating income 483,310 278,470

Other interest and similar income 13 266,068

Allocations to special items for subsidies -84,325 -58,169

Transferred subsidies -51,637 -46,998

Income from subsidies, revenues, and other income available to cover expenses 543,633 705,609

Personnel costs 327,891 313,053

Operating costs 53,789 57,414

Material costs 26,758 31,561

Costs for energy and water 21,859 20,218

Costs for external research and development 5,172 5,635

Other costs 128,234 331,439

Other interest and similar costs 30,761 1,767

Taxes on income and earnings 2,958 1,936

Non-recurring expenses 0 0

Depreciation on fixed assets 0 0

Depreciation on fixed assets 61,420 61,295

Income from liquidation of special items for subsidies - 61,420 -61,295

Total expenditure 543,633 705,609

Result of normal business activity/Annual result 0 0

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 99 Revenues in thousands of euros, 2015

Area Structure Earth and Energy Key T o t a l Other Total of matter environment technologies research revenues fields

EU funding 548 471 5,384 7,395 13,798 2,678 16,476

National project funding (excl. DFG) 20 4,331 16,977 27,067 48,395 19,947 68,342

incl. transferred subsidies 6 18 1,712 6,828 8,564 20,051 28,615

DFG funding 13 481 838 2,526 3,858 16 3,874

Subtotal project funding 581 5,283 23,199 36,988 66,051 22,641 88,692

Contracts, abroad 86 38 1,535 375 2,034 668 2,702

Contracts, Germany 3,908 812 2,990 2,601 10,311 49,008 59,319

Project management organizations 87,732 87,732

Subtotal third-party funds 4,575 6,133 27,724 39,964 78,396 160,049 238,445

Institutional funding 377,277

incl. dismantling projects 33,847

Total 615,722

Note Third-party funding is classified according to the funding body or client. In addition to the revenues obtained as subsidies from the EU or from commis- sions as listed in the profit and loss statement, assessments of work in progress are also accounted for. The composition of national project funding is listed in the above table “National project funding excluding DFG”.

The breakdown into individual research areas is effected in accordance with accounting valuation methods with the purpose of transfer to the profit and loss statement.

National project funding DFG-coordinated funding programmes excluding DFG, in thousands of euros, 2015 2015

Projects Number

Total 68,342 Total 42

from federal government 45,204 of which collaborative research centres 18

from state government 9,242 of which DFG priority programmes 18

from other (national) sources 13,896 of which research training groups and other 6

of which

transferred subsidies 28,615

national project funding excl. DFG adjusted for 39,727 transferred subsidies

100 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

Revenues 2015 In 2015, Forschungszentrum Jülich’s project management on behalf of the Fed- amounting to € 377.3 million to cover third-party funding totalled € 238.4 mil- eral Republic of Germany and the federal expenses (i.e. for day-to-day operation) lion. Most of this third-party income re- state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 2015, and to finance fixed assets (i.e. for invest- sulted from research and development Forschungszentrum Jülich also received ments). These include € 33.8 million for activities for industry, the acquisition of subsidies from the federal and state gov- dismantling projects. funding from Germany and abroad, plus ernments (including charges in provisions)

total revenues

238,445 third-party 377,277 institutional funding 615,722 funding in thousands of euros

33,847 of which dismantling projects

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 101 Bodies and Committees

Forschungszentrum Jülich was established Bodies Councils on 11 December 1956 by the federal state The Partners’ Meeting is the principal The Scientific and Technical Council of North Rhine-Westphalia. On 5 Decem- decision-making body of Forschungs (WTR) and the Scientific Advisory Coun- ber 1967, it was converted into a GmbH zentrum Jülich GmbH. cil (WB) are committees of Forschungs (limited company) with the Federal Re- zentrum Jülich. WTR advises the Part- public of Germany and the state of North The Supervisory Board as a body supervis- ners’ Meeting, the Supervisory Board, Rhine-Westphalia assuming the role of es the lawfulness, expedience, and eco- and the Board of Directors on all issues shareholders. The task of the company is nomic efficiency of the company’s man- associated with the strategic orientation agement. It makes decisions on important of Forschungszentrum Jülich and on all • to pursue scientific and technical re- research-related and financial issues of scientific and technical issues of general search and development at the interface the company. importance. between mankind, the environment, and technology, The Board of Directors conducts The Scientific Advisory Council advises Forschungszentrum Jülich’s business pur- Forschungszentrum Jülich on all scientif- • to undertake or participate in further suant to the Articles of Association. It re- ic and technical issues of general impor- national and international tasks in the ports to the Supervisory Board. tance. This includes Jülich’s strategy and field of basic and application-orient- the planning of research and development ed research, especially precautionary activities, promoting the optimal use of research, research facilities, and issues related to collaborations with universities and other • to cooperate with science and industry research institutions. in these fields of research and to communicate know-how to society as part The Scientific Advisory Council consists of technology transfer. of members who are not employees of Forschungszentrum Jülich. The chairman of the Scientific Advisory Council is a member of the Supervisory Board.

Partners’ Meeting

The Partners’ Meeting is chaired by the German federal government, represented by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Supervisory Board

MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher Dr.-Ing. Manfred Bayerlein MinDirig Berthold Goeke Chairman Entrepreneur Federal Ministry for the Environment, Federal Ministry of Education and Nature Conservation, Building and Research Prof. Dr. Ulrike Beisiegel Nuclear Safety (BMU) Georg-August-Universität Göttingen State Secretary Dr. Thomas Grünewald State Secretary Peter Knitsch Vice-Chairman Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Berens Ministry of Climate Protection, Environ Ministry of Innovation, Science University of Münster ment, Agriculture, Nature and Consumer and Research of the State of North Protection of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia Rhine-Westphalia

102 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

Dr. Arnd Jürgen Kuhn Prof. Dr. Uwe Pietrzyk Dr. Beatrix Vierkorn-Rudolph Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Bio- Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Federal Ministry of Education and and Geosciences Neuroscience and Medicine Research

N.N. Dr. Heike Riel Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and IBM Research – Zurich Energy

www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN/AboutUs/organizational_structure/CompanyBodies/SupervisoryBoard/_node.html

Executive Board (Board of Directors)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt Chairman Member of the Board of Directors Member of the Board of Directors

Karsten Beneke Vice-Chairman

www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN/AboutUs/organizational_structure/CompanyBodies/BoardOfDirectors/_node.html

Scientific and Technical Council 1

Prof. Dr. Hans Ströher Prof. Dr. Astrid Kiendler-Scharr Prof. Dr. Markus Büscher Chairman Vice-Chair Vice-Chairman Nuclear Physics Institute Institute of Energy and Climate Research Peter Grünberg Institute

www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN/AboutUs/organizational_structure/committees/ScientificAndTechnicalCouncil/_node.html

Scientific Advisory Council

Dr. Heike Riel Prof. Dr. Toni M. Kutchan Prof. Dr. Thomas Roser Chair Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA IBM, Switzerland USA Prof. Dr. Elke Scheer Prof. Barbara Chapman Prof. Dr. Karen Maex University of Konstanz, Germany University of Houston, USA University of Amsterdam, Netherlands Prof. Dr. Horst Simon Dr. Frank-Detlef Drake Dr. Peter Nagler Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, RWE AG, Germany Evonik AG, Germany USA

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Knoll Prof. Dr. Eva Pebay-Peyroula Prof. Dr. Metin Tolan AIT, Austria ANR, France TU Dortmund University, Germany

www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN/AboutUs/organizational_structure/committees/scientific-advisory-council/_node.html

1) in accordance with Articles of Association

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 103 Organization Chart

Partners’ Meeting

Partners: Federal Republic of Germany, represented by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research; North Rhine-Westphalia, represented by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Research

Supervisory Board Wissenschaftlicher Beirat Wissenschaftlich-Technischer Rat Chairman MinDir Dr. K. E. Huthmacher Vorsitzende Dr. H. Riel Vorsitzender Prof. H. Ströher

Board of Directors Board of Directors Vorstand Vorstand Science; External Relations Scientific Division I Wissenschaftlicher Geschäftsbereich II Infrastruktur Prof. W. Marquardt (Chairman of the Board of Directors) Prof. S. M. Schmidt (Member of the Board of Directors) Prof. H. Bolt (Mitglied des Vorstands) K. Beneke (Stellvertr. Vorstandsvorsitzender)

Information and Communications Management Institute of Complex Systems Institut für Bio- und Geowissenschaften Personal Finanzen und Controlling A. Bernhardt Prof. J. K. G. Dhont, Prof. C. Fahlke, Prof. J. Fitter (acting), Prof. W. Amelung, Prof. M. Bott, Prof. K.-E. Jaeger, Prof. J. Pietruszka, Dr. M. Ertinger R. Kellermann Prof. G. Gompper, Prof. R. Merkel, Prof. A. Offenhäusser, Prof. U. Schurr, Prof. B. Usadel, Prof. J. Vanderborght, Prof. D. Willbold, Dr. A. Wischnewski (acting) Prof. H. Vereecken, Prof. M. Watt, Prof. W. Wiechert

Corporate Development Nuclear Physics Institute Institut für Energie- und Klimaforschung Einkauf und Materialwirtschaft Recht und Patente Dr. N. Drewes Prof. M. Bai, Prof. U.-G. Meißner, Prof. J. Ritman, Prof. H. Ströher Prof. H.-J. Allelein, Prof. D. Bosbach, Prof. R.-A. Eichel, Prof. O. Guillon, J. Sondermann Ch. Naumann Prof. J.-Fr. Hake, Prof. A. Kiendler-Scharr, Prof. Ch. Linsmeier, Prof. K.-J. Mayrhofer, N.N, Prof. U. Rau, Prof. M. Riese, Prof. U. Samm, Prof. L. Singheiser, Prof. D. Stolten, Prof. A.Wahner, Prof. P. Wasserscheid, Prof. M. Winter

Corporate Communications Institute for Advanced Simulation Zentralinstitut für Engineering, Elektronik und Analytik Organisation und Planung Drittmittel und Dr. A. Rother Prof. S. Blügel, Prof. P. Carloni, Prof. M. Diesmann, Prof. D. DiVincenzo, Dr. S. Küppers, Dr. G. Natour, Dr. S. van Waasen A. Emondts Technologie-Transfer Prof. G. Gompper, Prof. Th. Lippert, Prof. U.-G. Meißner Dr. T. Voß

Staff Units Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine Zentralbibliothek Technischer Bereich Prof. K. Amunts, Prof. A. Bauer (acting), Prof. P. Carloni, Dr. B. Mittermaier Dr. G. Damm Prof. M. Diesmann, Prof. G. R. Fink, Prof. U. Habel, Prof. K. Konrad, Prof. B. Neumaier, Prof. F. Schneider, Prof. J. B. Schultz, Prof. N.-J. Shah, Prof. D. Sturma, Prof. P. Tass

International Relations Jülich Centre for Neutron Science Sicherheit und Strahlenschutz Gebäude- und I. Wetcke (acting) Prof. Th. Brückel, Dr. A. Wischnewski (acting) B. Heuel-Fabianek Liegenschaftsmanagement M. Franken

Office of the Board of Directors Peter Grünberg Institute Planen und Bauen I. Wetcke Prof. H. Bluhm, Prof. S. Blügel, Prof. Th. Brückel, Prof. D. DiVincenzo, J. Kuchenbecker Prof. R. E. Dunin-Borkowski, Prof. D. A. Grützmacher, Prof. T. Noll, Prof. A. Offenhäusser, Prof. C. M. Schneider, Prof. S. Tautz, Prof. R. Waser, Prof. M. Wuttig

Sustainable Campus IT-Services Projektträgerschaften Dr. P. Burauel F. Bläsen

Projektträger Jülich Projektträger Energie, Dr. Ch. Stienen Technologie, Nachhaltigkeit Dr. B. Steingrobe

Stabsstelle

Revision U. Kalisch

104 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Research Cooperation People Campus

Gesellschafterversammlung

Gesellschafter: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, vertreten durch das Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung Nordrhein-Westfalen, vertreten durch das Ministerium für Innovation, Wissenschaft und Forschung As of: May 2016

Aufsichtsrat Scientific Advisory Council Scientific and Technical Council Vorsitzender MinDir Dr. K. E. Huthmacher Chairman Dr. H. Riel Chairman Prof. H. Ströher

Vorstand Vorstand Board of Directors Board of Directors Wissenschaft, Außenbeziehungen Wissenschaftlicher Geschäftsbereich I Scientific Division II Infrastructure Prof. W. Marquardt (Vorstandsvorsitzender) Prof. S. M. Schmidt (Mitglied des Vorstands) Prof. H. Bolt (Member of the Board of Directors) K. Beneke (Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors)

Informations- und Kommunikationsmanagement Institute of Complex Systems Institute of Bio- and Geosciences Personnel Finance and Controlling A. Bernhardt Prof. J. K. G. Dhont, Prof. C. Fahlke, Prof. J. Fitter (komm.), Prof. W. Amelung, Prof. M. Bott, Prof. K.-E. Jaeger, Prof. J. Pietruszka, Dr. M. Ertinger R. Kellermann Prof. G. Gompper, Prof. R. Merkel, Prof. A. Offenhäusser, Prof. U. Schurr, Prof. B. Usadel, Prof. J. Vanderborght, Prof. D. Willbold, Dr. A. Wischnewski (komm.) Prof. H. Vereecken, Prof. M. Watt, Prof. W. Wiechert

Unternehmensentwicklung Institut für Kernphysik Institute of Energy and Climate Research Purchasing and Materials Law and Patents Dr. N. Drewes Prof. M. Bai, Prof. U.-G. Meißner, Prof. J. Ritman, Prof. H. Ströher Prof. H.-J. Allelein, Prof. D. Bosbach, Prof. R.-A. Eichel, Prof. O. Guillon, J. Sondermann Ch. Naumann Prof. J.-Fr. Hake, Prof. A. Kiendler-Scharr, Prof. Ch. Linsmeier, Prof. K.-J. Mayrhofer, N.N, Prof. U. Rau, Prof. M. Riese, Prof. U. Samm, Prof. L. Singheiser, Prof. D. Stolten, Prof. A. Wahner, Prof. P. Wasserscheid, Prof. M. Winter

Unternehmenskommunikation Institute for Advanced Simulation Central Institute of Engineering, Electronics and Analytics Organization and Planning External Funding and Dr. A. Rother Prof. S. Blügel, Prof. P. Carloni, Prof. M. Diesmann, Prof. D. DiVincenzo, Dr. S. Küppers, Prof. G. Natour, Prof. S. van Waasen A. Emondts Technology Transfer Prof. G. Gompper, Prof. Th. Lippert, Prof. U.-G. Meißner Dr. T. Voß

Stabsstellen Institut für Neurowissenschaften und Medizin Central Library Technical Infrastructure Prof. K. Amunts, Prof. A. Bauer (komm.), Prof. P. Carloni, Dr. B. Mittermaier Dr. G. Damm Prof. M. Diesmann, Prof. G. R. Fink, Prof. U. Habel, Prof. K. Konrad, Prof. B. Neumaier, Prof. F. Schneider, Prof. J. B. Schultz, Prof. N.-J. Shah, Prof. D. Sturma, Prof. P. Tass

Internationale Beziehungen Jülich Centre for Neutron Science Safety and Building and Dr. R. Raue Prof. Th. Brückel, Dr. A. Wischnewski (komm.) Radiation Protection Property Management B. Heuel-Fabianek M. Franken

Vorstandsbüro Peter Grünberg Institut Planning and Building Services I. Wetcke Prof. H. Bluhm, Prof. S. Blügel, Prof. Th. Brückel, Prof. D. DiVincenzo, J. Kuchenbecker Prof. R. E. Dunin-Borkowski, Prof. D. A. Grützmacher, Prof. T. Noll, Prof. A. Offenhäusser, Prof. C. M. Schneider, Prof. S. Tautz, Prof. R. Waser, Prof. M. Wuttig

Zukunftscampus IT-Services Project Management Organizations Dr. P. Burauel F. Bläsen

Project Management Jülich Project Management Dr. Ch. Stienen Organization Energy, Technology, Sustainability Dr. B. Steingrobe

Staff unit

Auditing U. Kalisch

Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 105 Contact

Corporate Communications M e d i a Head: Dr. Anne Rother You can order our publications free of charge or download them online at: Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH www.fz-juelich.de/publications 52425 Jülich Tel. +49 2461 61- 4661 Our tablet magazine: Fax +49 2461 61-4666 www.fz-juelich.de/app_en

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Publication details Published by Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH Editorial team Dr. Wiebke Rögener, Annette Stettien, Dr. Anne Rother (responsible under German Press Law) Authors Dr. Frank Frick, Katja Lüers, Dr. Wiebke Rögener, Annette Stettien, Ilse Trautwein, Brigitte Stahl-Busse Translation Language Services, Forschungszentrum Jülich Graphics and layout SeitenPlan GmbH Corporate Publishing Printed by Schloemer Gruppe GmbH Pho- tos Forschungszentrum Jülich (cover, 4, 8–13, 14 right, 15, 16 bottom centre, right, 17 left, centre, 18 centre right, 19 centre, right, 20 right, 21, 28, 31, 33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 50, 51 right, 53, 55, 57, 60 top, 61, 64 left, 66, 71, 75, 76, 79, 81, 82, 83 87, 89, 97 left); Forschungszentrum Jülich/Amunts, Zilles, Axer et al. (17 right); Forschungszentrum Jülich/Sebastian Bludau, Katrin Amunts (Brain); Forschungszentrum Jülich/M. Bocola; Forschungszen- trum Jülich/Udo Eßer (77); RWTH Aachen (20 bottom centre); Forschungszentrum Jülich/Christian Ehlers (68); Forschungszentrum Jülich/Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (18 left, 51 left); Forschungszentrum Jülich/IBS Grenoble (14 left); Forschungszentrum Jülich/Isabell Krisch (25 top); Forschungsz- entrum Jülich/Sascha Kreklau (23, 24, 37, 49, 55, 69, 73, 78); Forschungszentrum Jülich/Simone Maurer (47); Forschungszentrum Jülich/Pössinger (30); Forschungszentrum Jülich/W. Schweika (64 right); Görgen/RWE Power (60 bottom); Nils Günther-Alavanja (95); HPSC Terrsys/CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (26); JARA (63); Andrew Koturanov/Shutterstock (65 top); Marte Lundby Rekaa (48); Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (67right); Migunov, V. et al. Sci. Rep. 5, 14516, 2015 (CC BY 4.0) (40); MIWF/Rainer Hotz (65 right); nicole1991/Shutterstock (16 left); © Nobel Media AB, photo: Hans Mehlin (13 top left); Pho- tographee.eu/Shutterstock (background) (43); Radboud-Universität Nijmegen (20 left); PictureStudio/Shutterstock (72); Paul Schanda/CEA (67 left); testing/Shutterstock (19 left), SeitenPlan GmbH (2–3, 22, 27, 32, 35, 38, 41, 44, 49 bottom, 56, 57 bottom, 69, 88, 96); StädteRegionPrint Aachencompens (90);ated Laila Tkotz, KIT (20 top centre); TonyV3112/Shutterstock (25 bottom); UAHW, Rep. 40/VI, Nr. 2 (97 right); Peter Winandy/RWTH Aachen University (16 top centre, 29) www.bvdm-online.de

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As of July 2016

In August 2010, Forschungszentrum Jülich became certified as part of the “audit berufundfamilie” initiative. Jülich has thus committed itself to continuously defining and implementing measures for improving the reconciliation of work Printcompensated and family life. www.bvdm-online.de

106 Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015 Impressions from 60 years of research Forschungszentrum Jülich is celebrating its 60th anniversary – an opportunity to look back at how it has developed over the decades. Visit our online exhibition: historie.fz-juelich.de/60jahre/EN/Home/home_node.html

Cover image Page 21 | Research Page 53 | Cooperation 1 9 5 8 1 9 6 4 1 9 7 2 The laying of the foundation stone for Apparatus and operators for a chemical First official visit from the People’s the MERLIN research reactor by Fritz experiment Republic of China: the engineering Steinhoff, the Minister-President of North scientist Prof. Zhang Wei from Tsinghua Rhine-Westphalia; this is also regarded as University, Beijing, visited Jülich. the foundation of the entire facility.

Page 71 | People Page 87 | Campus 1 9 8 7 1 9 6 0 Marine biologist Prof. Gotthilf Hempel Research reactor DIDO is being built. during a presentation. He was a member MERLIN can be seen in the background, of the scientific council and was strongly which is also under construction. The committed to the development of marine reactors served for pioneering materials sciences in developing countries. research and basic physics research from 1962 onwards. Member of:

www.fz-juelich.de Forschungszentrum Jülich Annual Report 2015