“The Europe-wide competition for the coveted funding of the European Research Council is tough. Therefore, I am particularly pleased that three KIT researchers can now advance their ambitious and exciting projects in materials research and art science with the ERC Consolidator Grants,” says Professor Oliver Kraft, KIT Vice President for Research.
The effect of hydrogen embrittlement, which is fatal for a future hydrogen economy, is investigated by Professor Christoph Kirchlechner in his project TRITIME (“Isolation, Observation, and Quantification of the Mechanisms Responsible for Hydrogen Embrittlement by Tritium-based Micromechanics”). Using high-resolution investigation methods that include the hydrogen isotope tritium, the materials scientist hopes to better understand how and why metals change their strength when in contact with hydrogen. “In this way, we want to fundamentally understand the mechanisms of hydrogen embrittlement and contribute to tailoring new materials used in the distribution and storage of hydrogen,” says Kirchlechner, who holds the professorship for nanostructured functional materials at KIT and heads the Institute of Applied Materials — Mechanics of Materials and Interfaces.
Ionic Potentials at the Nano Level
The DYONCON project (“Dynamic Ions under Nano Confinement for Porous Membranes with Ultrafast Control of Gas Permeation”) by physical chemist Dr. Lars Heinke also addresses pressing issues in materials research — and at the same time reaches beyond them. In his ERC-funded project, the private lecturer and working group leader at KIT’s Institute for Functional Interfaces is investigating the dynamic properties of ions — electrically charged atoms or molecules — in porous materials. “Working with ionic liquids and films,” Heinke says, “we want to show that mobile ions in nanometer-sized pores offer unprecedented functionalities.” On the horizon of this new approach are improved electrochemical technologies for energy storage, sensing and signal processing.
A new take on digital art
KIT can also score in the field of humanities and social sciences in this year’s ERC Consolidator Grants. In her project COSE (“Programmed Secrets: Artistic Interventions in the Digital Fabric”), Professor Inge Hinterwaldner is dedicated to online art, i.e., computer-based artistic artifacts to be tracked down on the Internet. In an interdisciplinary team, Hinterwaldner — who teaches art history at KIT’s Institute of Art and Architectural History — will combine phenomenological-hermeneutic methods with approaches from media, games, and code research, software forensics, and visual design. In addition to the aesthetic, the focus is on technical aspects of digital art such as codes, files, and software.
“In the project, we want to illuminate the black box ‘computer art’ in such a way that the humanities will be able to deal with programmed works more naturally in the future.”
- Professor Inge Hinterwaldner
