We had a great time last week hosting our guests from the CAMMS Center, supported by the @maxplanck.de Israel Programme! Looking forward to a long-lasting collaboration and great science ahead.

@thdept-fhi-mpg.bsky.social & CAMMS Center launch joint symposium to boost collaboration in computational materials science. Supported by the @maxplanck.de Israel Programme, the exchange focuses on energy materials, catalysis, and joint research between Israeli & German scientists. Press Release 👇

👏Congratulations to Alexander Gorfer on receiving an Alexander-von-Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellowship @humboldt-foundation.de to continue his research with Matthias Kick on realistic nanomaterials and excited-state properties in complex systems such as core-shell nanocrystals. 👏 #AvH

👋Welcome Matthias, who starts as a new #PhDstudent in the Carbogno Group @carbogno.bsky.social. Matthias will be working on "Unified Description of Band and Hopping Electronic Conduction"! 👋

👋Welcome Yuan, who is starting as a #Postdoc in the Scheurer group. Yuan will be working on “Lab Automation of Degradation Experiments in Heterogeneous Catalysis Using AI Agents for Online Experiment Control.” When not in the office, Yuan enjoys baking desserts, doing Pilates, reading, & traveling.👋

👩‍🔬All is ready for #GirlsDay! Today we’re welcoming more than 30 girls aged 10 to 16 to explore the fascinating world of #catalysis and #simulations! Looking forward to taking a step back and seeing science through younger eyes! #GirlsDay #catalysis #science

🚀 Our team was on the move, visiting #Analytica 2026 at #MesseMuenchen . 📍 A small delegation from @lotschgroup.bsky.social and @thdept-fhi-mpg.bsky.social was exploring new technologies for #labs, #analytics and #automation .🧪🔬🦾 Who else was here? #chemsky #automation

We are happy to be part of ASCEND (Accelerated Solutions for Catalysis using Emerging Nanotechnology and Digital Innovation) and announce that our website is finally online at ascend-project.berlin! 🔜 Stay tuned for more coming soon!

👏Congratulations @jtmargraf.bsky.social, Chiara, Artem, and collaborators whose paper "Probing Acidity in Metal–Organic Frameworks via Pyridine Adsorption" is now published on J. Phys. Chem. C @pubs.acs.org! 👏 🔗Paper link: pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.... 📝Paper Digest: 👇

It was great to attend #MAGNESIS Kick-off at @iciq.org. We are excited to be one of the four teams involved in exploring how magnetic fields influence key reactions such as CO₂ reduction. Looking forward to doing great science together within the @erc.europa.eu funded project MAGNESIS!

👏Congrats to Maurits, Christoph, colleagues from @tuwien.at and ISC dept at the @fhi-mpg.bsky.social, whose paper "Multiscale Microscopy via Automation: Dual Magnification Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy Imaging by Frame Alternation" is now out on Adv. Mater. Technol.! Link and digest 👇

👏Congrats to @zausibergmann.bsky.social and Nico, whose paper "Erasing dielectric breakdown artifacts to machine-learn charged Pt-water interfaces" made it into the Journal of Chemical Physics @aip-publishing.bsky.social! 👏 Preprint: chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.... Digest: 👇

👏Congrats Haobo on being appointed Head of a Max Planck Partner Group at NTU Singapore. Advancing catalysis & sustainable energy with AI in collaboration with our Theory Department at the @fhi-mpg.bsky.social!👏 Thank you @maxplanck.de for the support! Read more: www.fhi.mpg.de/2219627/2026...

🌍Reaching climate neutrality by 2050 means rethinking chemical, material, and fuel production—catalysts make it possible. 💡That’s where ASCEND steps in! With €30M from BMBF, we’re accelerating the development of next-generation catalysts for greener production. 🌱 #ASCEND

🚀 Day 2 of the 3DMM2O Conference 2026! Christoph Scheurer (@fhi-mpg.bsky.social ) presented how AI-driven experiment planning and automation are advancing materials research and enabling self-driving laboratories. #3DMM2O #AIinScience

🚀 Can #AI not only accelerate discovery, but also explain it? Our work with @basfde.bsky.social & BasCat – UniCat BASF JointLab, @tuberlin.bsky.social shows that we don’t have to choose between speed and insight! Press Release: www.fhi.mpg.de/2217409/2026... Paper: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

We're in the middle of our preparations for this year's Girls' Day. On April 23, it’s time for hands-on science again! 🧪🔬👩‍🔬 If you're wondering what you can experience in just one day at our institute, check out the photos! And stay tuned: This year, we have some new hands-on experiences for you.

Throwback to last week’s @dpgphysik.bsky.social Spring Meeting of the Condensed Matter Section! Our whole department traveled there, sharing and discussing great science, while also networking and strengthening our team bond. We enjoyed laughs, singing, and good food together—just as you can see 👇!

♻️ Today is Global #Recycling Day! As institute researching #sustainability topics, we'd like to draw attention to the increasingly urgent issue of recycling. Since 2019, the Sustainability Group at FHI is working to expand our contribution to a sustainable way of life and to raise awareness.

We wrap up our #InternationalWomensDay celebration with Patricia’s reflections! Patricia shared with us her thoughts on leadership, overcoming challenges, and what drives her every single day. 💪✨ #WomenInLeadership #Inspiration #ThankYou

We continue celebrating #InternationalWomensDay asking our incredible female group leaders some questions about their journey and research. Here are Vanessa´s answers – her insights on leadership, challenges, and what motivates her every day! 💪✨ #WomenInLeadership #Inspiration #ThankYou

🧡 As an initiative for International Women's Day, we provided a platform for women from our institute to share their perspectives. Our administrative director, Dr. Rima Dapous, concludes this series sharing her own motivation and encouraging women to be brave and find their own path. #WomensDay

Two days after International Women's Day, we still give a voice to women at our institute. Dr. Johanna Klyne is taking care of the science communication at FHI. Through communication and empowerment, she aims to break down some barriers women might encounter in STEM. #WomensDay #WomeninSTEM #scicom

We continue celebrating #InternationalWomensDay asking our incredible female group leaders some questions about their journey and research. Here are Simone´s answers – her insights on leadership, challenges, and what motivates her every day! 💪✨ #WomenInLeadership #Inspiration #ThankYou

💚 We celebrate International Women's Day, that’s why we give a voice to some women at our institute. Dr. Giulia Glorani, scientific coordinator in FHI’s Theory Department, also serves as one of the institute’s gender equality officers and explains her motivation. #WomensDay #WomeninSTEM #Diversity

Yesterday was #InternationalWomensDay! To celebrate it, we asked our incredible female group leaders some questions about their journey and research. Here are Chiara’s answers – her insights on leadership, challenges, and what motivates her every day! 💪✨ #WomenInLeadership #Inspiration #ThankYou

Today is International Women's Day. We are taking this opportunity to give a voice to some of the women at our institute. Here's what Dr. Patricia Poths, who is leading a junior group in the Theory Department of our institute, would like to share with women today... #WomensDay #WomeninSTEM

📣We have a new Dr. in the house!🎉🥂 Congratulations to Dr. Sina Dortaj, who successfully obtained his PhD on Friday from the @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social focusing on "Mathematics in Industrial Planning: The Race Against Complexity". Well done Sina! 👏

👋Let´s welcome Ilke, starting as a #Postdoc in Kick´s group and working on "TDDFT and Bethe–Salpeter methods for excited-state simulations." Ilke obtained her #PhD from the MPSD with a thesis on “Maxwell- TDDFT Nanoplasmonics and Structured Light Shaping”. 👋

👋Let´s welcome Gerard, visiting #PhD student from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Gerard will stay in Berlin for three months and will be working in Heenen´s group on "Automatic Network Exploration". 👋

👏Congrats to Tabea, Federico, Simone, Christoph and our collaborator Josef from @fz-juelich.de, whose paper "Simulating quadrupolar NMR dynamics in solid electrolyte Li10GeP2S12" is now online on J. Chem. Phys. from @aip-publishing.bsky.social! 🔗Paper link: pubs.aip.org/aip/jcp/arti... 📄Digest: 👇

☀️Sunny day in Dahlem = lunch by the pond, surrounded by trees 🌳 and green — sometimes with a curious squirrel joining us. 🐿️ #FHI #Springiscoming

Happy birthday to....well, to us, actually! 😉🎂🥳 On this day on February 26, 1948, the Max Planck Society was formally founded in Göttingen as the successor organization to the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, in the cafeteria of the KWS's aerodynamic testing facility in Göttingen.

Keep pushing & don't forget the bigger picture :)

🎤 Presentation prep is a key — and often underrated — skill in #science. This week, we’re putting our talks through rehearsal for the incoming @dpgphysik.bsky.social Spring Meeting of the Condensed Matter Section in Dresden. 💬

👋Today we welcome back Martin! He is restarting with us as a #Postdoc, but this time in Christoph’s group, working on automation. Looking forward to work again with you Martin! 👋

Our institute constantly works on breaking down gender barriers in our scientific world. Read more about female researchers at the #FHI and our idea of a supportive working environment: www.fhi.mpg.de/2200933/2026... #WomeninSTEM #WomeninScience

For the International Day of Women & Girls in Science, we asked colleagues to share one word that comes to mind when thinking of women in science and how to support them. Responses were turned into word clouds 💭, check them out & share your words below with us! #WomeninScience2026 #STEM #FHI #MPG

👋Welcome @yufan-fhi.bsky.social, who joins as new #Postdoc in Christoph´s group! Yufan earned his #PhD in Materials Science from @fz-juelich.de with summa cum laude. In his free time, Yufan enjoys performing street magic🪄, dancing🕺, and playing football⚽. Looking forward to be working with you!👋

Yesterday was #LEGOday 🧱 so here is a little throwback to last year’s #Girls’Day, when we used #LEGO as a teaching tool and had our guests build small molecules. The secret? They were not the only ones having fun…we scientists enjoyed it just as much 😄🔬

👏 Congrats Patricia, Alex, Christoph and Sebastian, whose paper "Kinetic restructuring of catalyst active sites: A MACE-APE study of fluxional Pdn/MgO (n=3-11) clusters" made it into @faradaydiscussions.rsc.org! 👏 🔗Link to paper: doi.org/10.1039/D5FD... 📄Paper digest 👇

🌍It´s #CleanEnergyDay! Clean energy might not always steal the spotlight, but it should. A fast move to a fossil-free, sustainable energy system is key to our future. Proud to push this forward at the @fhi-mpg.bsky.social, as members of the SusMax Network (www.susmax.org) at @maxplanck.bsky.social!

👏Congrats to Anton, colleagues from @tum.de , and Cellforce Group GmbH, whose paper "GAP vs. MACE: efficiency evaluation in a liquid electrolyte system" is now online in Mach. Learn.: Sci. Technol. @ioppublishing.bsky.social ! 👏 🔗 Link to paper: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1... 📄Paper Digest 👇

👏 Congratulations to our friend and collaborator Jennifer from @tum.de ! Wa are happy to have you on board as @maxplanck.de Fellow at the @fhi-mpg.bsky.social. Looking forward to be doing great science with you within the @e-conversion.bsky.social cluster! 👏

👏Congratulations Elias! 👏

👋 Let´s welcome back Antonio! After joining our dept for his #ERASMUS+ exchange program back in spring, Antonio restarts as a #PhD Student in Chiara´s group and will be working on "Computational modelling of mechanochemical catalysis"! 👋

👏Congrats to @carbogno.bsky.social, Hannes, Elena, and our collaborators from the PC Dept, Paul Drude Institute, and Iowa University, whose study reveals a novel way to steer light at extremely small scales — opening the door to more compact and efficient nanophotonic and optoelectronic devices.

Excited to have @tvegge.bsky.social from DTU today at the @fhi-mpg.bsky.social giving a talk on "AI-Orchestrated Computational Materials Discovery and Closed-Loop Synthesis of Nanoparticles and Electrocatalysts". Looking forward to great science and fruitful discussions!

🎉 Dr. Patricia Poths has received a prestigious Liebig Fellowship (FCI) and will found an independent junior research group in the @thdept-fhi-mpg.bsky.social , focusing on realistic modeling of catalyst dynamics. #Research #Catalysis #ScienceLeadership #MaxPlanck www.fhi.mpg.de/2186619/2026...

👋 Welcome to Marija, new #Postdoc in Elia’s group, who will be investigating the influence of external magnetic fields on electrocatalytic processes within the @erc.europa.eu Synergy Grant #MAGNESIS. Before that, Marija earned her #PhD in the THEOS Lab at @materials-epfl.bsky.social. 👋