Outreach

Events

Outreach Symposia

Since 2021 we organized outreach symposia targeted at high school students and teachers, including the following lectures (in German):”

  • “Wasserstoffgewinnung durch Photokatalyse”
  • “Die Chemiestudiengänge der Universität Ulm”
  • “Hochleistungsbatterien der nächsten Generation”
  • “Die Intensivwoche und das Schülerlabor der Uni Ulm”
  • “Bessere Batterien durch Roboter und KI”
  • “Die Chemie des Bieres” 

Science Meets Art

In October 2018, we inaugurated an amazing piece of art in Ulm: a giant, fluorescing Erlenmeyer flask designed with our help and created by local artist Ralf Milde! The installation is part of a series of “UniChairs” commissioned to celebrate our University’s 50 year anniversary. During the inauguration event, Max von Delius gave a short speech on the role that dyes played in the history of (organic) chemistry and how functional dyes play a key role in our transregional SFB CataLight. The chair named “liquidlight” was sponsored by the local company Liqui Moly.

For further pictures check out these links to local newspaper SWP and Uni Ulm.

Outreach Lecture on Chemistry of Beer

Since 2015, Prof. von Delius, as a homebrewer and beer aficionado, regularly presents an “infotainment” lecture on the chemistry of beer at German universities.

Abstract “On the chemistry of beer“:

This lecture provides an overview of the chemistry behind the Germans’ favourite drink. What is chemically behind the famous ingredients water, hops, malt and yeast? What actually happens during brewing? How does alcohol get into beer? What is behind the typical taste or the foam head? All this and more you will find out during the lecture.

Outreach Lecture on Molecular Machines

Since 2016, Prof. Max von delius gives public lectures on Molecular Machines. The lecture starts with an introduction on the recent Nobel Prize in Chemistry, awarded to Profs. Sauvage, Stoddart and Feringa “for the design and synthesis of molecular machines”. In the first part of the talk, biological motor proteins, ranging from the ATP synthase to the ribosome and kinesin are discussed. In the second part of the talk, selected studies on artificial molecular machines and motors, created in the labs of organic chemists, are presented and explained.

artistic representation of an orthoester cryptate

Science Meets Art

Research on supramolecular systems often gives rise to aesthetically appealing molecular structures. We have reached out to silversmith Anne Fischer and asked her to create a macroscopic version of one of our orthoester cryptates, which goes by the technical name [Na+@o-Me2-1.1.1]. The stunning result of this collaboration is shown in the photograph on the left hand side (size ca. 30 cm).

“Cryptands are chemical compounds capable of strongly binding metal ions. Since their discovery, these molecules have found widespread technological applications and their esthetic appeal has inspired chemists and artists alike.”

In the press

Podcast on the Chemistry of Beer

To celebrate Oktoberfest season in the Fall of 2024, Max von Delius was interviewed by the amazing podcast team “Alles Chlor!” (JCF, Young Chemists within GDCh) about his homebrewing hobby, his outreach lecture and the chemistry of beer. Charlotte Gerischer and Max discuss a wide range of topics from the Bavarian purity law, the chemicals in hops, the “Oktoberfest rearrangement” and the detrimental effect of sunlight on beer. Check out the 80 min podcast here (in German).

ERC starting grant

The award of an ERC starting grant to our group entitled “SUPRANET: Supramolecular Recognition in Dynamic Covalent Networks at Equilibrium and Beyond” was accompanied by a press release and has been covered by a few news organizations (all in German):

European Research Council logo

Self-assembly of dynamic orthoester cryptates

Our article “Self-assembly of dynamic orthoester cryptates” (Nature Commun. 2015, 6, 7129) and the corresponding press release, highlighting the possibility of using these compounds for transdermal drug delivery, was featured in a number of news outlets: