Contact
QR code for the current URL

Story Box-ID: 966407

ibidi GmbH Lochhamer Schlag 11 82166 Gräfelfing bei München, Germany http://www.ibidi.de
Contact Ms Dr. Susanne Hennig +49 89 21805791
Company logo of ibidi GmbH

Nano Innovation Award 2019

X-Ray Vision on Nanoparticles & A Hall of Mirrors for Nanomicroscopy

(PresseBox) (Munich, )
The LMU Center for NanoScience (CeNS) and four spin-off companies, including ibidi, have joined together to reward the best innovative theses on nanotechnology with the Nano Innovation Award 2019. Two junior researchers from Bayreuth and Munich have been honored this year.

The Nano Innovation Award 2019 was presented on July 19 at the Center for NanoScience (CeNS) of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Munich. Two young researchers from Bayreuth and Munich each received an award that recognizes the promising results of their theses on application-oriented nanosciences. The Bavaria-wide prize is endowed with €9,000 and is annually awarded by a jury of experts from science and business.

As a whole, the main focus of nanosciences is still on basic research. However, in many areas, nanoscientific research is being transferred to technical applications—with great economic potential. The Nano Innovation Award focuses specifically on the groundbreaking work being done by junior researchers, which has promising application potential for technology or medicine.

A Better Understanding of Nanoparticle Interactions

Nanoparticles, finely distributed in solution, are nowadays widely applied in industrial applications (e.g., as catalysts, as a UV-filter in cosmetic products, in sunscreen, or as drug vehicles in biomedical applications). Since experimental access has been very difficult, only little is known about the properties and structure of the interface between nanoparticles and the surrounding water molecules so far. In her Master’s thesis, Sabrina Thomä from the University of Bayreuth succeeded in investigating the arrangement of water molecules in the vicinity of iron oxide nanoparticles with high-energy X-rays. For this work, she was awarded the Nano Innovation Award in the master’s category, worth €3,000. “I was surprised about the detailed insight into the hydration shells, and that the water structure around 7 nm colloidal particles does not differ significantly from the structure at bulk surfaces“, says Sabrina Thomä, who is currently working as a PhD student in Chemistry in the group of Mirijam Zobel at the University of Bayreuth. 

One Million Photons—And Only One is Missing

The Nano Innovation Award for the best doctoral thesis, endowed with €6,000, went to Thomas Hümmer from the group of Prof. Theodor Hänsch at LMU Munich and MPI for Quantum Optics. In his work, Thomas Hümmer has developed a new, highly sensitive microscope to explore the optical properties of nano-objects. Using two opposing mirrors, light is reflected back and forth hundreds of thousands of times. If a nanoparticle is placed between the mirrors, its interaction with light will be strongly enhanced. This effect allows the detection of light absorption as weak as one photon in a million.

As one of the mirrors is only the size of a human hair, a scanning microscope can be built that enables highly sensitive imaging and spectroscopy of tiny structures for material research, nanotechnology, and life sciences.

Thomas Hümmer has already developed a portable, fully functional prototype of this new microscope. Currently, he works on commercializing his findings by starting his own company named Qlibri.

An Institution That Boosts Careers

The LMU Center for NanoScience awarded the Nano Innovation Award together with four spin-off companies from the CeNS: attocube systems, ibidi, Nanion Technologies and NanoTemper Technologies. “With this award, we want to emphasize the importance of fundamental research as a basis for industrial applications. At the same time, we would like to encourage researchers to start their own companies with their expertise and ideas, thus making their knowledge applicable for many," says Dr. Philipp Baaske, CEO and founder of NanoTemper Technologies and member of the jury.

About the Center for NanoScience (CeNS) – www.cens.de

The Center for NanoScience (CeNS) is a scientific institution of LMU Munich, which promotes and coordinates interdisciplinary research in the field of nanosciences. CeNS spans various disciplines such as physics, chemistry, medicine and pharmacy. In addition to working groups from LMU, CeNS also cooperates with groups from the Technical University of Munich, the University of Augsburg, the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry and other institutions in the Munich area.

Website Promotion

Website Promotion

ibidi GmbH

ibidi® GmbH, located in Gräfelfing near Munich, Germany, is a leading supplier of functional cell-based assays and products for cell microscopy. ibidi's range of products offers solutions for classic cell culturing, and also complex assays (e.g., angiogenesis, chemotaxis, and wound healing). Their products help facilitate an understanding of the development of various diseases and related therapies. ibidi's customers are working in scientific institutions, industrial pharmacology, and biotechnology. Technology development at ibidi is supported by the BMBF (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung). The products are sold to customers worldwide.

The publisher indicated in each case (see company info by clicking on image/title or company info in the right-hand column) is solely responsible for the stories above, the event or job offer shown and for the image and audio material displayed. As a rule, the publisher is also the author of the texts and the attached image, audio and information material. The use of information published here is generally free of charge for personal information and editorial processing. Please clarify any copyright issues with the stated publisher before further use. In case of publication, please send a specimen copy to service@pressebox.de.
Important note:

Systematic data storage as well as the use of even parts of this database are only permitted with the written consent of unn | UNITED NEWS NETWORK GmbH.

unn | UNITED NEWS NETWORK GmbH 2002–2024, All rights reserved

The publisher indicated in each case (see company info by clicking on image/title or company info in the right-hand column) is solely responsible for the stories above, the event or job offer shown and for the image and audio material displayed. As a rule, the publisher is also the author of the texts and the attached image, audio and information material. The use of information published here is generally free of charge for personal information and editorial processing. Please clarify any copyright issues with the stated publisher before further use. In case of publication, please send a specimen copy to service@pressebox.de.