Network Structures

Quantum Matter and Materials (QM2)

Within its “Meeting the challenge of shape and complexity” strategy for the excellence initiative (institutional line), the University of Cologne has defined four key profile areas (KPA), among them the KPA “Quantum Matter and Materials” (QM2) with a clear focus on novel materials and organic electronics. QM2 is a fascinating field of research driven both by the intellectual challenge and the promise for applications. Within QM2, researchers of mathematics, experimental and theoretical physics, inorganic and physical chemistry, and crystallography collaborate to unravel the properties of quantum matter. The mathematical structures underlying topological matter, the prospect to functionalize “Dirac matter” like graphene, new states of matter arising from spin-orbit interactions, quantum matter far from thermal equilibrium, the use of nanostructured materials for wide ranges of applications, and the development of organic electronics are some of the research topics important for QM2. 

Bonn-Cologne Graduate School in Physics and Astronomy (BCGS)

The universities in Cologne and Bonn are only 30 km apart from each other and have a long-standing collaboration on all levels. Within the BCGS, which has been sponsored by the excellence initiative since 2007, already the exchange of students and forms of joint teaching (e.g. video conference within lectures and seminars) are established. Research areas at the two departments of Bonn and Cologne span almost the entire range of current physics; from astrophysics, biophysics and condensed matter research to particle physics, quantum optics and string theory. One research area within BCGS is devoted to quantum-optical materials.

We are currently negotiating to extend the BCGS concept to Chemistry; a cooperation contract between the two chemistry departments is in preparation.

Framework Agreement between Chemical Institutes of UoC and UB (5-6 lines)

The chemistry departments of the Universities of Cologne and Bonn have decided to intensify their collaboration. This includes common research and training initiatives on the PhD level like the proposed IRTG or future initiatives to establish a collaborative research center but also a closer cooperation on the level of the M.Sc. programs in chemistry. As a first measure the regulations of the two programs have been adjusted in a way that courses from both places can easily be incorporated into the two curricula. In the future the two departments even plan to institutionalize this by signing an agreement that facilitates the exchange of master students even further.

SFB 624 (UB) Templates – Functional Chemical Matrices

Supported by the German Science Foundation (DFG), the Collaborative Research Centre – Sonderforschungsbereich 624 – was founded at the Chemistry Department of the University of Bonn in July 2002. It provided over the years until 2013, its last year of funding, continuously a scientific platform for about 20 active scientific groups performing template research in complementary areas of organic and bioorganic, inorganic, physical and theoretical chemistry. Its research aims at an improved understanding and elaboration of template effects that are required for a more rational design of the various types of templates which allow for a more efficient control of chemical reactions and processes.

SFB 813 (UB) Chemistry at Spin Centers – Concepts, Mechanisms, Applications

SFB 813 Spin centers are atoms, ions, or molecules with unpaired electrons either in their electronic ground state or in one of their electronically excited states. Among the outstanding features of such systems are the potential for high and complex reactivity and the emergence of magnetic properties. Both aspects could be of tremendous utility in the design of novel materials and functional systems. The collaborative research center is determined to: a) develop new theoretical and experimental methods to study spin centers, b) to understand the mechanisms of their transformations in detail through a thorough combination of synthesis, spectroscopy, and quantum chemistry, and c) to use the emerging insights to create new reactions and to design multifunctional materials in a rational manner.

Center for Organic Production Technologies North Rhine-Westphalia (COPT.NRW)

COPT.NRW (Center for Organic Production Technologies North Rhine-Westphalia) is a network of business and science partners who take the economically and technologically pioneering key technology of organic electronics into focus. The aim of the association founded in 2011 is to link the actors along the value chain in order to expand the already strong position of the COPT-partners on the field of machine and process development. More than 20 companies and institutes are organized in COPT. In cooperation with national and international partner associations COPT.NRW enables new markets, develops strategies and creates R&D-projects in the emerging field of OLAE (Organic and Large Area Electronics).

Centre for Self-Assembled Chemical Structures (CSACS)

Founded in 2002, CSACS brings together scientists who study the self-assembly of molecules and exploit this method of structure formation to create new materials and new phenomena. The overall goal of the Centre is to promote innovative research in a non-traditional field of chemistry that of the complex structures formed by self-assembly. CSACS seeks to achieve this goal by:

Bringing together scientists who are working in the area of chemical self-assembly

• Promoting collaborations for projects which could not be realized by one single research group
• Providing students with the multidisciplinary training
• Facilitating access to equipment and research areas.

 The CSACS is cohesive network of 41 principal investigators and 255 HQP (189 graduate students and 66 postdoctoral fellows) from five institutions.  A major consequence of CSACS is that chemical self-assembly is now a unique niche strongly associated with Quebec research. The center boasts world-class complementary facilities for studying the self-assembly in solution on surfaces.  The unique open-access facilities include SAXS/WAXS, SNOM, STM, TEM, AFM.

Regroupement Quebequois sur les Materiaux de Pointe  (RQMP)

The mission of the RQMP, a strategic cluster in nanomaterials research, is to achieve excellence on two fronts: research and training. By putting together skills and resources and creating a rich and dynamic environment, fuelled by the skills of sixty research teams working together with collaborators from other centers and networks in Quebec, Canada and abroad, the RQMP maintains a high and internationally recognized standard. The success of the centre depends first, on the close collaboration between theorists and numerical analysts, and experimentalists, and on the other hand, on the integration of fundamental and applied research.

Excellence of the researchers is assured by supporting their capacities for research and teaching. The first part of our mandate is to support the central research infrastructure. RQMP has developed a comprehensive and unique infrastructure for advanced materials research including, synthesis, characterization, nano-and micro-fabrication and high-performance computing. These facilities are at the heart of the centre’s research. The centre’s mandate involves the animation of our scientific community through activities complementary to research and training (seminars, conferences, colloquia, industrial visits, …) as well as measures to encourage collaborations and synergy.

The centre has five key goals:

• To increase the extent and impact of research and training
• To increase the visibility and international impact of research conducted in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology in Quebec
• To maintain and expand research collaborations between various partners from academia, government and industry in Quebec, Canada and abroad; to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and technology
• Along with academic institutions, to develop an integrated curriculum of training in advanced materials, nanoscience and nanotechnology
• To diversifying the sources and increase the level of funding for research on advanced materials by taking advantage of complementary expertise and facilities within the group.

 The RQMP research program is articulated around the following three areas of research:

• Nanomaterials: molecular electronics, photovoltaics and luminescence, coatings and thin films
• Quantum materials: superconductivity, magnetism, quantum computing, spintronics, two-dimensional transport
• Tools and methods: for modeling, synthesis and characterization

 The center brings together sixty-nine physicists, chemists and engineers, who design, synthesize and characterize new materials and material assemblies, to modulate at the atomic scale their physical, electrical and magnetic properties in order to adapt their properties to specific applications. The RQMP currently trains over 400 graduate students, 100 postdoctoral fellows and 50 professional and research associates, who contribute to the establishment and development of a national center of excellence devoted to the science and technology of advanced materials.

Centre in Green Chemistry and Catalysis  (CGCC)

The FQRNT Centre in Green Chemistry and Catalysis (CGCC) was founded in 2009 and brings together 52 members across Quebec who are active in solving various issues in Green chemistry and catalysis.  The thrust of the Centre is to create cleaner chemistry as a tool to address issues of environmental concerns and efficiency.  These include themes in new synthetic approaches via catalysis, the use of Green solvents, biomass conversion and others.  Applications of this synthetic work are directed towards organic synthesis, materials science, commodity chemicals, polymer chemistry and other classes of products.

 

Administrative Structures

Albertus Magnus Graduate Center

The UoC-wide Albertus Magnus Graduate Center (AMGC) was opened in 2014.  It is the uniting structure for the UoC-funded Graduate Schools, the externally funded Graduate Schools, and Graduate Schools established with non-university partners, as well as external doctorate candidates, i.e. non-campus-based doctoral students. 

Bonn International Graduate Schools (BIGS)

The University of Bonn has the goal to guide its scientific/academic young scholars to obtaining a doctoral degree in the structured framework of graduate schools. In order to ensure the highest quality standards here, the Bonn International Graduate Schools (BIGS) were established. BIGS are permanent institutions for ensuring a sophisticated doctoral studies culture in the individual majors. Doctoral programs funded by external means; i.e., programs that are of a limited duration and focused on a topic, can be affiliated with BIGS. 

The Chemistry Department of the University of Bonn will submit an application to establish the International Graduate School of Chemistry within the winterterm 2014/15.