Hessian state program provides €1.2 million in funding for technological innovations in spectroscopy.
Dr. Sabine Richert, an expert in molecular spintronics, has been awarded a LOEWE Start Professorship at Goethe University Frankfurt. The state of Hesse’s LOEWE research funding program will make available some €1.2 million in funding over a six-year period to facilitate the integration of optical spectroscopy with paramagnetic resonance.
Up-and-coming scientist
“Dr. Richert is an up-and-coming scientist whose work is attracting international attention, not least because of its high potential for application,” says Hessian Science Minister Timon Gremmels. “She will make a significant contribution to interdisciplinary networking at the interface of physics, chemistry, and materials science, both in Frankfurt and beyond.”
New methods for multi-spin systems
The structure of matter depends significantly on the angular momentum of electrons in molecules (spin). By exciting different spin states through light, Dr. Richert’s team will generate multi-spin systems that will deliver new insights into the physical and chemical properties of matter. To this end, the team is developing novel methods and plans to combine the usually separate optical spectroscopy and paramagnetic resonance (EPR). One ambitious goal is to improve measurement conditions and sensitivity in a manner that will allow experiments to be conducted at room temperature. In addition to yielding extensive scientific knowledge, this will also influence practical applications, such as improved solar energy conversion, optimized electronic data processing, or the development of new types of quantum computers.
Goethe University President Prof. Dr. Enrico Schleiff:
“Prof. Sabine Richert’s research is both innovative and interdisciplinary. Her highly ambitious work bridges the gap between basic research and application-oriented, seminal questions. We are fortunate that, thanks to the support of the state of Hesse and the LOEWE Start Professorship, we have been able to appoint this outstanding scientist to Goethe University.”
Following her studies at TU Graz, Dr. Richert served as a research assistant at University of Geneva’s Institute of Physical Chemistry. She subsequently moved to Oxford University, where she received her PhD in 2017. After an initial postdoctoral phase, she continued to Freiburg, where, from 2019 onwards, she led an Emmy Noether junior research group on “Spin Coherence Transfer in Light-Induced Multi-Spin Systems”. Her research was honored in 2023 with the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize.
What are LOEWE professorships?
LOEWE Start Professorships offer up to €2 million in funding and are aimed at excellent researchers at an early stage of their career, who are recruited or retained in the state of Hesse for a period of six years.
LOEWE Top Professorships provide excellent, internationally recognized researchers with an endowment between €1.5 and 3 million for five years.
LOEWE Transfer Professorships, which are currently in the pilot phase, support researchers in further developing application-oriented results in exchange with partners from practice in a manner that allows these results to successfully contribute to solving social, cultural or economic issues. The funding amounts to up to €1 million to endow a professorship for five years.
Source: Hessian Ministry of Science and Research, Arts and Culture, October 21, 2024
