Annual Report 2012

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Annual Report 2012


Das Forschungszentrum Jülich auf einen Blick Das Forschungszentrum Jülich betreibt interdisziplinäre Spitzenforschung und stellt sich drängenden Fragen der Gegenwart. Mit seinen Kompetenzen in der Materialforschung und Simulation und seiner Expertise in der Physik, der Nano- und Informationstechnologie sowie den Biowissenschaften und der Hirnforschung entwickelt es die Grundlagen für zukünftige Schlüsseltechnologien. Damit leistet das Forschungszentrum Beiträge zur Lösung großer gesellschaftlicher Herausforderungen in den Bereichen Energie und Umwelt, Gesundheit sowie Informationstechnologie. Das Forschungszentrum Jülich geht neue Wege in strategischen Partnerschaften mit Hochschulen, Forschungseinrichtungen und der Industrie im In- und Ausland. Mit mehr als 5.000 Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeitern gehört es als Mitglied der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft zu den großen interdisziplinären Forschungszentren Europas. 2

Gründung 11. Dezember 1956 Gesellschafter Bundesrepublik Deutschland (90 Prozent) Land Nordrhein-Westfalen (10 Prozent) Stammkapital 520.000 Euro Erlöse 557 Millionen Euro Fläche 2,2 Quadratkilometer Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter Gesamt 5.236 Darin enthalten: Wissenschaftler 1.658 (davon Doktoranden 469) Technisches Personal 1.662 Auszubildende & Praktikanten 303 (Stichtag 31.12.2012)

Vorstand Prof. Dr. Achim Bachem (Vorsitzender) Karsten Beneke (Stellvertretender Vorsitzender) Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt (Mitglied des Vorstands) Prof. Dr. Harald Bolt (Mitglied des Vorstands) Aufsichtsrat Ministerialdirektor Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher (Vorsitzender) Wissenschaftlicher Beirat Dr. Heike Riel (Vorsitzende) Wissenschaftlich-Technischer Rat Prof. Dr. A. Wahner (Vorsitzender)

Gastwissenschaftler 860 aus 40 Ländern

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Forschungszentrum Jülich at a Glance Forschungszentrum Jülich pursues cutting-edge interdisciplinary research addressing the pressing issues of the present. With its competence in materials science and simulation, and its expertise in physics, nanotechnology and information technology, as well as in the biosciences and brain research, Jülich is developing the basis for the key technologies of tomorrow. In this way, Forschungszentrum Jülich helps to solve the grand challenges facing society in the fields of energy and the environment, health, and information technology. Forschungszentrum Jülich is also exploring new avenues in strategic partnerships with universities, research institutions and industry in Germany and abroad. With more than 5,000 employees, Jülich – a member of the Helmholtz Association – is one of the large interdisciplinary research centres in Europe.

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

Founded 11 December 1956 Partners Federal Republic of Germany (90 %) Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia (10 %) Share capital € 520,000 Revenue € 557 million Area 2.2 km2 Staff Total 5,236 Including: Scientists 1,658 (inc. PhD students 469) Technical staff 1,662 Trainees & students on placement 303 (As of: 31.12.2012)

Visiting scientists 860 from 40 countries Board of Directors Prof. Dr. Achim Bachem (Chairman) Karsten Beneke (Vice-Chairman) Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt (Member of the Board) Prof. Dr. Harald Bolt (Member of the Board) Supervisory Board Ministerialdirektor Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher (Chairman) Scientific Advisory Council Dr. Heike Riel (Chairman) Scientific and Technical Council Prof. Dr. A. Wahner (Chairman)

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Annual Report 2012 Contents

17 Highlight Energy Research Forschungszentrum Jülich is continuously expanding its energy research to lay the scientific and technical foundations for the transformation of the energy system. A major priority is to explore material systems for the sustainable, safe and secure provision of energy in the future.

25 Knowledge Management

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Creating knowledge, imparting it, sharing it, and using it – these are the elements of effective knowledge management at Forschungszentrum Jülich. We pursue our aim of sustainable development with the sustainable campus project that targets both science as well as each individual’s daily work.

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This year’s Annual Report is also available as an e-paper with links to multimedia content: www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN/Press/Publications/annualreports/_node.html

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Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Forschungszentrum Jülich at a Glance

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Preface by the Board of Directors

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Chronology

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Highlight Energy Research

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• Next-Generation Batteries

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• Innovative Material for Fuel Cells

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• Smart Material for Solar Cells

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• Recharging After Midnight – Study on Electromobility

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• Fuels from Green Electricity, Carbon Dioxide, and Water – Interview with Christian von Olshausen

Knowledge Management

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Our Responsibility: The Sustainable Campus

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Our Business: Knowledge

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Creating Knowledge Achieving and Publishing New Insights

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Faulty Folding – Catastrophic Consequences

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Designing Molecular Data Storage

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Accolades

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Third-Party Funding

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External Involvement and Platforms

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Computer Simulation on a Royal Level

43

Personnel

44

Imparting Knowledge Training with Prospects

48

Early-Career Scientists

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Sharing Knowledge Knowledge Worldwide

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Facts & Figures

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Operation Brain: The Human Brain Project

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Above the Clouds – No Limits in Climate Research

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Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA)

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JARA-FAME: Discovering Elemental Building Blocks and Forces

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Using Knowledge Jülich Know-How in Industry and Society

66

Research for Practical Applications

67

Appendix

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Finances

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Bodies and Committees

76

Organization Chart

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Contact

80

Publication Details

81

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

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Preface by the Board of Directors

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normous research effort is required to ensure that we will be able to satisfy society’s future demand for energy in a climate-smart and sustainable manner. Forschungszentrum Jülich will therefore concentrate to an even greater degree on laying the scientific and technical groundwork for the transformation of our energy system, particularly in terms of material systems for energy provision. In 2012, our commitment to this strategy was reflected in the significant expansion of energy research at Jülich. With the reorganization of this field of research, the number of subinstitutes involved in energy research increased from six in the former Institute of Energy research to a total of ten in its newly founded successor, the Institute of Energy and Climate Research. New areas include the research field of fundamental electrochemistry. Jülich energy research thus benefits from the creation of additional leadership positions and, in the future, new young investigators groups. It will also profit from energy-relevant research projects in other institutes of Forschungszentrum Jülich. More resources are planned for this field, particularly in the area of key technologies. Overall, we are investing tens of millions in the expansion of our energy research infrastructure. In the coming funding period of the Helmholtz Association, Forschungszentrum Jülich plans to increase the funds for energy research in the field of Energy alone by more than a third to a sum of € 76.5 million. We want to consolidate our position as a leading German research institution

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in exploring material systems for the provision of energy in the future – and we want to do so internationally. Selected examples of such new materials are presented in this Annual Report. They include innovative steel for fuel cells and a smart material mix containing silicon for solar cells. New storage technologies are also of utmost importance, because renewables are not always available when they are urgently needed. Together with Helmholtz partners and selected universities, Jülich

laboratory experiment to technology transfer to industry. In this Annual Report, you will also read about how a company uses renewable energies to produce fuels from the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and water, employing know-how from Jülich. On Forschungszentrum Jülich’s campus, we have also committed to the sustainable use of energy and other resources and established the Sustainable Campus staff unit. The first projects, such as energy-efficient new buildings

“Forschungszentrum Jülich is involved in the entire value chain of research and development – from the very first laboratory experiment to technology transfer to industry.”

scientists are working on a number of projects to ensure the greatest operational safety possible, increase the performance and lifetime of storage systems, and reduce the material requirements and costs. Concepts for sustainable mobility are also important to make the transformation of the energy sector a reality. Jülich scientists have published a comprehensive study on the impact that the political target of six million electric cars on German roads in the year 2030 will have on the electricity grid and the climate. Forschungszentrum Jülich is involved in the entire value chain of research and development – from the very first

and a bike-friendly campus, were already implemented in 2012. Forschungszentrum Jülich thus highlights the pivotal role of energy research – and plays an important part in key forward-looking projects in European science. For example, the Human Brain Project was selected in early 2013 as a ‘flagship’ in the EU programme Future and Emerging Technologies. With funding to the tune of up to € 100 million per year, researchers from 23 countries are planning to simulate the human brain on a supercomputer of the future. Their goal is a better understanding of the brain, which will help to improve the diagnosis and treatment of brain

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


The Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt, Prof. Dr. Achim Bachem, Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt and Karsten Beneke (from left to right)

diseases. Jülich scientists are adding to this project their expertise in brain research and know-how in supercomputing, together with the regional research partners in the Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), the universities of Düsseldorf and Wuppertal, as well as the German Research School for Simulation Sciences (GRS).

Prof. Dr. Achim Bachem (Chairman of the Board of Directors)

In order to meet changing requirements for Jülich’s role in the international research arena, modern committees and organizational structures are needed. In November 2012, the new Articles of Association were signed, which equip Forschungszentrum Jülich with more freedom, flexibility, and transparency. They facilitate cooperation

Karsten Beneke (Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors)

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt (Member of the Board of Directors)

with other scientific institutions and with commercial enterprises. The Supervisory Board also instituted an international Scientific Advisory Council that will advise Forschungszentrum Jülich in the future.

Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt (Member of the Board of Directors)

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Chronology March 2012 to March 2013

Printing Bioelectronic Chips 21 March 2012 | The journal Advanced Functional Materials publishes a paper by scientists from Forschungszentrum Jülich and Sony Deutschland GmbH that makes it to the front page. The researchers present a method to cheaply and easily produce electronic circuits with sensitive polymers or biological molecules. The procedure involves a skilful combination of nanoimprint and stamping technologies that only require the biomolecules to withstand room temperature and normal pressure.

Insight into the Formation of Plaques 20 April 2012 | Diseases such as Alzheimer’s and CreutzfeldtJakob involve a striking amount of deposits of clumped protein in the brain, referred to as amyloid plaques by experts. In the journal Science, an international team headed by Jülich scientist Philipp Neudecker reports that they have observed an important intermediate stage in the formation of these plaques with the help of NMR spectroscopy. This incorrectly folded protein state only exists for a few thousandths of a second (see ‘Faulty Folding – Catastrophic Consequences’ on p. 30).

Electrochemistry on the Atomic Level 29 April 2012 | In the journal Nature Materials, researchers from the Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) and Japanese colleagues present a new method for investigating electrochemical metallization memory cells (ECMs) on the atomic level. ECMs could potentially succeed today’s computer memory technology because, in principle, they are able to switch in a faster and more energy-efficient manner.

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Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Tailor-Made Nanomagnets 29 April 2012 | The journal Nature Physics publishes research results that pave the way towards tailor-made nanomagnets for future information technology. On a copper surface, researchers from the University of Hamburg arranged individual iron atoms in patterns. J端lich scientists calculated the magnetic properties of these structures using a selfdeveloped method from theoretical physics.

Study on Synaesthesia 30 May 2012 | There are people who see numbers in colours or taste words: in synaesthetes, sensory impressions are linked to each other in an extraordinary way. In the Journal of Neuroscience, scientists from J端lich and Munich report that in synaesthetes, certain networks are indeed more strongly linked than in those who do not have this gift. They discovered this by means of structural magnetic resonance imaging.

Simulating a Proton Race 6 June 2012 | J端lich researchers have simulated the proton migration on the cell membrane that is important in the formation of ATP, the main energy source of cells. The simulation provides an explanation for the high speed of the protons measured by the cooperation partner in Linz (Austria). The scientists discovered a previously unknown boundary layer along which protons can move practically unimpeded without becoming detached from the membrane surface. They report on their results in the journal PNAS. Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum J端lich

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Cheap Catalyst 10 June 2012 | In the journal Nature Materials, scientists from Jülich, Dresden, Berlin, Munich and Budapest present a cheap alternative to a catalyst made of the expensive noble metal palladium, which promotes an important reaction in the production of polyethylene. The new catalyst is a complex intermetallic compound consisting of aluminium and iron. Polyethylene is the plastic material of which the largest quantities are produced worldwide.

Haemoglobin in the Neutron Beam 13 June 2012 | Haemoglobin in red blood cells transports oxygen from the lungs to the entire body in humans as well as in chickens, crocodiles, and platypuses. As neutron beam measurements by an international team headed by Jülich researcher Dr. Andreas Stadler show, the haemoglobins in these animals differ in their flexibility. This means that they are perfectly adapted to each animal’s body temperature, which is 33 °C in platypuses and 42.8 °C in chickens, for example. The researchers published their results in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

When Seals Become Untight 19 June 2012 | The daily Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel reports on rubber seals that last for longer than thought. Simulations on Jülich supercomputer demonstrated that only 42 % of the area between two surfaces must be in contact to make the seal impermeable for liquids – instead of at least 50 % as suggested by previous theories.

Attack on Tuberculosis Pathogens 25 June 2012 | Biotechnologists from Jülich and Birmingham have decoded the structure of an enzyme that is indispensable for tuberculosis pathogens. The researchers report in PNAS that they identified two regions where the new group of antibiotics attack. The pathogens of tuberculosis, one of the most frequently occurring infectious diseases worldwide, are increasingly resistant to common antibiotics.

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Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Successful Mission for Climate Research 23 July 2012 | The Zeppelin NT lands in Friedrichshafen having measured air quality above the Netherlands and the Mediterranean for around seven weeks. Forschungszentrum Jülich coordinated the measurement campaigns, which were part of the EU project PEGASOS. The scientists were able to collect plenty of high-quality data that promise new findings on the process of particle formation and the self-purification of the atmosphere.

Biologically Active Without Water 2 August 2012 | Proteins are tiny biological machines that catalyse processes in cells or lend support to tissue. The journal JACS publishes the results of an international team of researchers that demonstrated, partly with Jülich instruments at neutron sources, why proteins with a polymer shell also function without water. These proteins move in a similar manner to proteins covered by a layer of water.

Tracking Down Brain Metastases 7 August 2012 | Malignant tumours such as lung or breast carcinoma often cause metastases to form in the brain. When these metastases are treated by radiotherapy, the radiation may lead to changes in the tissue. Scientists from Jülich, Aachen, and Cologne publish a patient study on this topic in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. It shows that the radiation damage can be distinguished from new metastases using the FET-PET method for diagnosis.

Force Meter for Molecules 16 August 2012 | In the journal Physical Review Letters, Jülich scientists present an experimental method of determining the minute adhesive force of individual molecules on a surface using an atomic force microscope. They were able to precisely determine the contributions of the van der Waals forces and other types of bonds.

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

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New Research Aircraft 20 August 2012 | The research aircraft HALO is officially put into operation during an event in Oberpfaffenhofen. Prof. Andreas Wahner, head of the Scientific Advisory Committee for HALO, is in attendance. The first of six flights in the TACTS mission starts after the event. Three measuring instruments from Jülich are part of the mission recording the concentration of important greenhouse gases and their exchange in the atmosphere (see ‘Above the Clouds – No Limits in Climate Research’, p. 63).

Bolstered Energy Research 29 August 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich coordinates the Helmholtz Energy Materials Characterization Platform (HEMCP), for which it receives project funding to the tune of € 6.5 million from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The six research institutions involved in HEMCP will study innovative materials for efficient energy conversion technologies and new options for energy storage – drawing primarily on methods that will provide information on structural, electronic, and chemical properties under operating conditions.

Start of Long-Term Test 6 September 2012 | Jülich researchers put into operation a new 20 kW demonstration system for combined heat and power units with solid oxide fuel cells. These systems can produce electricity and heat for residential and industrial buildings with considerably higher overall efficiency than large power stations. They will initially be operated continuously at a constant output for several thousand hours, followed by dynamic tests with load changes.

Semiconductors Turned Magnets 14 October 2012 | In Nature Materials, an international team including physicists from Forschungszentrum Jülich publish an article that answers the question of how magnetism emerges in gallium manganese arsenide at low temperatures. They examined the semiconductor with an innovative method at the world’s most powerful synchrotron facility in Japan. This method could also help to identify materials that are semiconducting and magnetic at room temperature and therefore interesting for future information technology. 12


Where Caffeine Takes Effect 23 October 2012 | Die Welt and other newspapers publish articles on findings by Jülich researchers who demonstrated that the stimulating effect of coffee unfolds primarily in areas of the cerebrum that are responsible for complex cognitive association and evaluation processes. The reports focus on the fact that caffeine acts in those regions of the brain that are affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

Molecular Spirals 24 October 2012 | Thread-like molecules, such as DNA, form spirals when they flow through microscopically small channels. Jülich scientists provide explanations for the forces that bring about this deformation in the journal Physical Review Letters. Understanding the flow behaviour of such molecules is important for the development of medical test disks that can be used to cheaply examine tiny amounts of blood.

Keynote Lecture 12 November 2012 | At Jülich’s end-of-year ceremony, 300 guests from politics, science, and industry listen to Prof. Thomas Lippert’s keynote lecture at the Rhineland Regional Museum in Bonn. He discusses how high-performance computing has changed science and what new findings are made possible by supercomputers. Computer simulations can build bridges between theory and practice in fields such as climate research, energy research, and brain research, and have become indispensable.

Collapse under Thermal Pressure Calculated 12 November 2012 | Capsules with a diameter of a few micro- or even nanometres are being discussed as possible vehicles for transporting drugs to specific organs. According to computer simulations described by scientists from Jülich and Harvard in the journal PNAS, heat-related molecular movements adversely affect the stability of such capsules, which is why they collapse more easily under pressure than previously predicted. Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

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Soot as a Climate Threat 23 January 2013 | The impact on climate change of soot, which is also referred to as black carbon, is almost twice as great as previously believed. The Swiss daily newspaper Neue Züricher Zeitung and other media report on this finding by an international group of researchers including Forschungszentrum Jülich. This makes soot the second biggest factor contributing to anthropogenic climate warming after carbon dioxide.

Network for Plant Research 23 January 2013 | Thomas Rachel, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Education and Research, announced funding worth more than € 35 million at the launch of the German Plant Phenotyping Network (DPPN). In addition to Forschungszentrum Jülich, Helmholtzzentrum München (HMGU) and the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research at Gatersleben (IPK) are also involved in DPPN. In the network, the partners plan to develop primarily non-invasive technologies for plant research and breeding.

Molecular Magnets 24 January 2013 | The journal Nature publishes the results of an international team of researchers including three physicists from Jülich. The scientists have produced a thin layer system made of cobalt and organic molecules that can serve to store information by means of magnetism. They are therefore taking another step towards the vision of molecular spintronics, a technology that could potentially succeed current information technology (see ‘Designing Molecular Data Storage’, p. 32).

Europe’s Fastest Computer 14 February 2013 | The supercomputer JUQUEEN is officially put into operation during an event at Forschungszentrum Jülich. It has a peak performance of almost six quadrillion arithmetic operations per second and is therefore the fastest supercomputer in Europe at the time of its launch. It is also one of the most energy-efficient supercomputers in the world. It was funded by the Helmholtz Association and – with equal amounts from the federal and state budgets – the Gauss Centre for Supercomputing. 14

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Environmentally Friendly Auxiliary Power Unit 19 February 2013 | Jülich scientists present a system with high-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells (HT-PEFCs) that supplies trucks with power in a particularly efficient, environmentally friendly, and quiet manner. Operated on diesel or kerosene, this unit delivered an electrical output of 5 kW in tests. Long-distance trucks or refrigerated trucks for frozen goods, for example, require 3 kW to 10 kW of energy for air conditioning and cooling – comparable to the requirements of a multi-family house.

New Simulation Laboratories 26 February 2013 | The Simulation Laboratory (SimLab) Terrestrial Systems is launched. The Simulation Laboratory Neuroscience was already inaugurated in January. The SimLab Terrestrial Systems includes Jülich geoscientists, and the SimLab Neuroscience brain researchers, who in both cases also work on simulation methods and algorithms for supercomputers. Their main task, however, is to help other scientists from their discipline make optimum use of the supercomputers.

Ozone Layer on the Road to Recovery 28 February 2013 | One of the main results of the EU project RECONCILE, which is now completed, is good news: according to recent findings, the ozone layer over the North Pole should recover by the end of the century. Scientists from Jülich and their colleagues from 35 research institutions and universities in 14 countries spent four years investigating the chemical process of ozone depletion in great detail.

PET Centre Opened 7 March 2013 | Jülich’s new Centre for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is inaugurated. It brings together scientists, doctors, and patients under one roof and rapidly incorporates results from neurological research into clinical practice. PET delivers images of the brain that can help to diagnose Alzheimer’s early, to improve the diagnosis of tumours, and to develop new active ingredients.

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Highlight Energy Research 18 Next-Generation Batteries 20 Innovative Material for Fuel Cells 21 Smart Material for Solar Cells 22 Recharging After Midnight – Study on Electromobility 23 Fuels from Green Electricity, Carbon Dioxide, and Water

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Silicon in sand and oxygen in the balloon: Prof. Rüdiger Eichel shows symbolically that the raw materials for silicon-air batteries can be found almost anywhere.

Next-Generation Batteries At the moment, lithium-ion batteries are the state of the art for storing as much energy as possible in as little material as possible. Jülich scientists are developing environmentally friendly and robust batteries that have even higher energy densities – and do not require limited raw materials.

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ew types of batteries that are more powerful than those available today are the key to the energy supply of the future. Power from wind or solar energy can only be generated depending on the weather instead of on demand, so that the expansion of renewable energies requires options for storing large amounts of energy and rapidly making them available again. The lithium-air battery is a candidate for such energy storage, because theoretically, it can achieve 50 times the energy density of current lithium-ion batteries. “The use of lithium does, however, involve certain difficulties: it reacts violently with atmospheric humidity or water. Furthermore, the metal is in short supply and will soon become more expensive if demand increases sharply,” says Jülich scientist Prof. Rüdiger Eichel. This is where he sees major advantages for an alternative: silicon-air batteries.

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Silicon is obtained from sand and reserves are practically inexhaustible. The silicon-air battery consists of nontoxic and environmentally compatible components: one pole, the anode, is made of silicon. At the other pole, the cathode, molecular oxygen is ‘reduced’ to oxygen ions, as the experts say (see graphic). The oxygen does not have to be carried along in the battery, but is taken up from the surrounding air during the discharge process. Such batteries would therefore be smaller and more lightweight than conventional batteries and could store more energy in little space. In order to fully exploit the potential of this new type of battery, the scientists have yet to overcome a number of hurdles. Eichel and his team from Fundamental Electrochemistry at the Institute of Energy and Climate Research are working closely with the inventors of the silicon-air battery at Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology. The Jülich scien-

tists are exploring above all the reactions inside the battery which prevent it from providing as much energy during the discharge process as expected theoretically. They discovered that manganese dioxide, which is currently utilized at the cathode as a catalyst, reacts with the liquid electrolyte of the battery. This has two undesirable consequences. Firstly, the activity of the catalyst particles is reduced. Secondly, the particles become bigger, which probably causes them to clog the pores at the electrode, so that less oxygen can pass through. In the meantime, the scientists have discovered that tricobalt tetroxide (Co3O4) makes a more effective catalyst. The researchers from Jülich and Haifa also made another, very surprising discovery. “It used to be considered obvious that if metal-air batteries did not function as desired then the cathode was the main culprit,” says Eichel. But the scientists demonstrated that in silicon-

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Electrolysis mode

Current flow e-

» Charging Silicon anode

Cathode: porous carbon and catalyst

RTIL electrolyte (room temperature, ionic liquid) Si 4+

Metal oxide

Nickel mesh O

Fuel cell mode –

Teflon layer

Cathode Anode

H2 Fuel gas chamber

» Discharging

+

Metal oxide

O2-

eAnode Cathode Electrolyte

H2 Fuel gas chamber

O2-

2-

O2

Oxygen

O2-

Metal

H2O

Metal

O2-

H2O

O2-

Oxygen

Oxygen

Silicon-air battery

High-temperature metal-metal oxide battery

When the battery discharges, silicon is oxidized to silicon ions. The released electrons flow from the silicon anode through a power cable to a nickel mesh on the cathode. There, molecular oxygen is reduced to oxygen ions. At the same time, silicon ions migrate through an ionic liquid and react with oxygen ions at the cathode, forming silicon dioxide.

When the battery is charged (left image) with power from surplus wind energy, for example, the metal oxide is reduced to metal, and the hydrogen oxidizes. The electrical voltage applied externally ‘drives’ the steam that is formed towards the cathode, where it is reduced to hydrogen. The oxygen ions migrate through the electrolyte towards the anode. There, molecular oxygen is formed and released into the air. During discharging (right image), this process is reversed: the battery absorbs oxygen and the oxygen ions migrate towards the fuel gas electrode, where hydrogen is oxidized to water and the oxygen partial pressure in the closed fuel gas chamber increases. This causes the metal to oxidize.

air batteries, it is primarily processes at the silicon anode that currently inhibit battery discharge. This constitutes an entirely new starting point for improvements. The high-temperature battery Jülich scientists from the Institute of Energy and Climate Research are also working on another innovative type of energy storage. It promises similar advantages as the silicon-air battery. The materials are cheap and hazardfree, they have a high storage density, and oxygen is taken from the surrounding air while the battery discharges and is released again during charging. However, this energy storage medium of average to high capacity is quite distinct from a silicon-air battery. The concept is based on solid oxide fuel cells, which have been developed and fabricated at Forschungszentrum Jülich for many years. In future high-temperature metal-metal oxide batteries, these fuel cells will be used not only in their standard operating mode, in which they directly and efficiently convert chemical energy into electricity. Instead, they will also be operated in reverse mode – referred to as electrolysis mode – in order to convert the excess electric energy that is produced at times by

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

wind turbines into chemical energy. This chemical energy can then be stored by reducing a metal oxide to a metal. When the battery is discharging, the metal in the storage medium reacts with oxygen to form metal oxide again, and the system delivers power in the fuel cell mode. For the charging and discharging cycles to work, the battery must be operated at temperatures of more than 650 °C. The research project MeMO for the development of high-temperature energy storage systems based on metalmetal oxides for short- and mid-term storage of volatile renewable excess

energy was launched in September 2012 and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Since then, the Jülich scientists have already tested a variety of materials and designs for the metal-metal oxide storage systems and identified a few combinations that are particularly suitable. “We have also integrated storage systems into fuel cell stacks and demonstrated that they work in principle and can be charged and discharged several times,” says project coordinator Dr. Norbert H. Menzler from Materials Synthesis and Processing.

At the launch of the MeMO project: Thomas Rachel (3 rd from left), Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Prof. Harald Bolt, member of the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich (2 nd from left), as well as Dr. Hans Peter Buchkremer (left) and Dr. Norbert Menzler (right), both from the Institute of Energy and Climate Research.

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Innovative Material for Fuel Cells Special connecting plates are needed to join solid oxide fuel cells together in a system that produces electricity in an efficient and climate-smart manner. In cooperation with the company Outokumpu VDM, Jülich scientists have developed a material that fulfils all of the requirements these interconnects must meet. The partners were awarded the 2012 Steel Innovation Prize for their work.

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olid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have a high efficiency: they convert more than half of the energy contained in natural gas or hydrogen into electricity. Researchers at Jülich are advancing the practical application of this resource-conserving and climate-smart energy technology. For example, they developed a demonstration system for SOFC combined heat and power units, which they put into operation in 2012. Combined heat and power units can be used for the decentralized and efficient generation of heat and electricity for residential and industrial buildings. SOFCs are promising candidates for supplying power in trucks, cars and ships. To ensure that such systems achieve sufficiently high voltages, the SOFCs within them are electrically connected in series. Conducting interconnect

plates join the individual cells and give the system the necessary mechanical stability. In 2001, Prof. Willem Quadakkers from Jülich’s Institute of Energy and Climate Research began to cooperate with Outokumpu VDM, aiming to identify a material for the interconnects capable of withstanding operating temperatures between 700 °C and 900 °C for periods of thousands of operating hours and more. The research partners quickly succeeded in developing a steel alloy that expands in a similar manner to the SOFC electrolyte when heated and also forms an electrically conductive protective layer. Outokumpu VDM markets the steel under the trade name of Crofer® 22 APU. A significant disadvantage of this material, however, is that producing it requires expensive vacuum technology because it can only contain very small amounts of silicon.

Interconnects join individual planar solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) together to form a stack. The stack in this picture has a power output of 5 kW.

“In order to overcome this drawback, we used a metallurgic trick,” explains Quadakkers. The researchers increased the fraction of silicon in the steel alloy and simultaneously added small amounts of niobium and tungsten. Together, the three elements form a special compound that disperses very finely in the steel as precipitation. “This has two direct positive effects,” says Quadakkers. Firstly, the precipitates improve the stability of the steel at high temperatures even further. Secondly, the harmful internal oxidation of the silicon is suppressed. This means that the steel can contain enough silicon to be produced using a conventional melting process. Crofer® 22 H has also been launched on the market.

Researchers analyse the surfaces of the new steel alloy for fuel cells (SOFCs) to determine whether chemical changes occur.

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Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Smart Material for Solar Cells The perfect material for many layers in a solar cell would be electrically conductive like silicon and simultaneously transparent like quartz glass. Jülich scientists incorporate a mixture of substances in their high-tech solar cells that bring them much closer to achieving this ideal.

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t the end of 2012, it cost no more than 20 cents to generate a kilowatt hour of solar electricity, which is less than what households pay on average for the same quantity of electricity. In order to reduce the costs even more, researchers throughout the world are working on saving material and energy in solar cell production and on improving the current yield. To this end, different concepts are being pursued, including thin-film and wafer solar cells. Last year, scientists from Jülich’s Institute of Energy and Climate Research showed that both types of cell benefit from an innovative material. The material is a mixture of microcrystalline silicon and amorphous silicon oxide. Microcrystalline substances comprise tiny crystals in which the atoms are regularly ordered, while amorphous materials do not have a regular structure. “According to our investigations, layers of the material mixture form channels of microcrystalline silicon which conduct electric current, while the amorphous silicon oxide ensures that the layers have a high permeability to light,” says Jülich photovoltaic expert Dr. Friedhelm Finger. Mixtures of silicon and silicon oxide can be used in the intermediate reflector and in the semiconducting layers of a thin-film solar cell where small amounts of impurities like boron or phosphorus increase the number of mobile electric charge carriers. These ‘doped’ layers are like a sandwich enclosing the semiconducting layer with no impurities. And the more light they let through to this intermediate layer, the better. The Jülich researchers have demonstrated that their innovative material is beneficial in this regard.

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

Kaining Ding (left) with the prototype of a small wafer solar cell containing layers made from an innovative mixture of materials. Thin-film solar cells (in the foreground) could also benefit from this material in the future. They have also prepared dozens of thin-film solar cells with the material and determined their stable efficiency – a measure of how effectively a cell in continuous operation converts light into electric current. With a value of 11.8 %, these solar cells performed much better than other Jülich cells of a similar design without the new material and than commercially available modules, which achieve an efficiency of at best 10 %. More material and energy are required to produce solar cells with crystalline silicon wafers compared to thin-film solar cells, but they also achieve much higher efficiencies. Using a special type of construction, referred to by the specialists with the abbrevia-

tion ‘HIT’ (heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer), Jülich scientists achieved a maximal efficiency of 19 % in 2012. All contact layers were composed of the innovative material mixture. “This demonstrates the potential of silicon oxide materials,” says Finger’s colleague Kaining Ding. And there are still ways of increasing efficiency even further – for example, texturing the wafer surfaces.

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Recharging After Midnight – Study on Electromobility A team headed by Jülich scientist Jochen Linßen developed a conclusive scenario of a future energy supply in order to study the integration of electric cars into the German electricity grid. The scientists presented their final report in 2012.

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he current German federal government is backing electric vehicles in an effort to protect the climate. Its concept envisages that the Germans will be driving one million electric cars by 2020 and six million in 2030. Jülich’s experts for energy systems analysis worked with partners from science and industry on the NET-ELAN project, investigating the impact of this political target on the electricity grid, the energy industry, and the climate. According to the study, the use of electric vehicles would lead to a reduction of almost 5 % in the consumption of mineral oil products in the entire trans-

Dr. Jochen Linßen, expert in energy systems analysis at Forschungszentrum Jülich

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port sector by 2030. The result: the emission of the greenhouse gas CO2 would be reduced by between five and eleven million tonnes in Germany. “This figure has such a wide range because the electricity used to charge the batteries of the electric vehicles comes from wind energy and the amount of electricity it generates fluctuates depending on weather conditions,” explains Jochen Linßen from the Institute of Energy and Climate Research, lead author of the NET-ELAN final report. The study, which involved scientists from Forschungszentrum Jülich, TU Berlin, the Centre of Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), Ford Forschungszentrum Aachen, and Vattenfall Europe AG, also came to the conclusion that the market introduction of electric cars as planned by the federal government is technically feasible. If the cars are recharged at defined times, Germany will not have to

Will the electric cars on German roads be recharged using excess electric energy from wind turbines in 2030? The NET-ELAN study provides an answer.

construct any additional power plants or adapt the transmission grids. In another respect, however, the capacity of the currently planned grid will not be sufficient. Not all of the excess electricity from wind energy can be transported to the conurbations and thus to the charging stations for electric cars. The excess electricity comes from planned wind farms both onshore and offshore in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. On windy days, they will produce more power than will be immediately required. On calm days, however, they will not be able to cover the demand. The study presents a solution that would allow electric cars in 2030 to consume up to 60 % of the electricity required to charge them from otherwise unused wind energy. In addition to expanding the grid to combat bottlenecks, the following strategy will help: electric cars should be recharged throughout the night between the hours of midnight and six in the morning. During this time, the grid is not used to capacity as the demand for electricity is low and the potential excess electricity from wind energy is particularly high.

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Fuels from Green Electricity, Carbon Dioxide, and Water Sunfire GmbH, based in Dresden, is developing a procedure using renewable energies to efficiently produce petrol, diesel, or kerosene from carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). In doing so, the company is banking on know-how from Jülich – in a collaborative project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. An interview with Christian von Olshausen, Chief Technical Officer at Sunfire.

What are the steps in your method for producing fuels from green electricity, CO2, and water? The first and most important step is high-temperature steam electrolysis. We are developing a facility for this purpose that splits steam into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity from renewable sources. Compared to the splitting of liquid water, this procedure saves a lot of energy. In the second step, carbon dioxide (CO2) is reduced to carbon monoxide (CO) with hydrogen. In a third step, we then synthesize liquid hydrocarbons – the fuels – from CO and additional hydrogen. Heat is released in this process, which we use to produce hydrogen again for the first step. The efficiency of the entire process is about 50 % for the current state of the art, which means that only half of the electric energy would be converted into fuels. We want to increase this efficiency to up to 70 %, first and foremost by improving the steam electrolysis step.

How is Forschungszentrum Jülich involved? Jülich is refining the electrolysis cell based on high-temperature fuel cells in cooperation with other partners. Forschungszentrum Jülich has proven expertise in this field. The main aim is to test the individual layers that make up the cell. Although the project was only launched in 2012, what we have already achieved with the support of Forschungszentrum Jülich is impressive: for example, we have significantly reduced the degradation of the cells, that’s the decline in performance when cells are operated. Producing petrol from the greenhouse gas CO2 and renewable energy – that sounds fantastic. But wouldn’t it make more sense to use the electricity directly to drive electric cars? After all, energy is lost in each additional conversion step. We don’t want to compete with electric drives, because it’s certainly much better to use electric energy directly. But it looks like it will hardly be possible to operate aircraft, ships, or large trucks on energy from batteries. Liquid fuels

will continue to provide advantages for these applications due to their high energy densities. What it comes down to is that our method, which will not be launched on the market on the refinery scale before 2020, allows us to store electricity in the form of fuels. In a few years’ time, electricity storage will become increasingly necessary because power supply will fluctuate considerably due to the transformation of the energy sector.

Christian von Olshausen, CTO at Sunfire GmbH, outlines the company’s cooperation with Forschungszentrum Jülich.

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

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NH2 CH3O CH3S CH3O

24


Knowledge Management 26 Our Responsibility: The Sustainable Campus 27 Our Business: Knowledge 28 Creating Knowledge 48 Imparting Knowledge 54 Sharing Knowledge 66 Using Knowledge

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Our Responsibility: The Sustainable Campus Forschungszentrum Jülich believes in sustainable development – not only as a subject of research, but also in its everyday work. Its goals are: • researching sustainably, i. e. using resources efficiently, • research for a sustainable society, i. e. working on topics for the future, taking into account our social responsibility, and • research that will prove sustainable, i. e. addressing topics with continuity.

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his will bring about changes in the different fields of work and the direct surroundings of each employee, whose active support will make Forschungszentrum Jülich an attractive and forward-looking place for sustainable research. Initial progress can already be seen on campus, including: • Energy-efficient new buildings housing offices and laboratories, some of which have replaced old building stock. The PET centre, new labs, offices, and infrastructure buildings, and an extension for the Ernst Ruska-Centre are all examples of the new way of construction on campus; • An increase in energy efficiency, for example with a modernized district heating network and a changeover of street lighting on campus to energysaving LED lamps. Forschungs zentrum Jülich is investing a total of

€ 932,000 in this measure alone. If 51 % of electricity can be saved, this will reduce CO2 emissions by about 146 tonnes per year; • The bike-friendly campus with cycle lanes, bike stands, and the bicycle gate, which is now open all day and enables cyclists to take the short route to the town of Jülich. As of May 2012, the Visitor Service also offers bike tours under the motto ‘Energy & Climate’ for visitors to Forschungszentrum Jülich; • The new building for the JuLab Schools Laboratory. It has been equipped with modern smart meters for the consumption of electric energy. All the measured data are recorded electronically. The aim of the pilot and demonstration project is the daily calculation of the carbon footprint of groups working in individual rooms. The educational objective is to pro-

mote sustainable thinking at an early age; • The online discussion forum ‘Sustainable Campus Arena’. It invites all employees of Forschungszentrum Jülich to discuss sustainable developments on campus and in research. They can contribute their ideas and put forward suggestions. The forum provides an opportunity for employees to become engaged in lively discussions on topics such as mobility or energy-efficient work in offices and laboratories. The Sustainable Campus staff unit headed by Dr. Peter Burauel was established in July 2012 to bring together all topics on campus related to sustainability. Its task is to support the institutes and infrastructure divisions in implementing a step-by-step transformation process that will make the campus more economically, ecologically and socially sustainable.

Marco Braun (right) and Christoph Krahe in the heating plant of Forschungszentrum Jülich. They are responsible for energy controlling and analysing the heat balances of different types of building on campus.

Sustainable Campus 26

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Our Business: Knowledge Creating knowledge Forschungszentrum Jülich fared extremely well once again in 2012 in terms of the most important indicators of research achievements. For example, Jülich scientists published more than 1,400 scientific papers in high-impact specialist journals and the total amount of funding acquired from the German Research Foundation (DFG) increased to almost € 6.6 million. Our committed personnel policy is a cornerstone of our research success. For example, Forschungszentrum Jülich hosted a conference on the topic of equal opportunities as a competitive edge on the international scene. Imparting knowledge The excellent research infrastructure at Forschungszentrum Jülich offers highly qualified professionals an ideal start for a career in science. Together with universities in the region, Forschungszentrum Jülich established new master’s degree programmes; graduate schools are creating opportunities for PhD projects that are also popular with PhD students from abroad. Scientists from Jülich who recently completed their PhDs were particularly successful in the Helmholtz Association’s new postdoc programme in 2012. Sharing knowledge Forschungszentrum Jülich cooperates closely with partners from science and industry, both on a national and an international level. An outstanding example of scientific cooperation in Europe is the Human Brain Project. In this flagship project in the EU programme Future and Emerging Technologies, researchers from 23 countries are working together to simulate the human brain on a supercomputer. Experts in the Jülich Supercomputing Centre are developing new supercomputers for this purpose, which will be able to perform a quintillion arithmetic operations per second (exaflop/s). Using knowledge Jülich’s expertise in central fields of research – such as energy and health as well as biotechnology – its excellent infrastructure and its know-how in key technologies make Jülich a sought-after partner for industry. Current examples show that Jülich scientists are involved in very application-relevant research: they are developing active substances against Alzheimer’s, an environmentally friendly emergency power supply for mobile base stations, as well as a method for scanning electronic waste for valuable raw materials.

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

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Achieving and Publishing New Insights Forschungszentrum Jülich has a new central reference systems for the research findings it has published: JuSER (Jülich Shared Electronic Services). Jülich’s Central Library developed the system in a cooperation with other institutions. It unites the former database of scientific publications by Forschungszentrum Jülich employees (VDB) and the open-access repository JUWEL. JuSER opens up new options for cooperation between scientists. They can now easily exchange their own manuscripts as well as publications of others, comment on either, and make them available to a group of colleagues.

Jülich publications in the last five years In peer-reviewed journals (of which co-authored with researchers from other institutions)

Total

Books, other publications

PhD theses, habilitations

2008

1,725

1,034 (753 = 72.8 %)

600

91

2009

1,720

1,133 (837 = 73.9 %)

526

61

2010

1,834

1,048 (770 = 73.5 %)

686

100

2011

2,115

1,363 (1.013 = 74.3 %)

651

101

2012

2,233

1,452 (1.100 = 75.8 %)

688

93

Journals in which Jülich researchers published most frequently in 2012 (as of: 31.12.2012). Journal

Number of publications

Physical Review B

61

Physical Review Letters

35

Applied Physics Letters

30

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

28

Geophysical Research Abstracts

28

PLOS one

25

Nuclear Fusion

23

Journal of Physics/Condensed Matter

23

NeuroImage

21

Nature Publishing Group scientific journals

15

Science

28

3

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Creating knowledge

Exemplary publications 2012 Bioelectronics circuits Advanced Functional Materials, 2012, 22/6, pp. 1129–1135 DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201101925 » see ‘Chronology’, p. 8

Tuberculosis pathogens PNAS, published ahead of print, 25 June 2012 DOI: 1073/pnas.1205735109 » see ‘Chronology’, p. 10

Misfolded proteins Science, 2012, 336/6079, pp. 362–366 DOI: 10.1126/science.1214203 » see ‘Faulty Folding – Catastrophic Consequences’, p. 30

Data transport on the nanoscale Physical Review Letters, 2012, 108, 197204 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.197204 www.fz-juelich.de/SharedDocs/ Pressemitteilungen/UK/EN/2012/1205-08SpinSpirals.html

Electrochemical systems for IT Nature Materials, 2012, 11, pp. 530-535 DOI: 10.1038/NMAT3307 » see ‘Chronology’, p. 8 New catalyst Nature Materials, 2012, 11, pp. 690–693 DOI: 10.1038/NMAT3307 » see ‘Chronology’, p. 10

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

Simulation of biomolecule helix formation Physical Review Letters, 2012, 109, 178101 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.178101 » see ‘Chronology’, p. 13

Caffeine and brain receptors Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 2012, published ahead of print, 10 September 2012 DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.112.105114 » see ‘Chronology’, p. 13 Silicon-air battery ChemSusChem, 2012, 5/11, pp. 2278–2285 DOI: 10.1002/cssc.20120019 » see ‘Next-Generation Batteries’, p. 18 Molecular magnetic data storage Nature, 2013, 493, pp. 509–513 DOI: 10.1038/nature11719 » see ‘Designing Molecular Data Storage’, p. 32

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Faulty Folding – Catastrophic Consequences The doctor Alois Alzheimer, who was the first to describe the disease named after him more than 100 years ago, saw them under the microscope: clumped protein deposits in the brains of deceased individuals who had suffered from Alzheimer’s. To this day, researchers do not fully understand why protein molecules form insoluble structures referred to amyloid plaques that eventually cause the brain cells to die off. However, an important intermediate step in this process was observed with unprecedented precision by an international team of researchers headed by Dr. Philipp Neudecker from Forschungszentrum Jülich and Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. They published their findings in the renowned journal Science in April 2012.

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very protein is born as a thread-like molecule in which amino acids are beaded together like a string of pearls. However, as soon as it is formed, the thread folds within seconds into a

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three-dimensional shape. This is by no means a matter of coincidence: the exact shape of the complete protein molecule is a decisive factor in it fulfilling its respective role as an enzyme, antibody, muscle fibre, or

one of the many other functions of proteins in our body. Philipp Neudecker from the Institute of Complex Systems studied the folding process of a protein molecule required for signal transduction in

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


cells. He was particularly interested in a short-lived intermediate stage that occurs during the folding process before the protein is eventually complete. This process is a delicate balancing act. The intermediate stage can either result in the functional molecule, or it can produce a faulty version that tends to bond with others. As soon as this fatal procedure has started, more and more protein molecules attach themselves to the initially tiny aggregate – the dreaded amyloid fibrils are formed. Unless they are removed by the cell’s ‘rubbish collection’, these fibrils cause it to die. In their place, the brain then contains the protein lumps that Alois Alzheimer saw under the microscope. Neudecker therefore took a closer look at the intermediate stage that

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

Risk increases with age The researchers are still unsure as to why the balancing act sometimes ends in disaster. “The formation of the initial aggregates – a process referred to as nucleation – is luckily a relatively rare event,” reports Neudecker. “It all comes down to how many molecules come together of the protein variant which tends to aggregate.” However, with increasing age, there is an increased probability of such molecules accumulating, and repair mechanisms are no longer as effective. “Environmental impacts, such as natural or artificial chemicals, are suspected to be partly

responsible for the formation of amyloid fibrils, as are genetic defects,” says Neudecker. He hopes that his findings will contribute to enabling an early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and ultimately the development of effective drugs. In September 2012, Philipp Neudecker received the Ulrich Hadding Research Award from the Biological-Medical Research Centre (BMFZ) of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf for his work.

This intermediate stage occurs during the folding process of a protein molecule that tends to clump under unfavourable conditions.

This image shows the correctly folded molecule.

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Creating knowledge

hangs in the balance between the correctly functioning protein and the dangerous fibrils. For this purpose, he used a method of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, or NMR for short, that was refined specifically for shortlived molecule states. It shows the exact three-dimensional shape of the volatile structure that exists only for a few thousandths of a second. And Neudecker’s team were successful in observing the molecule in detail during this decisive moment. “This state is necessary for the protein to fold properly within less than a second,” he explains. “However, when things go wrong, this stage can also cause fibrils to be formed.” In his experiments, performed mostly at the University of Toronto, Neudecker discovered that the fate of the ‘borderline cases’ is decided by the arrangement of only four amino acids in the molecule consisting of a total of 59 components. They form the end of the protein string and are usually aligned almost in parallel with the first amino acids of the molecule. In this way, no other proteins can bind to the molecule. In the intermediate state, it is precisely this last protective section of the molecule that is not yet folded. The beginning of the protein thread is open and unprotected, so that other protein molecules can attach themselves to it. This can be the beginning of a fatal chain reaction where small fibrils initially form, then larger ones, and finally plaques.


Designing Molecular Data Storage Jülich physicists use computer simulations to explain the magnetic and electronic properties of a thin layer system made of cobalt and organic molecules. They are thus paving the way towards molecular components for future information technology. The group, which includes international research partners, have published their findings in the journal Nature.

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p until today, processors and storage media have been made smaller and smaller in order to increase the performance of computers. However, this strategy is about to reach the limits imposed

by physics. Components that are too small become unstable, making them unsuitable for secure data storage and processing. One reason is that in components consisting of only a few atoms, even an atom more or less can

lead to very different physical properties. However, the exact number and arrangement of atoms is difficult to control in metals and semiconductors – the materials that components are made of today. One way out of this dilemma could be ‘molecular electronics’ with nanometre-scale components made up of molecules. Molecules comprise a fixed number of atoms, can be designed specifically for various purposes, and can be produced cost-effectively in an identical form over and over again. There are indications that the magnetic moment of these electrons – the ‘spin’ – could also exploited in addition to their electric charge, making it possible to implement entirely new functions, such as non-volatile RAM or quantum computers. Magnetic sandwich Molecules for such ‘molecular spintronics’ must have specific magnetic properties. However, these properties are sensitive and frequently vanish into thin air if the molecules are attached to inorganic materials, which are required to conduct electric current. A team of researchers from Forschungszentrum Jülich, the University of Göttingen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA, Rud¯er Boškovi´c Institute in Croatia, and IISER Kolkata in India have now discovered a material system that does not behave according to this principle. It is produced by applying small organometallic molecules referred to as zinc methyl phenalenyl (ZMP) onto a cobalt substrate. The researchers demonstrated that ZMP (which is not magnetic in itself) forms a magnetic

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Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Creating knowledge Above: One ZMP molecule attaches itself directly to the cobalt surface (gold), and a second one above it at a greater distance. Right: The layer system formed can be used to store magnetic information, depicted here as ones and zeros. The green and red arrows show the orientation of the magnetic moments (spins).

‘sandwich’ together with the cobalt surface. The sandwich can be switched back and forth as desired between two magnetic states using magnetic fields. In this process, the electrical resistance of the layer system changes by more than 20 %. Such ‘magnetoresistive effects’ can be used to store, process and measure data. However, to generate them in molecular systems, researchers previously required temperatures well below -200 °C. The new layer system, by contrast, is highly magnetoresistive even at a comparatively high temperature of -20 °C. “This is a considerable step forward on the way to developing molecular data storage and logic elements that work at room temperature,” says Dr. Nicolae Atodiresei from Forschungszentrum Jülich. Together with the team from Forschungszentrum Jülich’s Peter Grünberg Institute and the Institute for Advanced Simulation, he developed a physical model that explains the proper-

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

ties of the material. The scientists performed the sophisticated calculations required for this on the Jülich supercomputer JUGENE. Although the researchers used up to 8,000 processors, the calculations still took a total of around three months. The result: the key requirement is that the molecule must be practically flat. Two molecules each then form a stack and attach themselves closely to the cobalt surface. The cobalt and the bottom molecule form the magnetic sandwich, while the upper molecule acts as a ‘spin filter’. Its primary task is to allow electrons with spins of a certain orientation to pass through. This orientation can be controlled with a magnetic field, for example. Experienced and successful The Jülich physicists’ simulations benefited from the fact that they had successfully been working on deriving the properties and functions of organic

molecules on surfaces from the laws of quantum mechanics alone for some time. Earlier publications and conference papers on this field of research prompted the cooperation of this successful international team. They aroused the interest of scientists from India and the USA, who work experimentally and analytically, in the theorists from Jülich. The scientists are now planning to further optimize their material based on their findings. Nicolae Atodiresei is daring in his optimism: “I think I know how to develop sandwich systems that are magnetoresistive even at room temperature.” The researchers are also planning to modify their system in such a way that the spin filter effect can be controlled by electrical fields and light pulses as well. Nature (doi:10.1038/nature11719)

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Accolades Prof. Katrin Amunts, director at the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, was appointed to the German Ethics Council. The Ethics Council consists of 26 members. It is concerned with the expected consequences arising in connection with research and new developments, in particular in the life sciences and their application to humans. Its mission is to inform the general public and encourage public debate. It also

prepares official statements and recommendations for the German Bundestag and the federal government. Dr. Dr. Svenja Caspers from the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine was named as a member of Junges Kolleg of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Admission is one of the most important accolades for early-career scientists in North

1

2

3

4

Rhine-Westphalia. Junges Kolleg was set up with financial support from the Mercator Foundation. Up to 30 members – outstanding young scientists of all disciplines – receive a research scholarship worth € 10,000 annually. Dr. Dmitry A. Fedosov from the Institute of Complex Systems was awarded the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award, one of the most valuable German science prizes. He was honoured by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for developing a simulation method that can be used to describe and predict blood flow under various conditions. Fedosov will use the prize money, some € 1.3 million, to establish his own research group focusing on exploring the differences in blood circulation in healthy tissue and tumours. Prof. Joachim Treusch, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich from 1990 to 2006, received the 2012 Minerva Prize from Jülich’s Museum Association. The prize is awarded every two years to personalities who have earned it for their work at the interface between culture, science, and industry for the town and region of Jülich.

1 | Member of the German Ethics Council – Prof. Katrin Amunts 2 | Admitted to Das Junge Kolleg of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Humanities – Dr. Dr. Svenja Caspers 3 | Winner of the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award – Dr. Dmitry A. Fedosov 4 | Recipient of the Minerva Prize – Prof. Joachim Treusch

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4

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Creating knowledge

Other accolades Name

Accolade

Dr. habil. J. Sabine Becker Central Institute of Engineering, Electronics and Analytics

Thermo Fisher Scientific Award in Plasma Spectrochemistry

Prof. Harald Bolt Member of the Board of Directors

New member of the German National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) and full member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW)

Prof. Sebastian M. Schmidt Member of the Board of Directors

Appointment to the Chair of Theoretical Physics, RWTH Aachen University

Prof. Dan E. Demco Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine

Member of the Physical Sciences section of the Romanian Academy

Dipl.-Ing. Friedrich Käß Institute of Bio- and Geosciences

Prize for the best young scientist’s contribution at the 2nd BioProScale Symposium in Berlin

Thomas Latzko Institute of Bio- and Geosciences

Best Paper Award at ESM 2012 in Essen

Prof. Werner Lehnert Institute of Energy and Climate Research

Member of the Consultative Council of the Evgeni Budevski Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Dr. Eric von Lieres Institute of Bio- and Geosciences

2012 award for young university lecturers at the meeting of young lecturers of DECHEMA (Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology)

Guiseppe Mercurio Peter Grünberg Institute

Max Auwärter Award from the Austrian Physical Society for his doctoral thesis

Arun Nanda Institute of Bio- and Geosciences

Poster prize at the Microbial Stress Conference in Belgirate (Italy)

Dr. Philipp Neudecker Institute of Complex Systems

Ulrich Hadding Research Award from the Biological-Medical Research Centre (BMFZ) of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

Dipl.-Biol. Steffen Ostermann Institute of Bio- and Geosciences

Best poster prize at the 3rd International Conference on Acetic Acid Bacteria (AAB2012) in Córdoba (Spain)

Prof. Martina Pohl Institute of Bio- and Geosciences

Added to AcademiaNet, a database of excellent women scientists

Dr. Nicole Paczia Institute of Bio- and Geosciences

Prize for the best doctoral thesis from the society of friends and benefactors of the University of Bielefeld

Ulrich Pätzold Institute of Energy and Climate Research

Young Scientist Award at the Spring Conference of the European Materials Research Society

Dr. Giulia Rossetti Jülich Supercomputing Centre

Friedrich Wilhelm Prize 2012 from RWTH Aachen University for her thesis at the German Research School for Simulation Sciences

Dr. Solvej Siedler Institute of Bio- and Geosciences

Poster prize in the category Metabolic Engineering for Chemicals and Materials at the Metabolic Engineering X Conference in Biarritz (France)

Prof. Peter Tass Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine

Ordinary member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA)

Robert Westphal Institute of Bio- and Geosciences

Poster prize at the Trends in Enzymology 2012 conference in Göttingen, and poster prize at Biocat 2012 in Hamburg

Prof. Wolfgang Wiechert Institute of Bio- and Geosciences

New member of the German National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech)

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

35


Third-Party Funding As in previous years, a significant share of the research budget was acquired as third-party funds supplementing Forschungszentrum Jülich’s regular budget in 2012. The fact that the German federal and state governments as well as the German Research Foundation (DFG) and commercial companies support research at Jülich shows that they believe in its sustained benefits for society and important innovations for industry.

Project funding Project funding balance sheet 2012*

Project funding from national and international public sources (thousands of euros) Thousands of euros

Federal government • of which in research fields

44,949 25,476

State government • of which in research fields

8,640 8,640

DFG • of which in research fields

6,592 6,527

Other national sources • of which in research fields

11,356 10,545

Total national • of which in research fields

71,537 51,188

EU • which in research fields

15,137 14,232

Sum total • of which in research fields

86,674 65,420

Note: • Federal government project funding includes € 19,338,000 for the operating costs of ILL. • DFG funding does not include DFG income amounting to € 67,000 that were generated within the framework of private service contracts and therefore do not count as operating income of Forschungszentrum Jülich. * See also p. 74 on project funding.

2008

62,058

2009*

139,785

2010

75,346

2011

91,757

2012

86,674

Project funding from national public sources (thousands of euros) 2008

49,023

2009*

124,912

2010

67,414

2011

71,239

2012

71,537

* In 2009, national project funding was significantly higher because it included funds for the installation of a petaflop computer.

The number of projects at Jülich funded by DFG increased to

41 in 2012: Research training groups DFG priorities Collaborative research centres

36

DFG project funding (thousands of euros)

12 19 10

2008

2,813

2009

3,297

2010

4,166

2011

5,472

2012

6,592

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Creating knowledge

The research field of key technologies was the area with the most significant third-party funding in 2012.

Third-party funding for Jülich key technologies (thousands of euros) 2009*

85,324

2010

16,192

2011

26,125

2012

31,272

(incl. biotechnology)

* In 2009, national project funding was significantly higher because it included funds for the installation of a petaflop computer.

Exemplary projects funded by third parties in information technology DEEP – Parallel computing with millions of processors | The EU project DEEP (Dynamical Exascale Entry Platform) is developing a new prototype for supercomputers of the next generation. The project partners are testing a special, energy-efficient computer architecture that could serve as a model for future exascale computers. With a quintillion arithmetic operations per second, such an exaflop/s computer would be about a thousand times faster than today’s supercomputers. Experts from the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) are coordinating the project involving 16 partners from 8 countries. The project was launched in December 2011 and will receive funding of more than € 18 million over a period of three years, including € 8 million from the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research. NVIDIA Application Lab – Cooperation for brain research and more | In June 2012, Forschungszentrum Jülich and the international US company NVIDIA announced the establishment of the NVIDIA Application Lab. In this way, Forschungszentrum strengthens cooperation with companies working on the development of technologies for exascale computers. The partners want to considerably accelerate scientific simulations, particularly in the area of neuroscience, using graphics processing units (GPUs). Applications from other areas, such as astrophysics, particle physics, materials science, and biosciences will also be optimized for

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

supercomputers with graphics processors. If all processing units are used efficiently, it will also be possible to save a significant amount of energy.

Walter Mundt-Blum (front left), vice president of NVIDIA’s Professional Solution Group in Europe, and Prof. Thomas Lippert (front right), director at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC), sign the cooperation agreement. BaSiGo – New safety concepts for large-scale events | The project BaSiGo aims to improve our understanding of the behaviour of large crowds of people at public events. For this purpose, Forschungszentrum Jülich is carrying out laboratory experiments as well as simulations of the movements of individuals at large-scale events. Its goal is to develop a computer-assisted planning tool for organizers, local authorities, and law enforcement services. The project is coordinated by the University of Wuppertal and is one of six similar projects in the Research for Civil Security programme. This priority programme is being funded with a total of some € 20.2 million by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Industry is also making available funding

to the tune of € 4.3 million for the six collaborative projects. MOLSPINTRON – Molecular magnets for next-generation computers | Chemist Prof. Paul Kögerler received a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) in 2012. With the project ‘Synthetic Expansion of Magnetic Molecules Into Spintronic Devices’ (MOLSPINTRON), the Jülich scientist successfully held his own in the competition between the best young research talents in Europe. He will receive around € 1.5 million in funding for his research over a period of five years. The molecular magnets Kögerler is working on may one day revolutionize microelectronics. The concept is based on the joint use of magnetic and electronic quantum states of individual magnetic molecules. Kögerler is pursuing this goal in close cooperation with groups at the Peter Grünberg Institute and RWTH Aachen University as part of the Jülich Aachen Research Alliance.

Chemist Prof. Paul Kögerler prevailed in the competition between the cream of young research talents in Europe.

37


External Involvement and Platforms Forschungszentrum Jülich provides the research community with access to unique instruments and facilities ranging from the JUQUEEN supercomputer to state-of-the-art tools for nanotechnology. Scientists from Jülich also operate topclass research instruments not only on campus, but also at other locations in Germany and throughout the world. In addition, Jülich is active in supporting early-career scientists and its project management organization has two other branch offices in Germany. Forschungszentrum Jülich is represented: • in Aachen through the German Research School for Simulation Sciences (GRS) and the Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) (for more on JARA, see p. 64). GRS GmbH is an independent subsidiary of Forschungszentrum Jülich. As a joint graduate school with equal shareholders Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University, GRS offers programmes for post-

graduate students and PhD students in computer science and engineering; • at the research reactor in Garching near Munich through the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS)*; • at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), USA; • at the high-flux reactor at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble, France. Forschungszentrum Jülich is a joint shareholder of ILL along with the Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (CEA, France), the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS, France) and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC, UK). Jülich holds 33 % of the shares. This guarantees the participation of the entire German neutron research community in the operation of ILL; • at Project Management Jülich’s branch offices in Berlin and Rostock-

Warnemünde – PTJ is a largely independent organizational unit of Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH; • in Düsseldorf, where Technology Transfer runs the head office of the German biotechnology cluster BIO.NRW. This office initiates cooperations between research institutions, companies, investors, and politics on the regional, national, and international level. As a member of the Helmholtz Association (HGF), Forschungszentrum Jülich is also represented internationally by the HGF’s offices in Brussels, Moscow and Beijing.

* JCNS is one of the institutes of Forschungszentrum Jülich. It operates neutron scattering instruments at the leading international neutron sources FRM II, ILL and SNS as part of a joint strategy.

German neutron research, which is concentrated at the research neutron source FRM II in Garching, has been given a name of its own. As of February 2013, the successful cooperation between Technische Universität München, Forschungszentrum Jülich and Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht (HZG) will be known as the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ).

38

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Project Management Jülich In 2012, Project Management Jülich (PTJ) very successfully competed for project management work on the federal and state level. It consolidated its position by taking over research management in the areas of Knowledge and Technology Transfer as well as Research for Sustainable Development. This highlights the leading position of PTJ as the project management agency with the highest turnover in Germany. PTJ coordinates research and innovation funding programmes in the areas of bioeconomy and life sciences, energy, materials technologies, environment and sustainability, climate protection, marine and polar research, navigation and marine technology, technology transfer and start-up companies, as well as regional technology platforms and clusters. It works on behalf of the Fed-

eral Ministries of Education and Research (BMBF), of Economics and Technology (BMWi), for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), and of Transport, Building and Urban Development (BMVBS), as well as on behalf of the federal states of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, North

Rhine-Westphalia, and Mecklenburg -Western Pomerania, as well as the European Commission. With five national contact points and contributions to numerous European coordination initiatives, PTJ is active in shaping the European Research Area.

In 2012, Project Management Jülich

1.24 billion of funding; approved around 5,000 new projects; and coordinated some 14,500 projects. The number of employees increased to 710. invested €

Employees at the different locations

412 in Jülich, 269 in Berlin, and 29 in Rostock.

Project Management ETN Project Management ETN has been working for the federal state of North RhineWestphalia for over 20 years and is fully funded through commissions from the federal state. In addition to advising those interested in funding as well as processing and approving applications, ETN coordinates projects from start to finish. ETN is responsible for the topics of energy (progres.nrw programme), health and nutrition economy, and is also involved in regional and structural development projects. Important funding measures in 2012 were electromobility and combined heat and power in the energy

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

sector, as well as a call for applications for a programme focusing on the devel-

opment of appropriate care models for old age in the health sector.

In 2012, Project Management ETN

700 individual projects with a total budget of € 460 million, of which more than € 340 million were grants. The number of employees increased to 58, coordinated more than

of which almost two thirds are women.

39

Creating knowledge

Autumn 2012 saw the retirement of Wilfried Wascher, head of Technology Transfer and Start-Up Companies at PTJ for many years. On the occasion of his retirement, Karsten Beneke, ViceChairman of the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich, spoke about Wascher’s special dedication and commitment to the development of the branch office in Berlin, which he headed since 1992.


Excellent Platforms The supercomputers in the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) The Jülich Supercomputing Centre provides scientists and engineers at Forschungszentrum Jülich, universities and research institutions both in Germany and throughout Europe, as well as companies in the commercial sector with access to computing capacity of the highest performance class, assisting them in solving highly complex problems using simulation calculations. The John von Neumann Institute for Computing is responsible for the scientific evaluation of projects. Jülich’s new super-

computer JUQUEEN was installed during the second half of 2012. It was the first supercomputer in Europe to achieve a peak performance of 5.9 petaflop/s. This means that Forschungszentrum Jülich is currently the best equipped partner in the Gauss Centre for Supercomputing (GCS) and takes a leading position in the supercomputing infrastructure of both Germany and Europe.

User statistics In 2012,

Relative numbers according to users

2.2 billion processor core hours were allocated on JUGENE/JUQUEEN,

and almost

125 million on JUROPA

JUROPA Forschungs- 43 % zentrum Jülich

48 % NIC national

(with the JUROPA processors being more powerful than the JUGENE processors). GRS 2 % PRACE Tier-1 (DECI) 5 %

2 % NIC international

Coveted computing time – overbooking factor Based on the periods 11/2011–10/2012 and 05/2012–04/2013.

JUGENE/JUQUEEN

2 JUROPA

5

Forschungs- 12 % zentrum Jülich

35 % PRACE Tier-0

GRS 3 %

JUGENE/JUQUEEN – Research fields of ongoing European projects (PRACE) 2012 Medicine and life sciences 16

JUGENE/JUQUEEN

9 Astrophysics

50 % GCS

12 Chemistry and materials science

Basic physics research 48

15 Engineering

and energy

Based on the periods 11/2011–10/2012 and 05/2012–04/2013.

In 2012, within the framework of the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (PRACE Tier-0), 21 European projects were calculated on JUGENE/JUQUEEN. Most of the computing time – 48 % – was assigned to basic physics research, followed by the research area of medicine and life sciences – 16 %.

40

Based on the periods 11/2011–10/2012 and 05/2012–04/2013. The Jülich supercomputers are used extensively by users outside Forschungszentrum Jülich. Computing time is allocated by independent science committees. GCS: Gauss Centre for Supercomputing (association of the three national supercomputing centres JSC, HLRS and LRZ) NIC: John von Neumann Institute for Computing (national allocation body, funded by the three Helmholtz centres Forschungszentrum Jülich, DESY, GSI) GRS: German Research School for Simulation Sciences PRACE: Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (European HPC infrastructure) DECI: DEISA Extreme Computing Initiative DEISA: Distributed European Infrastructure for Supercomputing Applications (European HPC infrastructure, forerunner of PRACE)

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


COSY is like a microscope for the components of a nucleus – the protons and neutrons. Ever since the particle accelerator was put into operation in 1993, applications have been made for significantly more beam time than Forschungszentrum Jülich can actually provide. A Program Advisory Committee made up of internationally recognized physicists from the USA and Europe decides which applications be will accepted. Applications are submitted by interested scientists from universities abroad and in Germany, as well as by

Jülich researchers. In December 2012, the 2 MeV electron cooler that was planned jointly with the Russian Budker Institute was delivered to Jülich from Novosibirsk. It was installed in the COSY ring in spring 2013 and will be put into operation in summer 2013. It will be used to investigate accelerator physics issues such as electron cooling. These studies will also serve its qualification as an injection cooler for the accelerator ring HSER in the international project FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research).

COSY users Year

Users

2005

350

2006

380

2007

411

2008

432

2009

452

2010

502

2011

460

2012

285*

* The number of users was lower in 2012 than in the previous years, because an experimental facility (‘Big Karl’) was taken out of operation.

Ernst Ruska-Centre (ER-C) ER-C is a facility for atomicresolution electron microscopy and spectroscopy on the highest international level that is jointly operated Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University. At the same time, it is the first national user centre for high-resolution electron microscopy. Around 50 % of the measuring time on the three Titan microscopes (PICO, TEM, STEM) at ER-C is made available to universities, research institutions and industry. This time is allocated by a panel of experts nominated by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Regional background Regional affiliation of the users of all ER-C electron microscopic instruments in 2012 18% NRW

Rest of world 20%

Europe 42%

20% Germany (excluding NRW)

Allocated measuring time (days) on electron microscopy instruments of ER-C (three of them in the Titan class) 2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Forschungszentrum Jülich

144

243

244

298

297

420

RWTH Aachen University

63

128

164

138

161

138

External users

79

203

284

294

266

463

Servicing and maintenance

82

119

132

132

178

150

The PICO electron microscope is almost five metres high and stands on a 200-tonne concrete foundation with air spring damping that protects it from any vibration, which could otherwise distort the ultrahigh-precision measuring results.

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

41

Creating knowledge

COSY cooler synchrotron


The instruments at the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) JCNS operates neutron research instruments at leading international neutron sources. For this reason, JCNS is also responsible for the construction and operation of the Jülich instruments at

the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz research neutron source (FRM II) in Garching near Munich. These instruments are also available to external scientists. In addition, JCNS operates instruments at

Use of the JCNS neutron scattering instruments by external researchers in 2012 (days)

Beam time (days) at FRM II allocated by JCNS in 2012

70 BIODIFF*

SNS 29 ILL 6

Maintenance/ development 326

47 DNS

SPHERES 60 POLI** 29 KWS-3 61

Internal users 327

77 J-NSE 74

269 External users Germany

Training activities 40

82 HEIDI**

KWS-2 53

the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France, and at the Spallation Neutron Source in Oak Ridge, USA.

192 External users EU

92 External users rest of world

KWS-1

* in cooperation with Technische Universität München (TUM) ** operated by RTWH Aachen University BioDiff DNS HEIDI J-NSE KWS 1 KWS 2 KWS 3 POLI SPHERES ILL SNS

Diffractometer for large unit cell Time-of-flight spectrometer with diffuse neutron scattering Single crystal diffractometer on hot source Jülich neutron spin echo spectrometer Small-angle scattering facility 1 Small-angle scattering facility 2 Small-angle scattering facility 3 Polarized hot neutron diffractometer Backscattering spectrometer with high energy resolution Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble Spallation Neutron Source, Oak Ridge (estimate)

The MRI scanners at the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM) INM focuses on the structure and function of the healthy and diseased human brain. It aims to understand the structural and functional changes caused by neurological and psychiatric disorders and thus to improve their MRI scanners produce high-resolution and high-contrast images of the human brain.

diagnosis and treatment. Scientists work with imaging techniques such as structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), as well as hybrid systems combining both MRI and PET. Several instruments are at hand in order to generate basic research results and to facilitate their

transfer to clinical applications: 9.4 T MRI-PET (research), 9.4 T MRI (animal research), 4 T MRI, PET (research and clinical application), and 3 T MRI, 3 T MRI-PET (clinical application). Some of the state-of-the-art instruments for medical imaging at Jülich are also available to external researchers.

Use of the 3 T MRI-PET hybrid scanner In clinical trials for this instrument, patients are examined in collaborative projects with different external hospitals.

In 2012,

76 patients from the neurosurgical departments

at the universities of Düsseldorf and Cologne as well as the radiotherapy department at RWTH Aachen University were examined. An additional

15 patients from the Department of Nuclear Medicine at Düsseldorf University Hospital were also examined.

42

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


J

UQUEEN has taken up residence at Forschungszentrum Jülich. With a peak performance of 5.9 quadrillion arithmetic operations per second and its energy efficiency, JUQUEEN is indeed the queen of European supercomputers. During its official inauguration on 14 February 2013, Thomas Rachel, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Education and Research, said, “With JUQUEEN, Forschungszentrum Jülich once again positions itself as a leading institution for highly complex scientific calculations. The supercomputer is an important step in expanding the European computer infrastructure.” Jülich’s new supercomputer can be used by scientists from all over Europe. Two thirds of the computing time is allocated by two supercomputing collaborations. One is the Gauss Centre for Supercomputing (GCS), an alliance of the

three national supercomputing centres in Jülich, Garching, and Stuttgart. The other is the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (PRACE). The remaining third of the computing time is reserved for scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA). State Secretary Helmut Dockter from the North Rhine-Westphalia Science Ministry expressed his conviction during the inauguration event for the supercomputer that it will also boost North Rhine-Westphalia’s reputation as an attractive location for science. “JUQUEEN benefits a number of universities as well as companies in NRW,” said Dockter. Scientists profit from ideal conditions at Jülich for performing their complex climate and atmosphere simulations, for example, for creating models of the brain and investigating new materials and particles. Not only can

they use the enormous mathematical prowess of Jülich’s supercomputers, but the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) and its ‘SimLabs’ are also perfectly organized to support users. SimLabs (short for Simulation Laboratories) currently exist for biology, plasma physics, neuroscience, climate research, the geosciences, engineering, and molecular physics and quantum chemistry. SimLabs are groups of JSC staff who have a university degree in the respective subject and also conduct research on simulation methods and algorithms for supercomputers. Their main task is to assist other scientists from their discipline in making optimum use of the supercomputers.

A glimpse into the inner workings of Forschungszentrum Jülich’s supercomputer JUQUEEN during installation.

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

43

Creating knowledge

Computer Simulation on a Royal Level


Johanna Roussel and Andreas Fischbach from the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences work on the project ‘Gardening with a Cognitive System’ (GARNICS) with a one-armed colleague: the lightweight robot LBR 3.

Personnel For Forschungszentrum Jülich, a committed personnel policy is a decisive factor for consolidating its leading position in the competition for the brightest minds in science. • The introduction of the online recruitment system JuRS further increased Jülich’s attractiveness for applicants. In mid-September 2012, trial operation of the online recruitment system JuRS began, initially for training position applications. The systems accelerates application procedures and requires fewer resources, as it reduces the number of paper applications and printouts. In this way, JuRS is also making a contribution to a more sustainable campus (see p. 26). • Activities to increase the share of women in management positions in science are another priority of

44

human resource development. These measures include executives at Forschungszentrum Jülich making direct contact with excellent female candidates, and early support for young women executives, for example through mentoring programmes (see p. 50). • In November 2012, Forschungszentrum Jülich hosted a conference on the topic of equal opportunities as a competitive edge on the international scene, which was organized by the working group ‘Women at Research Centres’ together with the Helmholtz Association. Londa Schiebinger, John L. Hinds Professor of History of Science at Stanford University, opened the conference with a lecture entitled ‘Gendered Innovations in Science, Medicine, and Engineering’.

Views on new ideas and measures for equal opportunities were exchanged in panel discussions. • A key element of support for parents is opportunities for childcare, which are offered and arranged by Forschungszentrum Jülich for its employees – from an office for parents and children, the toddlers group, and the ‘Kleine Füchse’ daycare centre to activities during school holidays. According to a survey on childcare requirements in 2012, parents without exception hope that these services will be further expanded.

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Area

Proportion of women employees at Forschungszentrum Jülich Number as of 31.12.2012

Percentage women

35

Scientific and technical personnel

3,320

Scientific personnel • incl. PhD students* • incl. professors W3: 44, W2: 40, W1: 9

1,658 469 93

Technical staff

1,662

20

Project management organizations

768

15

Service staff and administration

691

Undergraduates/postgraduates

118

Scholarship holders

36

Trainees and students on placement

303

30 25

10 5 0 Year

Total

Creating knowledge

Overview personnel as of 31.12.2012

5,236

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Women as a percentage of total employees Women as a percentage of total senior personnel Women as a percentage of scientific personnel Women as a percentage of salary groups E12 to E15Ü, as well as those paid according to groups AT, B, C, and W (specialist staff)

* A total of 828 PhD students were supervised at Forschungszentrum Jülich in 2012 (cumulative, not as of 31.12.2012).

Proportion of young women Percentage women

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Year

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Total percentage young women Percentage women trainees Percentage young women scientists The figures are based on equivalent full-time employees (FTEs); the real number of employees is higher as a result of part-time employment.

On Girls’ Day, in which JuLab School Laboratory participated in April 2012, 28 girls and young women learnt about jobs in the areas of science and technology as well as different trades and in IT.

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

45


Nobel Laureate Prof. Samuel C. C. Ting from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology spoke about the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) experiment (a particle detector for the measurement of cosmic radiation on the International Space Station) as part of a Jülich Lecture. It was held during the inauguration ceremony for the new JARA-FAME section in January 2013. Photo (from left to right): Prof. Sebastian M. Schmidt, member of the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich, Dr. Wolfgang Schroeder, Prof. Rudolf Maier, Prof. Stefan Schael, Prof. Samuel C. C. Ting, Prof. Hans Ströher, Prof. Henning Gast, Prof. Ulf Meißner, and Prof. Achim Stahl.

Appointments Prof. Dr. Evgeny Alekseev from the Institute of Energy and Climate Research was appointed junior professor for solid-state chemistry of actinides at RWTH Aachen University. Dr. habil. J. Sabine Becker from the Central Institute of Engineering, Electronics and Analytics held lectures as part of her stay as a visiting professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville (USA). Prof. Rüdiger-A. Eichel from the Institute of Energy and Climate Research was appointed to the Chair of Materials and Processes for Energy Conversion and Storage at RWTH Aachen University in accordance with the Jülich model. Prof. Dr. med. Christoph Fahlke was appointed director at the Institute of Complex Systems – Cellular Biophysics (ICS-4) and professor at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf.

Dr. Julia Frunzke, leader of a Helmholtz young investigators group at the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences was appointed junior professor (salary grade W1) for signal transduction and population heterogeneity in industrial microorganisms at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. Dr. Susanne Aileen Funke from the Institute of Complex Systems was appointed professor (salary grade W2) for bioanalytics and molecular biology at Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Prof. Dr. Werner Lehnert from the Institute of Energy and Climate Research was appointed professor (salary grade W2) for modelling in electrochemical process engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of RWTH Aachen University in accordance with the Jülich model. Prof. Dr. Andreas Offenhäusser from the Peter Grünberg Institute was appointed visiting professor at the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences until 2015.

46

Prof. Dr. Uwe Rascher from the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences was appointed university professor (salary grade W2) for quantitative physiology of crops by the University of Bonn. Prof. Dr. Abigail Rhodes-Morrison from the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine was appointed university professor (salary grade W2) for functional neural circuits by Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Dr. Günter Subklew from the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences was appointed visiting professor at Tongji University Shanghai and became a member of the College of Environmental Science and Engineering. Prof. Knut Urban from the Peter Grünberg Institute was the first to receive the recently created JARA senior professorship. Prof. Karl Zilles, former director of the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, was appointed a JARA senior professor at RWTH Aachen University.

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Creating knowledge

Joint appointments with universities Total appointments (as of 31.12.2012) University FH Aachen

Jülich model

New appointments 2012

Reverse model

Total

8

University 8

Jülich model

Reverse model

Total

HHU Düsseldorf

2

1

3

1

7

HHU Düsseldorf

11

3

14

RWTH Aachen

6

RWTH Aachen

37

7

44

Uni Bochum

1

1

Uni Bonn

2

2

10

Uni Cologne

1

1

1

Uni Stuttgart

1

1

8

Total

Uni Bochum

4

Uni Bonn

7

Uni Duisburg-Essen

1

Uni Cologne

7

Uni Münster

1

1

Uni Regensburg

1

1

Uni Stuttgart

1

1

Uni Wuppertal

3

3

Total

81

4 3

1

14

95

13

2

15

This table includes only those professors appointed according to the Jülich model and to grades W1, W2 or W3 according to the reverse Jülich model, including GRS. Jülich model: Directors of institutes at Forschungszentrum Jülich are appointed professor in a joint procedure with one of the partner universities and are simultaneously seconded by the university to Forschungszentrum Jülich in order to fulfil their duties as head of institute at Jülich. Reverse Jülich model: Professors whose primary employment is at their university also work as directors of an institute at Jülich (secondary employment).

JARA senior professorship Prof. Knut Urban was the first to receive the recently created JARA senior professorship. It is awarded by RWTH Aachen University to outstanding scientists who have retired and allows them to continue their research both at RWTH Aachen University and at Forschungszentrum Jülich. It also aims to promote the exchange of knowledge and cooperation between young and experienced scientists. The honour was conferred on the retired director of the Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons at the RWTHtransparent event in January 2012. The certificate of appointment was presented to him by the rector of RWTH Aachen University, Prof. Dr. Ernst Schmachtenberg, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich, Prof. Dr. Achim Bachem. The internationally respected neuroscientist and medical researcher Prof. Karl Zilles was appointed JARA senior

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

professor at RWTH Aachen University in January 2013. Karl Zilles was director at Forschungszentrum Jülich’s Institute of Medicine from 1998 to 2002 before becoming director at the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, a post he held until the end of 2012. During this time, he also headed the C. & O. Vogt Institute of Brain Research at Heinrich Heine

University Düsseldorf. Since August 2007, Karl Zilles has also expanded his collaboration with University Hospital Aachen’s Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics within the framework of the newly established brain research alliance, JARA-BRAIN, which he will now continue under the JARA senior professorship.

Their JARA senior professorships allow them to continue working at Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University: Prof. Knut Urban (left) and Prof. Karl Zilles (right).

47


Training with Prospects Forschungszentrum Jülich’s commitment to providing vocational training for young people in order to meet the demand for highly qualified employees for Forschungszentrum Jülich and beyond highlights the responsibility it assumes for the entire region. With hands-on and high-quality training programmes, often combined with placements abroad, Jülich offers trainees a promising start to their career. Six of the training programmes can even be combined with studies at a university of applied sciences.

T

hose interested in vocational training at Jülich are spoilt for choice: training is provided in 24 skilled occupations in the areas of science, technology, and business administration, as well as media design. In 2012, Forschungszentrum Jülich also increased the number of places for trainees from 88 to 115. Of the newly hired trainees, 36 took the opportunity of embarking on a dual study programme. The high quality of training at Jülich was confirmed once again in 2012: the great majority of trainees passed their final exams with good or very good results. Of the 39 trainees who received their certificates in July 2012 from head

of Personnel, Dr. Mathias Ertinger, 24 achieved the grade of ‘good’ and 8 ‘very good’. Of the 40 who finished in February 2012, 5 were assessed as ‘very good’ and 12 as ‘good’. Four young trainees stood out in particular: Vanessa Derichs, Carsten Graf, Ingo Heimbach and Florian Rhiem were among the best trainees in Germany. The materials tester, the industrial electrician and the two mathematical and technical software developers (MATSEs) from Forschungszentrum Jülich passed their final examinations with the best marks nationwide. International competence is sought after in many vocations today. Future industrial mechanics received a certified

additional ‘Euregio Competence’ qualification for the first time in 2012, which will improve their chances of finding a job outside of Germany. As part of their training, they completed two work placements abroad at Technisch Instituut Heilig Hart in Hasselt (Belgium). Other trainees accepted work placements in Spain, France, and Sweden. Forschungszentrum Jülich continues to lend support to small and medium enterprises in the region when it comes to vocational training, for example, by offering specialized courses and a cooperative model of training partnerships. In 2012, 13 new long-term cooperation agreements were signed. Collaboration with the Freshman Institute at Aachen University of Applied Sciences continued: 39 young people gained experience in technical drawing, and in electrical engineering technology, mechanics, and chemistry in English-language internships – ideal prerequisites for going on to university.

Ready for the working world: 28 mathematical and technical software developers (MATSEs) completed their training on 28 September 2012.

48

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Places for trainees – new trainees 2012

29 Electricians 23 Metalworkers 12 Technical product designers 3 Office staff 15 Laboratory assistants

6 incl. studies 2 incl. studies 3

incl. studies

Math. and techn.

25 Others 8 Total 115

software developers

25 incl. studies 36 incl. studies

Vanessa Derichs (top left), Carsten Graf (top right), Ingo Heimbach (bottom left) and Florian Rhiem (bottom right) were among the best trainees in Germany in 2012. The materials tester, the industrial electrician and the two mathematical and technical software developers from Forschungszentrum Jülich passed their final examinations with the best marks nationwide in their chosen occupations.

Dual study programmes – an overview

Duration

IHK examination

Bachelor’s degree

Period between IHK exam and bachelor’s degree

Bachelor of Scientific Programming + mathematical and technical software developer (MATSE), IHK

3 years

end of 3rd year

after 6 semesters

approx. 2 months

Chemistry: Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Engineering + chemistry laboratory assistant, IHK

4 years

after 3 years

after 8 semesters

0.5–1 year

Bachelor of Physical Engineering + physics laboratory assistant, IHK

4 years

after 3.5 years

after 8 semesters

approx. 6 months

Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering + industrial mechanic, IHK

4 years

after 2.5 years

after 8 semesters

approx. 1.5 years

Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering + electronics technician for industrial engineering, IHK

4 years

after 2.5 years

after 8 semesters

approx. 1.5 years

Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration + office communications specialist, IHK

3,5 years

after 3 years

after 7 semesters

approx. 6 months

Bachelor of Applied Sciences, after IHK examination as biology laboratory assistant

2 years parallel to employment, after completion of vocational training

Bachelor of Applied Sciences, after IHK examination as chemistry laboratory assistant

2 years parallel to employment, after completion of vocational training

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

49

Imparting knowledge

(31,3 %)


Early-Career Scientists Forschungszentrum Jülich provides an excellent environment to embark on a career in science for young talented researchers from Germany, Europe, and all over the world. Opportunities for students are available in the form of summer schools, structured support is provided during and after the doctoral phase, and early-career scientists can take on responsibility right from the start.

F

orschungszentrum Jülich, which supervises more than 120 undergraduate and postgraduate students every year, is involved in innovative study programmes. The master’s degree programmes Energy Systems and Technomathematics and

the bachelor’s programme in Scientific Programming were established in cooperation with Aachen University of Applied Sciences. Together with RWTH Aachen University, Jülich offers the master’s degree course Simulation Sciences as well as the opportunity to

pursue a PhD at the German Research School for Simulation Sciences. A PhD at Jülich is attractive for applicants from all over the world: 29 % of PhD students came from abroad in 2012, including 47 from China, 28 from Russia, and 14 from India.

experts, 37 scientists, of which 22 were women, prevailed in the competition between a total of 86 applicants from Germany and abroad. With seven successful candidates, Forschungszentrum Jülich is the Helmholtz centre with the greatest number of participants in the programme. They were granted funding

of € 100,000 to € 200,000, which they will receive over a two-to-three-year period to pursue a research project of their choice, with a view to establishing themselves in their field of research. For the initial phase, Forschungszentrum Jülich will provide them with a mentor.

First-class Jülich postdocs The Helmholtz Association launched a new programme in 2012 to support scientists who have recently received their PhDs and help them to kick-start their academic careers (www.helmholtz. de/jobs_talente/postdoc_programm/). In a multistage procedure, including external evaluation by international

Look where they’re going – electrons from a different perspective Explaining one of the enigmas of matter in less than ten minutes – it sounds impossible, but Jülich PhD student Robert Frielinghaus from the Peter Grünberg Institute pulled off the task with flying colours at the Highlights of Physics science festival in Göttingen. With the help of beer bottles, escalators, and a sprinkling of German comedian Loriot, the 28-year-old physicist explained how ‘Paul the Electron’ moves through tiny nanostructures. The audience was delighted and chose him as the winner of the Einstein Slam, a competition for the best short presentation combining scientific depth and entertainment value. If you would also like to enjoy Robert Frielinghaus’ presentation (in German), you can find it at www.youtube.com/ watch?v=K91Hq2hOqZY.

50

Robert Frielinghaus is able to explain physics in a very entertaining manner, which won him first prize in the Einstein Slam.

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Independent young scientists Number of young investigators groups in Jülich 2004–2012 The figures comprise young investigators groups funded by the Helmholtz Association, Forschungszentrum Jülich, and third parties. 2004

2

2005

4

2006

8

2007

13

2008

12

2009

22

2010

21

2011

22

2012

20

Imparting knowledge

Secure career prospects, early independent scientific work and excellent working conditions at Forschungszentrum Jülich attract outstanding early-career scientists from Germany and abroad. In addition to heading their own young investigators group, they can also gain teaching experience. They are offered a tenured position if evaluated positively in their fourth year. In 2012, two group leaders were given permanent contracts. Here, too, it is obvious that Jülich’s young scientists are international: twelve of the young group leaders do not come from Germany, but from Algeria, Belgium, China, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland, Serbia, Spain, and Ukraine. Seven of the 20 young investigators group leaders are junior professors at a university. In 2012, 40 % of the young investigators groups were headed by women. TANDEMplus, a mentoring programme jointly set up by Forschungszentrum Jülich, RWTH Aachen University, and

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) to support young women scientists, was also continued in 2012. The third round started in 2012 and includes five women scientists from Jülich. In addition, two

women scientists from Jülich participated in ‘Taking the lead’, the Helmholtz Association’s mentoring programme in 2012.

2012 Summer and winter schools Summer and winter schools for students and early-career scientists attracted a

total of 531 participants in 2012. About half of them came from abroad. Here,

Title

Number of participants

too, Jülich’s support for young scientists is obviously not limited to Germany: of which international participants

Total

of which women

Total

of which women

Summer School Renewable Energies

22

12

22

12

43rd IFF Spring School Scattering Methods for Condensed Matter Research: Towards Novel Applications at Future Sources

261

63

152

not specified

Correlated Electrons 2012: From Models to Materials

77

8

34

4

16 JCNS Laboratory Course – Neutron Scattering 2012

59

22

28

15

8th JARA-FIT Practical Training Course in Nanoelectronics

48

8

not specified

not specified

JSC Visiting Students Programme

13

2

4

0

Winter School Hierarchical Methods for Dynamics in Complex Molecular Systems

51

12

22

6

th

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

51


Doctoral studies and more It is much more than the excellent research infrastructure that contributes to the fact that future leaders enjoy working at Jülich – it’s the whole package. For example, Studium Universale (SU), the PhD students’ initiative, organizes events on topics that are not restricted to everyday work at Jülich. These include political questions of general interest and overarching, work-related issues – in March 2013, for example,

they organized a workshop on copyright and plagiarism. SU aims to provide opportunities for PhD students to make contact and exchange ideas, in particular for those from abroad. The Students’ Lounge gegenüber is a place where undergraduates, postgraduates, and PhD students from all disciplines can meet for an informal chat over a cup of free tea or coffee. su@fz-juelich.de

Colloids and computers, research and family – the many worlds of physicist Marisol Ripoll The weather may be better in Spain, but Dr. Marisol Ripoll has never regretted moving from her native country in the south of Europe to Jülich. Her PhD project was an international project carried out at the universities of Madrid and Utrecht. Having just received her PhD, the young physicist came to Forschungszentrum Jülich in late 2002. She has headed her own young investigators group at the Institute of Complex Systems since 2007. Jülich’s tenure-track programme, which gives young scientists the opportunity to perform research independently at an early stage, has allowed her to get tenure after her positive evaluation – which means a permanent contract. She sees this as a rather privileged position. “Even in school I was absolutely fascinated by physics,” says Marisol Ripoll. She was indifferent to the question of whether this was a boys’ subject. “I never even considered anything else. Mathematics might have been the only other subject that wouldn’t have been out of the question.” In Spain, she adds, it’s not quite as unusual for a woman to study physics as in Germany. However, it is true there, too, that you will see fewer women the more theoretical the subject and the higher the position. While it was initially astrophysics – looking at the infinite extent of the universe – that fascinated the student, she soon turned to the smallest of things.

52

Today, Ripoll performs research into how tiny particles move in liquids. These mixtures are referred to as ‘colloids’. They play an important role in technology, for example as paint or drilling fluids, but also in biology, where proteins and cells swim in the plasma. For her studies, Marisol Ripoll doesn’t mix liquids, however, but stands firmly on dry ground: she studies the behaviour of colloids in simulations on supercomputers. With these simulations, she hopes to find out how temperature differences in a liquid determine the behaviour of different particles suspended in it. What happens when other factors such as gravity come into play? And how does the chemical composition of the particles influence their swimming behaviour? “This isn’t just interesting from a theoretical point of view,” she says. Her research group recently filed a patent application for a thermophoretic force

machine, which converts heat into movement, and makes it easier to handle liquids in a controlled manner in minimum spaces. For Marisol Ripoll, Forschungszentrum Jülich is the ideal place for combining lots of different things: theoretical considerations and applied research; her own computer simulations and the practical experiments performed by her colleagues; work and private life. Her partner, who hails from the Netherlands, also works at Forschungszentrum Jülich; their two daughters go to the ‘Kleine Füchse’ daycare centre and are growing up trilingual. “My older daughter recently learnt in the preschool programme what the German words heiß and kalt mean,” says Marisol Ripoll. “She was really excited when I told her that in principle, that’s what I deal with in my work.”

Dr. Marisol Ripoll came to Jülich from Spain. Here, she conducts research into the behaviour of colloids.

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Involvement of Forschungszentrum Jülich in structured PhD training with partner universities Graduate school/research training group

Cooperation/funding

More information

Aachen

Aachen Institute for Advanced Study in Computational Engineering Science (AICES), graduate school within the Excellence Initiative*

Aachen, DFG

www.aices.rwthaachen.de

International research training group: Brain-behavior relationship of emotion and social cognition in schizophrenia and autism

Aachen, Jülich, Philadelphia, DFG

www.irtg1328.rwthaachen.de

Research training group: Biointerface – detection and control of interface-induced biomolecular and cellular functions

Aachen, DFG

www.grk-biointerface. de

Research training group: Biocatalysts using nonconventional media – ionic liquids, organic solvents, supercritical fluids and gases as reaction phases for biocatalytic synthesis (BioNoCo)

Aachen, Düsseldorf, DFG

www.bionoco.rwthaachen.de

Bonn-Cologne Graduate School of Physics and Astronomy, graduate school within the Excellence Initiative*

Bonn, Cologne, DFG

www.gradschool. physics.uni-bonn.de

Research training group: Bionics – Interactions across Boundaries to the Environment

Bonn, DFG

www.bionikgraduate. uni-bonn.de

BioStruct NRW Research School

Düsseldorf, NRW

www.biostruct.de

Research training group: Physics of Hot Plasmas

Düsseldorf, DFG

www.laserphy.uniduesseldorf.de/e618/ index_eng.html

International research training group: The Dynamic Response of Plants to a Changing Environment

Düsseldorf, East Lansing, DFG

www.igrad-pre.uniduesseldorf.de

Research training group: Molecular Targets of Aging Processes and Strategies for the Prevention of Aging

Düsseldorf, DFG

www.grk1033.uniduesseldorf.de

Graduate school: iGRASPseed

Düsseldorf

http://igrasp.lwdb.de/ welcome

Bonn

Düsseldorf

Imparting knowledge

Lead institution

Dortmund

NRW Research School: Research with Synchrotron Radiation in Nano- and Biosciences

TU Dortmund

www.tu-dortmund.de/ uni/Forschung/Nachwuchsf__rderung/ NRW-Forschungsschulen/index.html

Forschungszentrum Jülich

International Helmholtz Research School of Biophysics and Soft Matter (BioSoft)

Cologne, Bonn/Caesar, Düsseldorf

www.ihrs-biosoft.de

German Research School for Simulation Sciences (GRS): joint training of master’s and PhD students; joint venture (GmbH) between RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich

Aachen, Helmholtz Association, federal state of NRW, BMBF

www.grs-sim.de

Aachen, Bochum, Jülich-Helmholtz graduate school for energy and Düsseldorf, Cologne, climate: Helmholtz Interdisciplinary Doctoral Training Wuppertal, Helmholtz in Energy and Climate Research (HITEC) Association

www.fz-juelich.de/hitec

* Forschungszentrum Jülich is actively involved in training PhD students in graduate schools and research training groups. For the second time in 2012, AICES and the Bonn-Cologne Graduate School secured funding from the Excellence Initiative of the German federal and state governments. The German Research Foundation (DFG) will support their innovative objectives and scientific concepts for another five years.

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

53


Knowledge Worldwide – Highlights of 2012 USA A new memorandum of understanding on supercomputing collaboration was signed with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in Illinois (USA). Prof. Sebastian M. Schmidt, member of Jülich’s Board of Directors, and Prof. Thomas Lippert from the Jülich Supercomputing Centre came to an understanding with their American partners to look for pathways to exascale computing. The two institutions agreed on an exchange programme as well as a joint young scientists programme. Physicists at ANL and Jülich’s Nuclear Physics Institute and Institute for Advanced Simulation are performing joint research at the interface of nuclear physics and particle physics. For this work, Dr. Craig D. Roberts from Argonne received the Helmholtz International Fellow Award.

54

Brazil

Georgia

Forschungszentrum Jülich is setting up the LABEX Germany in Brazil laboratory at EMBRAPA, Brazil’s largest agricultural research company. The cooperation agreement was signed on 8 October 2012 in the presence of Annette Schavan, then Federal Minister of Education and Research. The partners are developing joint research projects in the areas of agriculture, plant phenotyping, and bioinformatics. In this way, Jülich is intensifying its cooperation with one of the most important countries for the bioeconomy.

During a visit on the occasion of celebrations to mark the 90 th anniversary of the Georgian Technical University (GTU), Prof. Sebastian M. Schmidt, member of Jülich’s Board of Directors, presented Georgian students at GTU and Tbilisi State University with certificates for three PhD and two master’s scholarships. A joint call to apply for cooperation support was published for the first time in 2012 by Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Georgian national organization for the promotion of science and research (Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation, SRNSF).

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


China 2012 saw the beginning of a supercomputing cooperation with China’s National Supercomputing Centre in Tianjin and the Computer Network Information Center of the Chinese Academy of Science (CNIC) in Beijing. The first trilateral workshop entitled ‘Changes’ with CNIC and the University of Illinois took place at Jülich in September, and brought together supercomputing experts from Europe, China, and the USA. In addition, a working group of the joint research laboratory of the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology (SIMIT) and the subinstitute of Bioelectronics at Jülich was selected as eligible for funding in the first selection round for Helmholtz-CAS Joint Research Groups, which lays the foundation for long-term cooperation between the two institutions.

Visiting scientists 2012 Total 860

Number of countries 40

Other 2 America 27 Asia 137

638 Western Europe 350 of which from Germany

Sharing knowledge

Eastern Europe 56

India In May 2012, Forschungszentrum Jülich opened an office in Mumbai that aims to promote the expansion of scientific cooperation with research establishments and universities in India. Dr. Ganesh Shankar represents Forschungszentrum Jülich and is the point of contact for scientific institutions, ministries, and companies in the country. The office is responsible for building and strengthening contacts with politics, science, and administration, evaluating applications from Indian scientists, and assisting in the organization of delegation visits. Forschungszentrum Jülich is also among the founding members of the German Center for Research and Innovation, which was opened in New Delhi in October 2012.

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

55


International Cooperations in Energy Research H2IGCC – Turbine technology for the use of hydrogen-rich fuel gases | Gas turbines will be made more efficient in using hydrogen-rich fuel gases formed in so-called integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plants or hydrogen that will be produced from renewable energies in the future. Twenty-four partners from eleven European countries are working on the EU research project H2IGCC. They are optimizing turbine technology for safe and low-emission operation. In the subproject ‘Materials’, Jülich scientists are contributing to the development of thermal barrier coatings, which are characterized by their long lifetime and high robustness. The total budget of the project running from 2009 to 2013 is € 17.8 million. EFFIPRO – EU project for efficient and robust fuel cells | Novel fuel cells with ceramic proton-conducting electrolytes (PC-SOFCs) are to be made available by 2020. To this end, seven project partners from five countries are developing stable and robust electrolytes and electrodes in the EU project EFFIPRO. The researchers hope that this will make PC-SOFCs one of the most important fuel cell technologies. Their goal is to accelerate practical application of such fuel cells, increase their efficiency by

10 %, reduce CO2 emissions and, in the long term, drive forward the hydrogen economy. The project was funded by the EU with € 2.5 million from 2009 to 2012. VITI – Tracks for electric current | Topological insulators only behave as an insulator in their interior, while their surfaces and edges conduct electricity, similar to tracks. They could make computers and mobile phones superfast some day without heating them up. At the Virtual Institute for Topological Insulators (VITI), which was established in 2012, scientists from Germany and China are investigating novel materials with great potential for applications in information technologies. The Helmholtz Association is funding the project coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jülich with € 600,000 per annum for three to five years. The partners are contributing € 300,000 per annum. H2FC – A network for hydrogen technology | Nineteen partners from all over Europe have joined forces in the H2FC project to form a network of research infrastructures in the area of hydrogen technology and fuel cells. This includes jointly used databases and experimental facilities, as well as coordinated training and support for young

scientists. The infrastructure project launched in late 2011, which is headed by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), is being funded with € 8 million by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme for Research over a period of four years. About half a million has been earmarked for the Institute of Energy and Climate Research at Forschungszentrum Jülich. Collaborative project N-KATH – Tailormade cathode materials | Longer lifetimes and a higher performance at low temperatures will help to achieve a breakthrough in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology. To this end, Jülich researchers and Russian colleagues are working on optimized new materials in the N-KATH collaborative project. The SOFC cathode materials are tailor-made by the Russian partners and then studied and tested by Jülich researchers. The company H.C. Starck Ceramics is another partner in the collaboration and provides the cells for testing. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding the three-year project with € 440,000.

The optimization of gas turbines for use with hydrogen-rich fuel gases is the objective of the H2IGCC project.

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Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Facts & Figures Whoever shares their knowledge wins in so many ways. Forschungszentrum Jülich works with numerous partners from science and industry on both a national and international level and it does so to the benefit of all involved. In many projects, Jülich scientists are responsible for the coordination.

National Cooperations Nationally funded projects coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jülich (examples) Funded by

German Plant Phenotyping Network (DPPN)

BMBF

€ 18,342,495

Nanostructured Ceramic and Metal-Supported Membranes for Gas Separation in Fossil-Fueled Power Plants (METPORE II)

BMWi

€ 2,029,906

Extensive light trapping in silicon-based thin-film solar cell technology (LIST); subproject: Optical functional layers and transparent contacts

BMU

€ 1,956,628

New cost-effective and sustainable materials for PEM electrolysis for the production of hydrogen from renewable energies (EKOLYSER)

BMWi

€ 1,810,376

Helmholtz Energy Alliance Stationary Electrochemical Storage and Conversion

HGF

€ 1,275,000

Basic research on the immobilization of long-lived radionuclides by means of integration into ceramics suitable for final repository storage (conditioning)

BMBF

€ 919,706

Membrane electrode assemblies for alkaline PEM electrolysis for the production of hydrogen from renewable energies (MaPEl)

BMBF

€ 538,748

German–Japanese collaboration in computational neuroscience: Impact of top-down influence on visual processing during free viewing: multi-scale analysis of multi-area massively parallel recording of the visual pathway

BMBF

€ 533,061

Ab initio development of new cathode materials (N-KATH)

BMBF

€ 440,258

Flexible simulation package for multiphase flows in fuel cells (FlexSim)

MIWF

€ 389,127

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

57

Sharing knowledge

Contract volume Jülich

Title


Collaborative research centres involving Jülich

Launch of the German Plant Phenotyping Network (DPPN), in the picture (from left to right): Prof. Achim Bachem, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich, Dr. Martin Frauen, WPI, Prof. Jörg Durner, HMGU, Thomas Rachel MdB, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Education and Research (BMBF), Prof. Thomas Altmann, IPK Gatersleben, Prof. Ulrich Schurr, director at the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences – Plant Sciences (IBG-2) of Forschungszentrum Jülich

2003

11

2004

14

2005

12

2006

14

2007

10

2008

18

2009

15

2010

12

2011

13

2012

10

Collaborative projects with national funding in excess of € 2 million Title

Funded by

Construction of a petaflop computer, federal state funding

MIWF

Contract volume Jülich € 44,200,000

Construction of a petaflop computer, funding through the Gauss Centre

BMBF

€ 42,423,000

Extension of a petaflop computer, federal state funding

MIWF

€ 16,000,000

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

BMBF

€ 38,220,000

German Plant Phenotyping Network (DPPN)

BMBF

€ 18,342,495

Development and testing of prototype components for ITER at Forschungszentrum Jülich

BMBF

€ 11,659,446

Platform for translational neurological research based on the combination of ultrahigh-field magnetic resonance and positron emission tomography (development of a 9.4 tesla PET hybrid system)

BMBF

€ 9,625,000

Participation of Helmholtz Association centres in the re-design phase of ESS

BMBF

€ 8,989,980

Characterization of the local microstructure and spatially resolved composition of structural and functional materials for novel energy conversion and storage systems

BMBF

€ 6,506,553

German Research School for Simulation Sciences (GRS)

HGF

€ 6,200,000

High-temperature electrochemical metal-metal oxide batteries for centralized and decentralized stationary storage (MeMo)

BMBF

€ 4,517,690

HGF Systems Biology Initiative; health network The Human Brain Model: Connecting Neuronal Structure and Function across Temporal and Spatial Scales (network 7; NW7, Human Brain)

HGF

€ 4,348,800

Fuel processing technology with biomass-to-liquid fuels and reformer fuel cell systems (previously EFFESYS)

BMWi

€ 4,104,000

Virtual Institute for Topological Insulators

HGF

€ 2,900,000

Materials and Components to Meet High Energy Density Batteries (MEET HiEnD)

BMBF

€ 2,516,692

Helmholtz Interdisciplinary Training in Energy and Climate Research (HITEC)

HGF

€ 2,400,000

CROP.SENSe – Competence Networks in Agri-Food Research: Complex Sensors for Crop Research, Breeding and Inventory Control (PhenoCrops) (Ziel-2 EFRE)

BMWi

€ 2,252,739

Nanostructured Ceramic and Metal-Supported Membranes for Gas Separation in Fossil-Fueled Power Plants (METPORE II)

BMWi

€ 2,029,906

In 2012, Forschungszentrum Jülich was involved in 263 nationally funded projects, including 125 with several partners. Twenty-four of these alliances were coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jülich.

58

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


International EU Cooperations EU projects coordinated by Jülich* Twenty-six EU projects were coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jülich in 2012. Contract volume Jülich

Acronym

Project title

CARBOWASTE

Treatment and Disposal of Irradiated Graphite and other Carbonaceous Waste

IAGOS-ERI

In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System – European Research Infrastructure

RECONCILE

Reconciliation of Essential Process Parameters for an Enhanced Predictability of Arctic Stratospheric Ozone Loss and its Climate Interactions

NASAOTM

Nanostructured Surface Activated Ultra-thin Oxygen Transport Membrane

ERASYSBIO+

ERA-NET for Systems Biology

POLPBAR

Production of Polarized Antiprotons

€ 1,689,900

GARNICS

Gardening with a Cognitive System

€ 995,186 €

PRACE-1IP

First Implementation Phase of the European High-Performance Computing Service PRACE

€ 1,977,400

ESMI

European Soft Matter Infrastructure

€ 2,774,539

SIINN

Safe Implementation of Innovative Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

€ 374,218

MARTEC II

Maritime Technologies

€ 558,912

ECO-INNOVERA

ERA-NET on ECO-INNOVATION – Boosting Eco-innovation through Joint Cooperation in Research and Dissemination

€ 460,505

HOPSA-EU

Holistic Performance System Analysis-EU

€ 315,550

PRACE-2IP

PRACE – Second Implementation Phase Project

€ 1,037,155

DEEP

Dynamical Exascale Entry Platform

€ 1,108,537

MMLCR-SOFC

Working towards Mass-Manufactured, Low-Cost and Robust SOFC Stacks

€ 583,848 €

FASTTRACK

Fast Track – Accelerated Development and Prototyping of Nano-technology-based High-efficiency Thin-film Silicon Solar Modules

€ 2,178,251

EPPN

European Plant Phenotyping Network

€ 1,615,853

MAOROBOTS

Methylaluminoxane (MAO) Activators in the Molecular Polyolefin Factory

€ 1,002,000

SOFC LIFE

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells – Integrating Degradation Effects into Lifetime Prediction Models

€ 575,000

SIINN

Safe Implementation of Innovative Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

€ 370,000

CASYM

Coordinating Action Systems Medicine – Implementation of Systems Medicine across Europe

€ 722,700

PRACE-3IP

PRACE – Third Implementation Phase

SOMATAI

Soft Matter AT Aqueous Interfaces

€ 597,200

SILICON LIGHT

Improved Material Quality and Light Trapping in Thin-film Silicon Solar Cells

€ 185,858

ERASYNBIO

Development and Coordination of Synthetic Biology in the European Research Area

€ 446,000

€ 1,003,757 € 614,435 € 1,635,728 € 993,758

€ 1,190,367

* In contrast to last year’s annual report, which detailed only those EU projects that were new in the period under review, Forschungszentrum Jülich’s overall involvement in the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research is outlined here.

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

59

Sharing knowledge

€ 98,000


EU-funded projects involving Jülich in 2012 – funding in excess of € 1 million Title MAO-ROBOTS Methylaluminoxane (MAO) Activators in the Molecular Polyolefin Factory

Contract volume Jülich € 1,001,862

Involvement of Forschungszentrum Jülich in EU programmes within the Seventh Framework Programme for Research* EU funding (thousands of euros)

Number of approved projects

EU programme Health

4

520

Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology

12

1,817

Information and Communication Technologies

13

5,070

Nano, Materials and Production

19

9,947

Energy

13

4,920

Environment

7

4,127

Space

4

1,420

CARBOWASTE – Treatment and Disposal of Irradiated Graphite and other Carbonaceous Waste

€ 1,003,757

PATHOGENOMICS ERA-NET Coord, Action

€ 1,022,599

NMI3 neu

€ 1,078,820

SOFC600 – SOFC for Operation at 600 °C – IP

€ 1,086,313

DEEP

€ 1,108,495

PEGASOS

€ 1,329,993

Euratom (including Intra-European Training Fellowships (EIF)

11

3,294

EPPN – European Plant Phenotyping Network

€ 1,615,852

Research Infrastructures

32

25,193

CILIA Integrated Project

€ 1,633,310

ERC

2

2,092

Marie Curie (Host Driven-Action)

8

3,600

30

8,447

155

70,447

RECONCILE – Reconciliation of Essential Process Parameters for an Enhanced Predictability of Arctic Stratospheric Ozone Loss and its Climate Interactions

€ 1,635,728

POLPBAR

€ 1,689,900

Fast Track – Accelerated Development and Prototyping of Nano-technologybased High-efficiency Thin-film Silicon Solar Modules

€ 2,178,251

ESMI (während Proposalphase: EFAST)

€ 2,774,539

HPC for FUSION; Notification on Priority Support; A Dedicated European High-Performance Computer for Fusion Applications (JU-EUROPA-FF) CCE-FU 42/8,4b/endorsed by EFDA-SC 7-MAY-08 as a ‘specific cooperative project’ according to Article 5.1.1

€ 3,600,000

PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe) -1IP

€ 1,997,400

PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe) -2IP

€ 1,037,155

PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe) -3IP

€ 1,190,367

Miscellaneous in FRP 7 (Eranet INTAS, etc.) FRP 7 total

* This table outlines Forschungszentrum Jülich’s overall involvement in the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research.

Measuring probe on Lufthansa A340-300 Viersen, D-AIGT, for the In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System (IAGOS) climate research programme coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jülich.

* In contrast to last year’s annual report, which detailed only those EU projects that were new in the period under review, Forschungszentrum Jülich’s overall involvement in the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research is outlined here.

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Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Cooperations with Industry Important industrial collaborations of Forschungszentrum Jülich in 2012 Project

Industry partner

Cooperation agreement for MoBiChip

ABX Advanced Biochemical Compounds

Efficient Ecological Aircraft Systems EFFESYS

Airbus Deutschland GmbH; Pfalzwerke Aerospace AG; Nord-Micro AG & Co. OHG; EADS; Diehl Aerospace GmbH; AOA Apparatebau Gauting GmbH

Flexible Simulation of Fuel Cells (FLEXSIM)

Aixprocess Verfahrens- und Strömungstechnik

Investigations for the fermentative production of L-leucine using microorganisms

Amino GmbH

GDL coatings for HT-PEFCs and binding and release of agricultural chemicals from biofilter materials

BASF SE

Improved Plant Phenotyping under Various Environmental Conditions

BAYER Bioscience N.V.

Solar cells on the basis of printable Si and/or Ge compounds

Evonik Degussa GmbH

Membrane electrode assemblies for alkaline PEM electrolysis for the production of hydrogen from renewable energies; MaPEl

FuMA-Tech GmbH

Biotechnological routes for functional polymer and oligomer products: fabrication of adhesive peptides

Henkel KGaA

Exascale Innovation Center (EIC) with IBM

IBM Deutschland Research and Development GmbH

Number of industrial collaborations International

Total

Year

National

2004

201

83

284

2005

190

123

313

2006

222

103

325

2007

151

77

228

2009

264

60

324

2010

260

65

325

2011

274

60

334

2012

284

79

363

2008*

Sharing knowledge

* 2008 not shown due to change of data system

Exacluster Lab (ECL) with Intel and PARTEC (Jülich Open Innovation Lab for Cluster Intel GmbH Supercomputing Design and Evaluation) Cost savings and optimization of glass sealant tapes for sealing in SOFC technology, GLASSeal

Kerafol GmbH

NVIDIA Application Lab for the acceleration of scientific applications with graphics processing units

NVIDIA GmbH

JuRoPA-3: Development of an HPC System with T-Platforms Cluster-Architecture and ParaStation Cluster Middleware Partners: Partec (D), T-Platforms (RU)

ParTec Cluster Competence Center GmbH

Cultivation, Measurement, Modeling and Simulation of 13-C-labeling Experiments Using Penicillium chrysogenum

Sandoz GmbH

Characterization of metal-metal oxide hightemperature storage options and MRI-PET

Siemens AG

Centre of excellence for innovative PV system technology NRW Ziel 2

TÜV Immissionsschutz und Energiesysteme GmbH

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

61


Operation Brain: The Human Brain Project Europe is pooling its scientific expertise for the objective of simulating the human brain on a supercomputer of the future in order to understand it on all levels – from the molecules to the interplay of entire regions of the brain. On 28 January 2013, the EU chose the Human Brain Project as one of its ‘flagships’ in its programme Future and Emerging Technologies, and will fund the project with up to € 1 billion over the next ten years. The project brings together researchers from more than 80 scientific institutions in 23 countries. Forschungszentrum Jülich and its research partners in the region – the Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA), the universities of Düsseldorf and Wuppertal, and the German Research School for Simulation Sciences – play a key role in the project. On the one hand, the Jülich scientists contribute their expertise in high-performance computing. For example, experts at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) together with cooperation partners are developing new supercomputers that will able to perform more than a quintillion arithmetic operations per second (exaflop/s), as well as suitable software. Such computers are needed to process the huge amounts of data on

62

the brain that are available worldwide. A dedicated Human Brain supercomputer will be installed by 2020. Brain atlas as a navigation system On the other hand, Jülich scientists at the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM) will obtain new information on the structure and function of individual neurons, entire neuron clusters, and larger networks. “We are creating a virtual human brain that covers the spatial organization of the brain from the molecular level right up to the complex system of functions. This multimodal brain atlas will be the navigation system of the Human Brain Project,” says Prof. Katrin Amunts, director at INM. Prof. Markus Diesmann, also a director at INM, works at the interface between medical research and simulation technology: “We investigate processes in the brain, for example by developing simplified models of neurons, and simulating their activity and communication with each other. By comparing our results with experimental data, we can then progressively refine our models until they closely resemble the real network of the brain.” Another director at INM, Prof. Peter Tass, is developing computer models to develop treatments for diseases of the brain such as Parkinson’s. “Our Coordinated Reset technology

Jülich researchers at the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine and the Jülich Supercomputing Centre who are involved in the Human Brain Project (from top to bottom): Prof. Markus Diesmann, Prof. Katrin Amunts, Prof. Peter Tass and Prof. Thomas Lippert.

is a result of this research. It provides a way of purposely disturbing a pathological synchronization of neuron clusters.” When the scientists have developed a better understanding of the workings of the human brain with the help of the virtual brain model, they will be able to apply this to design even more powerful and extremely energy-efficient computers: after all, the brain requires less energy for its highly complex information processing than a 60-watt incandescent bulb.

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


The novel spectrometer GLORIA collected some 30 terabytes of data for climate research on board the new German research aircraft HALO in 2012. GLORIA stands for ‘Gimballed Limb Observer for Radiance Imaging of the Atmosphere’. This is the name of a novel infrared camera that precisely maps the large-scale movements of gases and aerosols in the atmosphere. A recently developed detector chip measures carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, water vapour, numerous nitrogen and chlorine compounds, and other substances. It all began in 2003 during an informal exchange of ideas between physicist Felix Friedl-Vallon from Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (today Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, KIT) and atmospheric researcher Prof. Martin Riese, director at Jülich’s Institute of Energy and Climate Research (IEK). Riese was planning to measure a large range of climate-relevant trace gases in unprecedented spatial resolution with novel detector chips. Friedl-Vallon suggested using a suitable spectrometer for this purpose – the idea for GLORIA was born. GLORIA goes on board Nine years later, in August 2012, GLORIA was on board when the research aircraft HALO (High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft) was officially put into operation by Prof. Annette Schavan, then Federal Minister of Education and

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

Research. HALO is a joint initiative of German institutions involved in environmental and climate research funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Helmholtz Association, the German Research Foundation, the Max Planck Society, the Free State of Bavaria, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), Forschungszentrum Jülich, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The flight routes of the 2012 climate measurement campaigns stretched from the Arctic Circle to the Svalbard archipelago and around Africa to the Antarc-

tic – a total of 126 flight hours and 88,000 kilometres. The total of 30 terabytes of data, which corresponds roughly to the amount of data contained in three million encyclopaedias, is now being analysed. Dr. Peter Preusse reveals initial findings: “The results of GLORIA show a large number of very thin filaments created by the mixing of tropospheric and stratospheric air. GLORIA’s resolution is particularly high, enabling researchers to observe these filaments with a vertical expansion of only a few hundred metres. These structures are thinner and more pronounced than previously predicted by models.”

In autumn 2012, the novel spectrometer GLORIA (left) took part in two large-scale measurement campaigns: TACTS (green) and ESMVal (red). Both TACTS (Transport and Composition in the Upper Troposphere/Lowermost Stratosphere) and ESMVal (Earth System Model Validation) study the transport processes between the troposphere and the stratosphere. The results help to improve existing climate models.

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Sharing knowledge

Above the Clouds – No Limits in Climate Research


Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) JARA pools the expertise of Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University in a cooperation model that is unique in Germany. The objective of the alliance, which currently encompasses 3,800 employees, is to pursue joint cutting-edge research on solving the grand challenges facing society. The cooperation originated in 2007 from preparations for the first Excellence Initiative and was also successful in the second round with its renewal application

entitled ‘RWTH Aachen 2020: Meeting Global Challenges. The Integrated Interdisciplinary University of Technology’. JARA will now be funded through the Excellence Initiative for another five years. Another section was also added to JARA on 1 August 2012. JARA-FAME (Forces and Matter Experiments) performs basic research in the fields of nuclear physics and particle physics. At present, JARA has the following five sections:

• JARA-BRAIN (Translational Brain Medicine) • JARA-FIT (Fundamentals of Future Information Technology) • JARA-HPC (High-Performance Computing) • JARA-ENERGY (Sustainable Energy Research) • JARA-FAME (Forces and Matter Experiments)

JARA-FIT | The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded Prof. Rafal Dunin-Borkowski, director at the Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons, an ERC Advanced Grant. Dunin-Borkowski will receive funding of € 2.5 million over a five-year period to develop electron microscopy methods that will allow magnetic fields inside materials to be mapped with almost atomic resolution. Together with the respected journal Nature Materials, the JARA-FIT section hosted the Nature Conference ‘Frontiers

in Electronic Materials: Correlation Effects and Memristive Phenomena’ in Aachen from 17 to 20 June. JARA-ENERGY | In the project on the synthesis and characterization of ceramic samarium phosphate and samarium phosphosilicate phases for the immobilization of actinoids, funded by DFG, JARA scientists are investigating long-term solutions for the safe disposal of radioisotopes from the production of nuclear energy.

Selected projects 2012: JARA-BRAIN and JARA-HPC | perform joint research for the simulation of the human brain in the Human Brain Project. Scientists from 23 countries are working together to build a unique infrastructure that will allow them to establish and further develop a brain research and information technology network. The European Union is supporting this project as part of its FET Flagship Initiative (see p. 62). Another joint success is the establishment of the SimLab Neuroscience at JSC (see Chronology, p. 15).

Whether they’re stockbrokers or chief executive officers – managers make quick decisions all day long. Priv.-Doz. Dr. Dr. Svenja Caspers and her team from Forschungszentrum Jülich/JARA-BRAIN investigated what happens in the brain during this process together with business psychologists and sociologists from the University of Cologne. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, they found that the caudate nucleus (green in the image) was more active in executives than in the rest of the population when it comes to making simple routine decisions. It is believed that this area of the brain contributes to recognizing patterns based on previous knowledge, thus paving the way for intuitive decisions.

JARA finances 2012

500 million Amount invested € 60 million Budget €

Money from the Excellence Initiative approx. €

13.6 million

The number of jointly appointed professors (salary grade W) increased from 11 in 2006 to

44 in 2012 (as of 31.12.2012).

The institutes involved in JARA had an output of a total of

1,662 peer-reviewed publications in 2012. The number of joint publications in 2012 was 420 at the time of data collection (May 2013).

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Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


JARA-FAME: Discovering Elementary Building Blocks and Forces

E

ach elementary particle in nature has a ‘mirror image’. This antiparticle has the same mass, but an opposite electric charge. What we call matter consists of particles, and antimatter consists of the associated antiparticles. According to our present knowledge, the universe was created in the Big Bang, which produced as much matter as antimatter. However, we owe our existence to the imbalance between matter and antimatter. Without this asymmetry, matter and antimatter would have completely annihilated each other after the Big Bang and there would be no galaxies, planets, or humans. This prompts two questions: Are there regions in our universe that consist entirely of antimatter? And if there aren’t any, how did the matterantimatter asymmetry come to exist? Researchers from Aachen and Jülich are working together to answer these questions and therefore established

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

JARA-FAME on 1 August 2012 (p. 46). The first question will hopefully be answered by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) on the International Space Station, where the device is investigating cosmic rays with previously unachievable precision. If it could detect only one single anticarbon nucleus, this would be positive proof that stars consisting of antimatter do exist. The first results presented by the AMS collaboration, which is headed by Physics Nobel Laureate Samuel Ting, are already quite spectacular and could only be published so early with the support of the Jülich Supercomputing Centre: cosmic radiation contains far more positrons that expected. Whether this is evidence of another mysterious substance referred to as dark matter is an issue the researchers in the FAME section are planning to explore in the future. The Jülich Electric Dipole Moment Investigation (JEDI) project addresses

the second question. Today, although we are aware of phenomena that go some way towards explaining the matter-antimatter asymmetry, these are by far not sufficient to explain its extent. “Another reason would be the existence of a permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) in protons,” explains Prof. Maier, one of the directors of JARA-FAME. An EDM is usually understood to mean that positive and negative charges are spatially separated. Demonstrating this in a proton is a huge challenge. If a proton was as big as the Earth, it would mean finding a separation in the order of magnitude of the diameter of a human hair. The FAME researchers are hoping to determine the EDM with unprecedented precision in storage rings, and thus contribute to solving the fundamental question behind our existence.

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Sharing knowledge

It is one of the great mysteries of science: What happened to the antimatter that was created together with matter at the dawn of the universe? Researchers in the new JARA section FAME (Forces and Matter Experiments) are hoping to unravel this mystery.


Jülich Know-How in Industry and Society Jülich research provides answers to fundamental questions. It also drives innovations that are worth their weight in gold and benefit both industry and society. A steady flow of new patent applications and numerous licensing agreements testify to this.

Licences

Patents

Number of licences 2012 Total number of which new of which discontinuing Total share foreign Share USA (most important partner country) Share SMEs

100 6 18 31 12 69

Income from licences 2012 €

1.12 million

Total number of protective rights in 2012 (Patents, patent applications and utility models in Germany and abroad) 2002

7,413

2003

8,705

2004

13,301

2005

17,054

2006

17,710

2007

15,625

2008

16,276

2009

15,377

2010

14,793

2011

16,159

2012

16,892

Patents 2012* Patent applications Germany of which priority applications

Patent applications abroad of which priority applications

47 45 36 3

Total patents granted of which technologies for which a patent was granted for the first time Patents granted Germany Patents granted abroad

Total number of protective rights 2012

82 25 12 70

16,892

* By filing a patent application, the applicant obtains a right of priority, which allows them to file additional applications (e.g. abroad) within a year of filing the original application, claiming the right of priority. Patent applications based on the right of priority include the original applications in the period under review.

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Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Research for Practical Applications Paving the way for drugs for Alzheimer’s

Computer simulations show two different perspectives of how the D3 peptide binds to the ß-amyloid molecules – shown here as yellow-green strips.

substances that have been clinically tested so far.” Most of them target the chain-like beta amyloid molecule comprising around 40 amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. The beta amyloid molecule can form deposits known as plaques that are characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease and were found in the brains of deceased persons who had been affected by the disease. Some of the candidate drugs that failed

the test were supposed to block the enzymes required for the production of the beta amyloid molecule, for example. “Our approach, in contrast, is not to take action against the beta amyloid molecule, but to stabilize it instead. This is how we want to prevent it from being converted into larger aggregates or plaques,” says Willbold. In their search for substances that act in this manner, they discovered the D3 peptide and a number of its derivatives. These substances contain amino acids that are structured like a mirror image of the amino acids in natural proteins. The advantage of the artificial mirror images: they are not attacked by degradation proteins in the body and are therefore particularly stable. The approach of the Jülich scientists has already proven to be effective in tests on cell cultures and on mice that have mutated genes for a human beta amyloid precursor protein. In these Alzheimer’s model mice, D3 has a positive effect on mental faculties. For example, the animals are better able to remember how to get to the platform in a water pool where they can take a rest.

A team headed by Prof. Dieter Willbold and Dr. Susanne Aileen Funke have developed a potential drug for Alzheimer’s dementia, which will now be tested in initial clinical trials.

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

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Using knowledge

Despite intensive worldwide research efforts, a drug that is able to alleviate or even cure Alzheimer’s has not yet been found. According to estimates, the number of people currently affected by this form of dementia in Germany alone is around one million. Although promising substances were discovered in the past, they were either found to be ineffective in clinical trials or their side effects were too strong. Prof. Dieter Willbold, director at Jülich’s Institute for Complex Systems (ICS) is confident that his team has found a candidate that will fare better as an active substance. This potential drug will be tested in phase-1 clinical trials during the next two years. In this phase, doctors administer the substance to healthy individuals to find out how well they are tolerate it and how it is transformed by metabolism. The Helmholtz Association is funding the phase-1 trials from its Validation Fund. Willbold believes to have good reason for his optimism: “The mode of action of our D3 peptide derivatives is completely different than that of other


Analysis method for electronic waste On average, 1,000 kilograms of ore from a goldmine contains no more than 5 grams of gold, while 1,000 kilograms of mobile phones in contrast contains up to 350 grams. Electronic waste also contains other elements, such as silver, palladium, iridium, and copper. In principle, it should pay off to mine for noble metal there. However, in practice, recycling is a complex task. The old devices must be collected as effectively as possible, sorted and then taken apart. They also contain several harmful substances that must completely removed. “For the recycling industry, it’s important to know what valuable materials are contained in a batch of waste as well as in what quantities,” says Dr. Andrea Mahr from Technology Transfer (T) at Forschungszentrum Jülich. She sounded out the market for a method originally developed by scientists at Jülich and Aachen which analyses the contents of drums with

68

low-level radioactive waste without having to open them. These drums will be taken to Schacht Konrad near the town of Salzgitter for final disposal from 2019. A team headed by Dr. Eric Mauerhofer at Jülich’s Institute of Energy and Climate Research started to investigate the socalled prompt-gamma neutron activation analysis as a cost-effective and nondestructive method of analysing the contents of these drums in 2007. This method involves a neutron beam that briefly activates the atomic nuclei in the material to be analysed. The activated nuclei react promptly – within a maximum of a trillionth of a second – by emitting gamma radiation. The scientists developed an analysis technique that delivers numerical values for the composition of elements from the gamma spectrum obtained. They filed a patent application and named the entire method MEDINA, short for ‘Multi- Element Detection

based on Instrumental Neutron Activation’. The researchers are now planning to use the method to analyse electronic waste. They are convinced that it is much more efficient than conventional methods: “The latter require a lot of staff and time, not to mention the chemicals and energy that are needed for wet-chemical sample preparation,” says Mauerhofer. Above all, however, MEDINA solves the problem posed by the complex sampling process. The necessary radiation protection measures are comparable to those in doctors’ surgeries and medical laboratories when taking X-rays or handling radioactive substances. In order to adapt MEDINA to the requirements of the recycling sector, the scientists need industry support. “The interest is there, and we’re already in concrete negotiations with one company on joint further development,” says technology transfer expert Mahr.

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Emergency power supply with fuel cells Emergency management agencies as well as fire brigades and police forces must be able to communicate via non-public mobile communications when the power grid is disrupted. With funding from the Helmholtz Validation Fund, Jülich scientists are refining direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) systems to supply mobile base stations with power in emergencies – and do so in a reliable and environmentally friendly manner. They are contributing extensive knowhow to this task: for example, they have fitted up DMFCs for use in a type of electrical forklift also referred to as an order picker. “A corresponding fuel cell stack has already been running for more than 20,000 operating hours,” says Dr. Martin Müller, head of DMFCs at Electrochemical Process Engineering in the Institute of Energy and Climate Research. DMFCs convert the chemical energy contained in methanol as a liquid fuel

directly into electric current. On the one hand, this makes them an alternative to batteries. One kilogram of methane contains a hundred times more energy than a lead battery with the same weight, so that DMFC systems can be used to cover even lengthy periods without power. It is also easier to fill them and they do not require any time-consuming recharging cycles. On the other hand, DMFC systems also have advantages over diesel aggregates, which are frequently used for emergency power supply today. “In principle, DMFC systems are more reliable and they are suitable for remote maintenance,” says Müller. They are also quiet and emit less local air pollutants. The Helmholtz Association validation fund enables scientists to advance their research results to a point where their value is increased and it becomes possible to launch the product on the market. In the next two years, Jülich’s fuel cell

experts will ensure above all that the DMFC systems start reliably even after a long downtime and achieve a lifetime of at least ten years. They will also continue to reduce the cost of DMFCs. The scientists have initially set their minds on the market that has emerged from the changeover of public safety radio to digital technology and the operation of the necessary base stations. But they are also looking further into the future: “Mobile base stations will be increasingly supplied with power from wind or solar energy. During periods without wind and sunshine, DMFC systems could take up the slack,” says Müller.

Using knowledge

Power outages jeopardize mobile communications – and therefore a lifeline of modern society. DMFC systems (bottom) could in future become responsible for emergency power supply for base stations.

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

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70


Appendix 72 Finances 76 Bodies and Committees 78 Organization Chart 80 Contact Information 81 Publication Details

71


Finances Investments in science and research secure our future. Financing from public funds makes it possible to conduct the independent preliminary research that is essential to ensure sustainable development. In addition to this, Forschungszentrum Jülich also generates income from licences with its industrially oriented research. Balance sheet Subsidies from the Federal Republic of Germany and the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia make up by far the largest part of Forschungszentrum Jülich’s income. In addition,

Jülich also receives third-party funding from industry, project funding from federal and state ministries, and research funds from the European Union.

Balance sheet 2012 (millions of euros) Assets

2012

A. Fixed assets

510.4

465.9

3.4

2.8

506.8

462.9

I. Intangible assets II. Tangible assets

2011

III. Financial assets

0.2

0.2

B. Current assets

852.8

806.3

39.9

37.2

I. Inventories II. Accounts receivable and other assets III. Government equity to balance the books

30.9

21.6

760.6

708.2

21.4

39.3

IV. Cash on hand and on deposit with Deutsche Bundesbank, cash at credit institutions, cheques C. Accruals and deferrals Total assets Liabilities A. Equity capital

13.6

25.3

1,376.8

1,297.5

2012

2011 0.5

0.5

B. Special items for subsidies

585.9

543.3

I. on fixed assets

509.9

465.4

76.0

77.9

C. Provisions

725.5

698.2

I. Decommissioning and disposal of nuclear installations

432.2

452.5

61.6

57.1

231.7

188.6

63.8

54.9

1.1

0.6

1,376.8

1,297.5

II. on current assets

II. Pensions and miscellaneous III. Provisions for taxation D. Accounts payable E. Accruals and deferrals Total liabilities

Profit and loss account The profit and loss account compares the income and costs of Forschungszentrum Jülich. The difference normally corresponds to the company profit or loss. In the case of Forschungszentrum Jülich, the partners are obliged to balance the books. Like institutional funding, this extra revenue is part of the additional subsidies. The profit and loss statement is

72

therefore always balanced. Forschungszentrum Jülich generates significant revenue through project management activities, a large number of research and development projects, and the provision of research facilities. The remaining operating income mainly consists of income from the provisions put aside for the decommissioning of nuclear facilities.

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Profit and loss statement 2012 (thousands of euros) 2012 Income from subsidies

2011 513,534

Other subsidies

594,449

427,829

512,657

from federal government

377,142

453,560

from state government

50,687

59,097

Third-party project funding from federal government from state government from DFG

85,705

81,792

44,949

47,525

8,640

6,735

6,592

5,212

from others

11,356

11,508

from EU

14,168

10,812

Revenues and other income

116,179

147.3

Revenues from research, development and the use of research facilities

9,623

14,081

Revenues from licensing and know-how agreements

1,118

1,267

57,843

32,050

8,409

8,425

487

560

2,314

19,578

Revenues from project management organizations Revenues from infrastructure services and the sale of materials Revenues from the disposal of fixed assets Increase or reduction in the inventory of work in progress and services (of which EU € 968,000; prev. year € 9,706,000) Other own work capitalized Other operating income Other interest and similar income

602

712

31,645

60,487

4,138

10,181

Allocations to special items for subsidies

-98,082

-61,498

Transferred subsidies

-45,057

-48,142

Income from subsidies, revenues and other income available to cover expenses

486,574

632,150

Personnel costs

272,285

252,010

General expenses

49,190

50,048

Material costs

23,728

26,378

Costs for energy and water

20,099

19,065

5,363

4,605

155,104

311,896

9,995

18,196

Non-recurring expenses

0.0

0.0

Depreciation on fixed assets

0.0

0.0

Depreciation on fixed assets

54,463

51,163

Costs for external research and development Other operating costs Other interest and similar costs

Income from liquidation of special items for subsidies

-54,463

-51,163

Total expenditure

486,574

632,150

0.0

0.0

Result of normal business activity/Annual result

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

73


Revenues 2012 without changes in provisions (thousands of euros) Research fields Area

Structure of Matter

Earth and Environment

Health

Total

Energy

Key Technologies

Research fields

Other revenues

Total

EU funding

1,172

3,208

480

5,409

3,963

14,232

905

15,137

National project funding (excl. DFG)

2,162

2,617

2,104

16,104

21,674

44,661

20,284

64,945

0

168

69

530

117

884

19,752

20,636

291

1,654

81

1,207

3,294

6,527

65

6,592

incl. transferred subsidies DFG funding Subtotal project funding

65,420 14

295

1

1,191

577

2,078

319

2,397

1,077

1,443

586

4,618

1,764

9,488

15,782

25,270

57,843

57,843

95,198

172,184

Contracts, abroad Contracts, Germany Project management Subtotal third-party funding

86,674

4,716

9,217

3,252

28,529

Subsidies from the federal and state governments incl. dismantling projects Total

31,272

76,986

384,684 66,120 556,868

National project funding excl. DFG (thousands of euros) Total

64,945

• from federal government

44,949

• from state government • from other sources (in Germany)

8,640 11,356

incl. • transferred subsidies

20,636

• national project funding excl. DFG adjusted for transferred subsidies

44,309

The lack of agreement between the figures in the profit and loss statement and the overview of revenues from third-party project funding from the EU, and the federal and state governments as national funding agencies is due to the following reasons: The total sum of EU funding (€ 15,137,000) under ‘Revenues’ includes work in progress amounting to € 968,000 for all fields. The deduction of this work results in the rounded item (€ 14,168,000) in the profit and loss statement under ‘Third-party project funding from EU’. The total national project funding from the federal and state governments and other sources (in Germany, not including DFG funding) amounts to € 64,945,000. In the profit and loss statement, the sum includes the individual items of the federal government, the state government, and others (see table ‘National project funding excl. DFG’).

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Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Revenues 2012 Third-party funding € 172,200,000 | 30,9 %

69,1 % | € 384,700,00 Subsidies from federal and state governments of which dismantling projects € 66,100,000

In 2012, Forschungszentrum Jülich’s third-party funding totalled € 172,200,000, representing an increase of € 11,900,000 compared to 2011 (€ 160,300,000). Most of this income from third parties resulted from research and development activities for industry, the acquisition of funding from Germany and abroad, plus project management on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany and the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 2012, Forschungszentrum

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

Jülich also received subsidies including changes in provisions amounting to € 427,800,000 to cover expenses (i.e. for current operation) and to finance fixed assets (i.e. investments) from the federal and state governments, referred to in the table and diagram as ‘Subsidies from the federal and state governments’. These subsidies include € 66,100,000 for dismantling projects. Without these funds for provisions, subsidies from the federal and state governments amount to € 384,700,000.

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Bodies and Committees Forschungszentrum Jülich was established on 11 December 1956 by the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. On 5 December 1967, it was converted into a GmbH (limited company) with the Federal Republic of Germany and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia assuming the role of shareholders. The task of Forschungszentrum Jülich is • to pursue scientific and technical research and development at the interface between mankind, environment and technology, • to undertake or participate in other national and international tasks in the field of basic and application-oriented research, especially precautionary research, • to cooperate with science and industry in these fields of research and to communicate know-how to society as part of technology transfer. Company bodies The Partner’s Meeting is the principal decision-making body of Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH. The Supervisory Board as a body supervises the lawfulness, expedience and economic efficiency of the management board. It makes decisions on important research-related and financial issues of the company.

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

The Board of Directors conducts Forschungszentrum Jülich’s business pursuant to the Articles of Association. It reports to the Supervisory Board. Committees The Scientific and Technical Council (WTR) and the Scientific Advisory Council (WB) are committees of Forschungszentrum Jülich. WTR advises the Partners’ Meeting, the Supervisory Board and the management board on all issues associated with the strategic orientation of Forschungszentrum Jülich and on all scientific and technical issues of general importance. The Scientific Advisory Council (WB) advises Forschungszentrum Jülich on all scientific and technical issues of general importance. This includes, for example, Jülich’s strategy and planning of research and development activities, promoting the optimal use of research facilities, and issues related to cooperations with universities and other research institutions. The Scientific Advisory Council comprises members who are not employees of Forschungszentrum Jülich. The chairman of the Scientific Advisory Council is a member of the Supervisory Board.

Dr.-Ing. Manfred Bayerlein TÜV Rheinland AG Prof. Dr. Ulrike Beisiegel University of Göttingen Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Berens University of Münster

Supervisory Board Ministerialdirektor Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher (Chairman) Federal Ministry of Education and Research State Secretary Helmut Dockter (Vice-Chairman) Ministry of Innovation, Science and Research of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia

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Ministerialdirigent Berthold Goeke Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety State Secretary Peter Knitsch Ministry of Climate Protection, Environment, Agriculture, Nature and Consumer Protection of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia

MinDirig Prof. Dr. Diethard Mager Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology Prof. Dr. Uwe Pietrzyk Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine Dr. Heike Riel IBM Research – Zürich MinDirig Dr. Beatrix Vierkorn-Rudolph Federal Ministry of Education and Research www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN/AboutUs/ CompanyBodies/SupervisoryBoard/_ node.html

Dr. Arnd Jürgen Kuhn Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Bio- and Geosciences

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Management Board (Board of Directors) Prof. Dr. Achim Bachem (Chairman) Karsten Beneke (Vice-Chairman) Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt (Member of the Board of Directors) Prof. Dr. Harald Bolt (Member of the Board of Directors) www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN/AboutUs/ CompanyBodies/BoardOfDirectors/_ node.html

Scientific and Technical Council*

Scientific Advisory Council* Prof. Dr. Heike Riel IBM, Switzerland Prof. Barbara Chapman University of Houston, USA Dr. Frank-Detlef Drake RWE AG, Germany Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Knoll AIT, Austria Prof. Dr. Toni M. Kutchan Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, USA Prof. Dr. Karen Maex K.U. Leuven, Belgium Prof. Dr. Eva Pebay-Peyroula ANR, France

Prof. Dr. A. Wahner (Chairman) Institute of Energy and Climate Research

Prof. Dr. Thomas Roser Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA

Prof. Dr. H. Ströher (Vice-Chairman) Nuclear Physics Institute

Prof. Dr. Elke Scheer University of Konstanz, Germany

Dr. M. Schiek (Vice-Chairman) Central Institute of Engineering, Electronics and Analytics

Prof. Dr. Horst Simon Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA

www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN/AboutUs/ committees/ScientificAndTechnical Council/_node.html

Prof. Dr. Metin Tolan TU Dortmund University, Germany Dr. Peter Nagler Evonik AG, Germany * in accordance with Articles of Association

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Organization Chart Partners’ Meeting Partners: Federal Republic of Germany, represented by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research Federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, represented by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Research

Supervisory Board Chairman MinDir Dr. K. E. Huthmacher

Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Science; External Relations Prof. A. Bachem (Chairman of the Board of Directors) Scientific Division I Prof. S. M. Schmidt (Member of the Board of Directors)

Information and Communications Management

Institute of Complex Systems

A. Bernhardt

Prof. J. K. G. Dhont, Prof. C. Fahlke, Prof. J. Fitter (acting), Prof. G. Gompper, Prof. R. Merkel, Prof. A. Offenhäusser, Prof. D. Richter, Prof. D. Willbold

JARA Office of the Secretary General N. N.

Nuclear Physics Institute Corporate Development Dr. N. Drewes

Prof. R. Maier, Prof. U.-G. Meißner, Prof. J. Ritman, Prof. H. Ströher

Corporate Communications Dr. A. Rother

Institute for Advanced Simulation

Staff units

Prof. S. Blügel, Prof. P. Carloni, Prof. M. Diesmann, Prof. D. DiVincenzo, Prof. G. Gompper, Prof. T. Lippert, Prof. U.-G. Meißner

Office of the Board of Directors and International Affairs Dr. T. Voß

Sustainable Campus Dr. P. Burauel

Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine Prof. K. Amunts, Prof. A. Bauer (acting), Prof. H. H. Coenen, Prof. M. Diesmann, Prof. G. R. Fink, Prof. N. J. Shah, Prof. D. Sturma, Prof. P. Tass

Jülich Centre for Neutron Science Prof. D. Richter, Prof. T. Brückel

Peter Grünberg Institute Prof. S. Blügel, Prof. T. Brückel, Prof. D. DiVincenzo, Prof. R. E. Dunin-Borkowski, Prof. D. A. Grützmacher, Prof. A. Offenhäusser, Prof. C. M. Schneider, Prof. S. Tautz, Prof. R. Waser

IT-Services F. Bläsen

As of: 1 July 2013

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Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


Scientific Advisory Council

Scientific and Technical Council

Chairman Dr. H. Riel

Chairman Prof. A. Wahner

Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Scientific Division II Prof. Dr.-Ing. H. Bolt (Member of the Board of Directors)

Infrastruktur K. Beneke (Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors)

Institute of Bio- and Geosciences

Personnel

Prof. W. Amelung, Prof. M. Bott, Prof. K.-E. Jaeger, Prof. J. Pietruszka, Prof. U. Schurr, Prof. B. Usadel, Prof. H. Vereecken, Prof. W. Wiechert

Dr. M. Ertinger

Finance and Controlling R. Kellermann

Institute of Energy and Climate Research Prof. H.-J. Allelein, Prof. D. Bosbach, Dr. H.-P. Buchkremer (acting), Prof. R.-A. Eichel, Prof. J.-F. Hake, Prof. A. Kiendler-Scharr, Prof. C. Linsmeier, Prof. U. Rau, Prof. M. Riese, Prof. U. Samm, Prof. L. Singheiser, Prof. D. Stolten, Prof. B. Thomauske, Prof. A. Wahner

Central Institute of Engineering, Electronics and Analytics Dr. S. Küppers, Dr. G. Natour, Dr. S. van Waasen

Purchasing and Materials R.-D. Heitz

Law and Patents C. Naumann

Organization and Planning A. Emondts

Technology Transfer Dr. R. Raue

Central Library Dr. B. Mittermaier

Technical Infrastructure Dr. G. Damm

Nuclear Services Dr. G. Damm/R. Printz

Project Management Organizations

Safety and Radiation Protection B. Heuel-Fabianek

Project Management Jülich Dr. C. Stienen

Buildings and Property Management M. Franken

Project Management Organization Energy, Technology, Sustainability

Planning and Building Services

Dr. B. Steingrobe

J. Kuchenbecker

Staff Unit

Revision A. Kamps

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

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Contact Information Would you like more information? If so, please do not hesitate to contact us …

… or request a copy of our free brochures …

Corporate Communications (UK) Head: Dr. Anne Rother

You can order our publications free of charge or download them online at: www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN/Press/Publications/_node.html

Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH 52425 Jülich Germany Tel. +49 2461 61-4661 Fax +49 2461 61-4666 info@fz-juelich.de www.fz-juelich.de

Our magazine app: www.fz-juelich.de/app

iOS (iPad)

… come and visit us … We organize guided tours of Forschungszentrum Jülich for interested groups. Please contact our Visitor Service for more information. Tel. +49 2461 61-4662 besucher_uk@fz-juelich.de

Android

Forschungszentrum Jülich on iTunesU and social media sites (please note that some of the material is only available in German): www.fz-juelich.de/portal/DE/Service/iTunes/_node.html www.facebook.com/Forschungszentrum.Juelich www.twitter.com/fz_juelich www.youtube.com/fzjuelichde Forschungszentrum Jülich in the Helmholtz Social Media newsroom: http://social.helmholtz.de (in German)

How to find us By car If you are coming from Aachen or Düsseldorf on the A 44 motorway, leave the motorway at the Jülich-West exit. At the first roundabout, turn left in the direction of Jülich. At the second roundabout, turn right (Westring) towards Düren. After approx. 5 km, turn left onto the L 253 and follow the signs for ‘Forschungszentrum’.

Hamburg Hannover Berlin

NL

52

Dresden

Köln B

44

NL

Mönchengladbach

Düsseldorf 3

Frankfurt 57

München F

46

44

61

Jülich Ost 4

Jülich West

Köln

Jülich Düren/Jülich

If you are coming from Cologne (Köln) on the A 4 motorway, leave the motorway at the Düren exit and turn right towards Jülich (B 56). After approx. 10 km, turn right and continue until you reach Forschungszentrum Jülich. Using navigation systems Enter your destination or street name as ‘Wilhelm-Johnen-Strasse’. From there, it is only a few hundred metres to the main entrance of Forschungszentrum Jülich – simply follow the signs. Forschungszentrum Jülich itself is not part of the network of public roads and is therefore not recognized by navigation systems.

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Aachen

B

Düren

Bonn 1

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By public transport You can take the train from Aachen or Cologne (Köln) to Düren train station. From here, you should take the local train (‘Rurtalbahn’) to the ‘Forschungszentrum’ stop. The main entrance is about a 15-minute walk from here.

Forschungszentrum Jülich | Annual Report 2012


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 and family life.

Publication Details Published by: Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH | 52425 Jülich, Germany | Tel: +49 2461 61-4661 | Fax: +49 2461 61-4666 | Internet: www. fz-juelich.de Editorial team: Dr Wiebke Rögener, Annette Stettien, Dr Anne Rother (responsible under German Press Law) Authors: Dr. Frank Frick, Dr. Wiebke Rögener, Translation: Language Services, Forschungszentrum Jülich Graphics and layout: SeitenPlan Corporate Publishing GmbH Printers: Schloemer Gruppe GmbH Photos: 2happy/Shutterstock.com (63 top, sky), Africa Studio/Shutterstock.com (23 top), © T. Altmann (14 top left), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) (54), Kitch Bain/Shutterstock.com (32), German Aerospace Center (DLR/ A. Minikin, DLR/CC-BY 3.0) (12 top left, 63 top), Martina Ebel/Shutterstock.com (8 left), Event-Images-Berlin, Andreas Speck (39), Forschungszentrum Jülich/Marc von Hobe (15 bottom right), Dr. K. Futterer, University of Birmingham (10 bottom left), gui jun peng/Shutterstock.com (69 right), Anselm Horn, Universität Erlangen/ACS Chem Neurosci (2010) (67 top), iStockphoto/Thinkstock (14 top right, 29), J. Am. Chem. Soc. (11 top left), JARA-BRAIN (11 bottom right), Lufthansa Bildarchiv (60), NASA (65), nikkytok/Shutterstock.com (10 bottom right), Scania CV AB (15 top right), Carolin Schroeder (9 left), SeitenPlan (10 top left, 19 top), Siemens (56), Bernd Struckmeyer (cover, 4, 16–17, 24–25, 70–71, 75), Sunfire GmbH (23 bottom), Technische Universität München, research neutron source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (38), University of Hamburg (9 o.), Wavebreak Media/Thinkstock (13 top left), Welt der Physik (50), German Ethics Council/photo: Reiner Zensen (34 top left), all others: Forschungszentrum Jülich. Excerpts from this Annual Report may be reproduced without special permission provided that Forschungszentrum Jülich is referred to in any publication. A reference copy is requested. All other rights reserved. As of: July 2013

Annual Report 2012 | Forschungszentrum Jülich

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