The 40th Erfinderlabor has started.
2026/02/02 by M. Schmitt
From February 2nd to 6th, 2026, 16 selected students from all over Hesse will dedicate a week to innovative high-performance materials at the Institute for Materials Science at TU Darmstadt – for climate protection and greater resource efficiency.
The 40th Erfinderlabor kicked off with a day in industry at the event's partner, Merck. Dean Prof. Dr. Durst also gave an introductory presentation entitled “What is Materials Science?”.
The 16 students will begin their research tomorrow in the following areas of materials science:
• Functional Materials: Prof. Gutfleisch/Dr. Benedikt Beckmann, Aybike Paksoy, and Mario Schönfeldt: High-Performance Materials and Recycling – A Contradiction?
• Surface Research: Prof. Hofmann/Ann-Kristin Stief, Barbara Gonzalez, Daniel Zellner, and Dennis Wenzel: Nanostructured Nickel Oxide Catalysts for Hydrogen Production
• Physics of Surface: Prof. Stark/Christian Dietz, Marvin Hoffer: Aging Effects and Cleaning of Graphene Surfaces
• Thin Films: Prof. Alff/Dr. Eszter Piros: Electrical characterization of hafnium and yttrium oxide-based resistive random-access memories
The 16 participants will present their work to an audience of fellow students, teachers, and guests from politics and business at a celebratory closing event on Friday. Vice President Prof. Warzecha will deliver a welcoming address.
Closing event for the 40th Erfinderlabor
You are invited to the closing event on February 6th from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Merck Conference Center, Frankfurter Str. 250, Darmstadt.
The participating students will present their work from various fields within materials science. A career-oriented program will also be offered.
Registration via: outreach@mawi.tu.darmstadt.de
