After a long break, part of the Biesalski working group visited the ACS, one of the largest chemistry conferences in the world. This year it took place in San Diego, California. In addition to the exciting lectures from the fields of cellulose and polymer chemistry, the PhD students were able to present their own research in poster presentations. This resulted in fruitful discussions with exciting input. In addition to the lecture marathons, the group explored the area together, for example on visits to Balboa Park and Coronado.

At the end of February, five PhD students from our group took part in the Freiburg Macromolecular Colloquium, which was on the 27th and 28th of February. As one of the most renowned conferences in polymer science, the event brings researchers from academia and industry together and promotes scientific exchange within Germany and beyond. With more than 500 participants each year, it is an important meeting place for the polymer community.

Over two days, the conference offered a varied programme with presentations on the latest developments in the field. Lively discussions during the breaks created great opportunities to exchange ideas with other researchers. A highlight of the event was the conference dinner, which took place in the university cafeteria on the evening of the 27th February. In a relaxed atmosphere, the participants had the opportunity to socialise and exchange experiences and new ideas.

Overall, the trip to Freiburg was a great opportunity for scientific inspiration and networking and therefore a really productive experience for all participants.

September/October 2024 – it was time for the International Paper Physics Conference 2024 on the Haspel campus of the University of Wuppertal. A truly international conference with participants from up to four continents. The conference was filled with interesting and inspiring lectures, talks and presentations showcasing the latest advances in paper physics. Not only established scientists were able to present their work, but also young researchers had the opportunity to show what they are working on during their PhD thesis.

The conference dinner took place on the evening of the 2nd conference day. For this, the ‘Alte Papierfabrik’ was chosen, an old, restored paper mill that offers a unique and beautiful atmosphere. What better place for a dinner at a conference like this?

At the end of the event, two speakers were honoured with an award. We congratulate Steven Keller for the best lecture and Naghmeh Nasiri for the award of the best presentation for young researchers.

The MAP Paper Rangers took part in the ChemCup again this year. Our team was supported by doctoral students from the two other macro working groups, AK Andrieu-Brunsen and AK Bruns. Together, we formed a diverse team of motivated but not particularly experienced players. In addition, our coach Enis Saritas was unfortunately unable to attend this year! His role from previous years was shared this time by Lukas Neuenfeld as our captain and Lea Gemmer, who provided us with tactics and refreshments during the breaks.

Since last year, the team from the student council has always had a reputation for winning handily. Therefore, the zero to three defeat of our game felt like an acceptable start. It was mainly thanks to our outstanding goalkeeper Dominik Richter and dedicated striker Jan-Lukas Schäfer that we initially took the lead in game two against AK Kollmar. After many spectacular efforts to defend our own goal, it unfortunately happened towards the end of the second game: our goalkeeper was injured and had to be substituted. From this point on, things unfortunately went less well for our team. The second game ended with a one-to-three score and the following two games against Arbeitskreis Busch (0:1) and the AC players (0:3) also failed to produce any goals.

Without a single win, we finished bottom of the preliminary round. Due to the record-breaking summer temperatures, we decided to play a game of “Schnick Schnack Schnuck” instead of playing soccer on the pitch in the game for penultimate place. As a result, we finished this year's tournament as “first from the back”! Despite the mixed results, we all had fun playing, cheering and cooling off in the swimming pool at the university stadium. Next year, the Paper Rangers will try again!

In June 2024, the entire MAP group travelled to Hirschegg in Austria together with Annette Andrieu-Brunsen's group, as we do every year. The program included some exciting sessions on the core skills of some PhD students, such as “Programming with Python”, “Writing with Latex”, “Thermal Analysis” and “Drawing with Inkscape”. Markus and Annette taught the group about research data management and good scientific practice in publishing. The program was topped off with a conference-style poster session on the PhD students' research with pretzels and beer. There was also many team building and sporting activities, and on the joint hiking day everyone climbed the Walmendinger Horn together, with an optional ridge walk over the Ochsenhofer Köpfe. In the evening, board games were played, or the evening ended with an exciting round of table tennis. “Einstiiiieg!”

After around 1.5 years, we sadly had to say goodbye to our secretary Rama Aldada. Rama left us at the end of June 2024 because she moved to another city. We wish you every success and happiness in your future journeys!

A group of 11 PhD students attended this year’s macromolecular colloquium in Freiburg from the 26th -27th of February. The two days were filled with many interesting talks and scientific discussions in the coffee breaks. Carina Breuer and Michelle Seibert each presented a poster about their current research. The poster sessions gave room for a lot of input and fruitful discussions. The conference dinner was held in the evening on the 26th of February in the mensa of the university of Freiburg. While enjoying a nice meal, the group had the chance to connect with other PhD students. Overall, the visit to Freiburg was a success.

Although the pandemic requirements are a thing of the past, this year's general meeting was again held in hybrid form.

Roland Pelzer resigned from his position as first chairman after many years of successful board work. The CCCD thanks him for his commitment. At the same time we welcome Dr. Dominik Stumm as the new chairman.

After some interesting talks on paper functionalization by means of plasma polymerization, the EXIST start-up CeraSleeve and the Moldellfabrik Papier in Düren, we went to lunch together in the restaurant Bölle. This was followed by a guided tour of the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt.

On February 16-17, 2023, our research group participated in the Macromolecular Colloquium in Freiburg. Under the theme “coming together” there were many interesting and captivating talks from research areas of macromolecular chemistry in Germany. During the conference dinner, discussions were held with project partners and other PhD students and some new ideas were taken back to Darmstadt.

We are already looking forward to the Macromolecular Colloquium Freiburg 2024!

Finally! After two years without a proper Christmas party, this year the working groups Biesalski and Andrieu-Brunsen could celebrate together again. Besides delicious food and drinks, the CPTF (Christmas Party Task Force) organized a working group specific pub quiz and other games. It was very nice to revive this longstanding tradition.

The working group Biesalski wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

After a two-year break, the ChemCup took place again this year. At over 35 °C, our AK with the support of AK Andrieu-Brunsen under the team name “Paper Rangers” took aim at the cup. Optimally prepared by our coach Enis and with flown in ex-coach Niels, the total of 18 players were highly motivated. In addition, the alumni association CCCD could be won as a sponsor for jerseys.

Unfortunately we had to admit defeat in the quarter finals against the team of AK Etzold. But despite this defeat we had a lot of fun and grew together as a team.

We congratulate AK Hausch for the victory! Next year will be ours!

The MAP group was fortunate enough to attend the annual excursion to Hirschegg, Austria, once again in 2022. The trip primarily focussed on expanding group knowledge of internal PhD projects, analytical capabilities and providing useful suggestions and expertise to enable group members to overcome challenges that have arisen during their research. Another welcome benefit of the trip was improving group dynamics through ‘world cafe style’ discussion sessions as well as team sports and a challenging group hike through the alps.

At the end of September, the Biesalski Working Group met for the first time since 2019 for a scientific exchange in presence. We were happy to also reconnect with alumni who left us during the crisis and to share updates about their new positions and our research. After the formal part of the event, the group went on a short hike from the university to the Fohlenhof beer garden in great autumn weather. At the Fohlenhof everyone enjoyed a convivial evening with delicious food.

The #InnoDay2021will take place on a virtual 3D platform that offers many tools for sharing and networking. Here you will experience the #innovative, #research-strong and #future-oriented start-up spirit of the region. In addition to 80 start-ups, start-up support and innovation projects or simply exhibitors, you can network with interesting people from business, science and politics. The live conference with exciting speakers starts at 9:30 am.

We from CeraSleeve are looking forward seeing you! Visit our poster. CeraSleeve – A project of the working groups MAP & Smart Membranes.

free tickets: https://lnkd.in/gjcAKhv

„Start-up & Innovation Day" powered by Technische Universität Darmstadt and HIGHEST – Innovations- und Gründungszentrum.

In packaging, paper-based construction materials are part of our everyday life. To make paper useable in these and new applications, it needs to be equipped with improved hydrophobic and antimicrobial properties. In contrast to the currently established finishing strategies, low-molecular compounds of biogenic origin are to be deposited on the paper with the aid of plasma polymerization. Their crosslinking during deposition makes it possible to apply pure insoluble polymers to complex surfaces with high contour fidelity.

Advantages of this method are the low material consumption during application, the solvent-free process, the economization of drying energy and the potential to prepare complex gradient or multi-layer coatings. Using plant-derived materials, which are a versatile and so far barely used precursor source for plasma coatings, aims at minimizing the use of persistent materials in paper products while preserving intrinsic advantages of paper such as recyclability and biodegradability.

1st May 2021 – 30th April 2024

Amelia Lösch-Zhang M.Sc.

Dr. Andreas Geißler

In order that the already heavy personal loss of Heike does not influence our work too much, we could – also with Heike's help – win a new colleague ad interim in Marion Trautmann, who is also technically very experienced. We are looking forward to working with her!

As in previous years, a group of PhD students of the MAP Institute attended the Macromolucular Colloquium form 26th – 28th February in Freiburg. Together with the PhD students of Prof. Rehan's group and our colleagues from Prof. Gallei's group from Saarland University, we followed interesting presentations of the speakers, which covered a wide range of topics in macromolecular chemistry. We also followed the poster presentations given by young scientists with enthusiasm and cheered along with the contenders for the poster prize. During the joint dinner, the exciting research topics could be discussed further while new and old connections to colleagues could be maintained.