16 September 2024
Forschungszentrum Jülich has awarded Dr. Rebekka Tesch the Excellence Prize. As part of her doctoral degree, the chemist has further developed computing methods that contribute to making materials for batteries and fuel cells more efficient and durable, which is important for the progress of the energy transition. From 2020 to 2023, Dr. Tesch was a doctoral researcher at Forschungszentrum Jülich's Institute of Energy and Climate Research - Theory and Computation of Energy Materials. At the beginning of 2024, she successfully defended her doctoral thesis at RWTH Aachen University's Faculty of Georesources and Materials Engineering.
"The Excellence Prize is a great recognition for my research and the research of my group. I also had two children during my doctoral degree and I am pleased to demonstrate that, with the right support, it is still possible to conduct excellent research," says Dr. Tesch.
She was supported in her interdisciplinary project by an international team and the computing power of the Jülich supercomputer JURECA. Batteries and accumulators require certain materials as catalysts to set electrochemical reactions in motion that make the storage and conversion of energy possible. With the help of computational chemistry, a better understanding of fundamental electrochemical processes can be achieved by using a supercomputer to simulate the behaviour of certain materials. However, there is still considerable room for improvement in the methods used. Dr. Tesch refined existing quantum mechanical methods and used them to simulate the behaviour of materials on an atomic level, thus enabling an improved and more precise description of electrochemical processes. In the future, new materials for components could be identified more effectively, making energy conversion and storage more durable, efficient, and cost-effective.
"With her outstanding research, Dr. Rebekka Tesch has made an important contribution to the development of high-performance and cost-effective energy storage systems and energy conversion devices. Her research demonstrates how innovative and interdisciplinary research approaches are driving the energy transition forward. We are proud to have supported such a talented young scientist and look forward to following her future career development," says Prof. Astrid Lambrecht, Chair of the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich.
Forschungszentrum Jülich has been awarding the Excellence Prize since 2009 to young, internationally successful scientists for their outstanding doctoral theses, the main parts of which were written at Jülich, as well as their excellent achievements during the early postdoc phase. This must be endorsed by a high-ranking committee of four internal and four external professors as well as written external expert opinions. With Dr. Rebekka Tesch, the number of prize winners has now increased to 42.
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Length: 2:34 minutes
