Securing the world's energy supply from renewable sources is one of the major challenges of our generation, in the face of depleting resources, growing energy consumption and climate change. Research into energy-related materials and processes is therefore a priority for the scientific community.

The ‘Functional Materials and Processes for Energy and Sustainable Development’ summer school offers an overview of the most relevant areas in energy production and storage, with a focus on green and sustainable processes. 

The research areas that will be covered include the latest advances in solar energy conversion technologies; fuel cells and the hydrogen vector; electrochemical storage; thermoelectric materials; biomass conversion and bioenergy; catalytic materials for energy. The school will also cover the contribution of major families of materials as well as advanced characterisation techniques.

The program is completed by workshops on proposal writing and open science, poster sessions and a gala dinner.

For more information, visit the webpage of the 2025 summerschool

 Location | Mulhouse

 Registration deadline | 13 June 2025

 Abstract submission deadline | 26 May 2025

 Website

Les journées scientifiques communes du GFP section Est et de la FRMNGE section Polymères et Composites ont pour objectif de promouvoir et favoriser le développement des interactions dans le domaine multidisciplinaire des polymères, allant de la chimie en passant par la physico-chimie, la physique et la mécanique des polymères, jusqu’aux procédés de polymérisation. Ce rendez-vous concerne tous les polyméristes, doctorants, chercheurs académiques et industriels du secteur des polymères et matériaux polymères.

Au programme de ces journées

• 2 conférences invitées | Alba Marcellan, Pr. (Laboratoire Sciences et Ingénierie de la Matière Molle, Paris) & Simon Harrisson, DR (Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques, Bordeaux)
• une table ronde « Comment enseigne-t-on les polymères aujourd’hui ? »
• des visites de plateformes dédiées aux polymères sur le campus mulhousien
• nombreuses communications orales
• sessions posters pour permettre à tous les participants qui le souhaitent de présenter les résultats de leurs travaux de recherche.

This AMT focusing on “Advances in polymer sciences for biomedical applications” will be held at the Institut Charles Sadron. 

This event is designed to highlight recent advances in polymer science for biomedicine. Participants will explore new strategies for designing biomimetic, biodegradable, and adaptive materials, while also examining innovations in molecular building blocks and surface control of materials for biological applications. Special attention will be given to the interdisciplinary approach aimed at addressing societal challenges in health.

Program

• 14:30-15:00 | Emmanuelle MARIE-BEGUE (Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris, France)
• 15:00-15:30 | Grégory FRANCIUS (Université de Lorraine, France)
• 15:30-16:00 | Coffee break
• 16:00-16:30 | Michael NASH (University of Basel, Switzerland) on the topic of “Engineered Elastin-like Polypeptides for Coagulation Therapy”
• 16:30-17:00 | Anne HEBRAUD (University of Strasbourg, France)

 Date | 16 April 2025

 Location | IS2M, Mulhouse

Save the date for our 2025 annual HiFunMat conference.

This day aims to give us a privileged opportunity to meet each other and share our latest results and ongoing projects, and to discover the variety of research issues developed in HiFunMat. Furthermore, this event is the ideal opportunity to create new links or strengthen existing ones, so that new collaborations and innovative ideas can emerge. The program aims to display the large range of research topics studied in HiFunMat, and covers the three themes targeted by HiFunMat: Materials for energy, health and environment.

Registration is free, but mandatory. More information on registration and abstract submission here

 Location | Amphitheatre of the College Doctoral Européen

 Website

The Doctoral Students' Congress, organized annually by PhD students from the Doctoral School of Physics and Physical Chemistry (ED-182), will be held on March 28th, 2025 at the Amphitheatre of the College Doctoral Européen. 46, Boulevard de la Victoire, Strasbourg. The ED-182 is a multi-disciplinary school that brings together students whose research topics range from subatomic physics to astrophysics, including the chemistry-physics of matter, nanoscience, and functional materials. This event gathers PhD candidates and researchers from various labs (IPCMS, ICS, IPHC, ISIS, …) and disciplines within this doctoral school. It provides a platform for presenting research, exchanging ideas, and improving communication skills, especially for young researchers.
This congress, aimed at ED-182 doctoral students and more particularly first-year doctoral students (mandatory for them), will take place in the same way as a traditional scientific conference, with scientific presentations and posters, presentations by two invited speakers, and a time at the start of the day devoted to presentations by the various sponsors. For many students attending, this will be their first scientific congress in Strasbourg. As well, there is the chance for sponsors to introduce themselves during the 5-minute presentations allotted to it at the start of the day.

The event began with an inspiring speech by Catherine Florentz, who highlighted HiFunMat as the "coup de cœur" of the jury among the 15 ITIs. She proudly noted that HiFunMat, was the only temporary ITI received the highest possible grade, "A+." This grade was shared with just two other ITIs, both of which are former LabEx initiatives. Catherine emphasized HiFunMat’s strong interdisciplinarity, the invaluable contributions of its technicians to the research consortium, their active involvement in student training, and the consortium’s remarkable scale—comprising 250 researchers across four campuses: Mulhouse, Esplanade, Cronenbourg, and Medicine.

Following her remarks, we were honored to welcome Rémi Barillon and Jean-François Brilhac, vice-presidents in charge of research and doctoral training at Unistra and UHA, respectively.

The morning session included a comprehensive review of HiFunMat's 2025 initiatives and perspectives. Fouzia Boulmedais, ITI coordinator, presented the research-focused plans, while Mehdi Vahdati, a member of the Graduate School committee, detailed the Graduate School’s objectives.

The afternoon featured engaging scientific presentations from laureates of previous project calls. The presenters and their projects included:

• Catherine Galindo | IPHC | ProBIOTIon | Seed Money 2021
• Madeline Vauthier | ICS | NanoHeatCAPs | Seed Money 2021
• Laure Biniek | ICS | COMPOMOF | Seed Money 2022
• Igor Kulic | ICS | DREAM | Seed Money 2022
• Carlotta Figliola | ICPEES | SMARTY | Starting Grant 2021
• Tristan Asset | ICPEES | ANIMALS | Starting Grant 2022
• Aurélie Hourlier Fargette | ICS | FoamFibMat & PhyStraFoam | Starting Grant 2021 & RIC 2023
• Béatrice Heurtault & Stéphane Bellemain Laponnaz | LCAMB & IPCMS | Hydro NHC | PhD 2021
• Arnaud Spangenberg | IS2M | PHOTOCAT | PhD 2021

For a complete list of funded projects, please visit: Discover all our research projects.

The meeting concluded with heartfelt acknowledgments to all members, including administrative and management support teams, and ended on a high note with a convivial cocktail.

T1 – Single Molecule Junctions, Memories & Switches

T2 – Large Area Junctions, Memories & Switches

T3 – Organic Electronics, Optoelectronics & Photonics: Materials & Devices

T4 – 2D materials, Nanotubes & Nanowires

T5 – Self-Assembly & Supramolecular Architectures

T6 – Scanning Probe Microscopies & Near Field Approaches

T7 – Molecular Theoretical Modelling

T8 – Bioinspired Approaches & Biomimetic Devices

Computational Photo-chemistry

• Fundamental Photosciences (e.g. chirality, ultra fast processes, mechanisms & concepts)

• Light-Energy Conversion & Photo-catalysis

• Photo-chemistry at the Nanoscale (Single molecule, etc.)

• New spectroscopic tools & techniques

• Photo-polymerisation, New functional materials for photochemical applications

The program will be composed of plenary lectures, invited lectures, oral contributions by and posters.

Le 24ème Forum des microscopies à sonde locale aura lieu du 3 au 7 avril 2023 au pied du Mont St Odile, à Obernai, un village alsacien typique avec ses maisons à colombages et sa tradition viticole, à une trentaine de kilomètres de Strasbourg.

Développer des outils pour générer des données utiles à votre recherche, concevoir des solutions technologiques, trouver du financement, voire viser un transfert de technologie… Toutes ces questions tournent autour d’un même sujet: Comment transformer vos savoirs et savoir-faire de chercheur académique en outils et solutions concrètes?

congress-ed182.sciencesconf.org

Zoom for the online version : https://cnrs.zoom.us/j/99585065945?pwd=cVdxNGFmc1VKOHVWaFVCMjBZRk1kQT09

More details : https://photonline2023.sciencesconf.org/ 

Dr. Tomas Tamulevicius 
University of Technology, Lithuania

05/12/2022 10h 
IS2M amphitheater and videoconference

https://uha.webex.com/meet/karine.mougin

Prof. Chihaya Adachi
IPCMS, Strasbourg

 26/09/2022, 14h30
 l'auditorium de l'IPCMS

Through the extensive R&D of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) for more than 30 years, plenty of well-elaborated novel organic optoelectronic materials and device architectures have been extensively developed, resulting in the unique commercial utilization of OLEDs for cutting-edge smartphones, large-area TVs, and further new future display applications by taking advantage of light-weight and flexibility.

From the aspect of materials science, the creation of novel light-emitting materials in OLEDs has been the central issue aimed at high electroluminescence quantum efficiency (EQE). Starting from the development of conventional fluorescence materials (1st generation) during 1990-2000th, the room-temperature phosphorescence (2000-) (2nd generation) and thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) (2012-) (3rd generation) continuously pioneered the novel possibilities of organic emitters, resulted in not only high-performance OLEDs but also enriched organic photochemistry. Recently, there have been a wide variety of studies on TADF-OLEDs because of the unlimited possibilities of TADF molecular design. Further, hyperfluorescence (HP)-OLEDs have been developed since they can realize the compatibility of high efficiency and narrow spectral width, which is ideal for practical display applications.

Here we report our recent cutting-edge HP-OLEDs demonstrating high OLED performance by optimizing host, TADF, and terminal emitter (TE) molecules1-3). In particular, we focus on the blue-emission, which can show narrow FWHM and high EL quantum yield. Blue HP-OLEDs based on two new TEs are fabricated, resulting in high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of over 20%, high color purity, and high brightness. By analyzing the transient PL characteristics of the HP-OLEDs, we found the presence of efficient FRET between TADF-assistant dopant (TADF-AD) and TE molecules. Further, transient EL analysis confirmed that a smaller EHOMO difference between TADF-AD and TE efficiently helps to decrease hole trapping inside the emitting layer, hence resulting in a lower efficiency rolloff and a longer operational device lifetime. This report provides a designing principle for a TADF and TE in HP-OLEDs with well-matched energy levels, leading to efficient FRET and no significant carrier trapping.

In his talk, Adachi will mention the importance of the charge transfer (CT) phenomenon in designing high-performance organic luminescent molecules in OLEDs. Also, CT issues play a crucial role in maximizing the device's operation. Further, he will outlook the prospect of advanced CT technologies.

References:

[1] C-Y. Chan et al., Nature Photonics, 15, 203 – 207 (2021).

[2] Y-T. Lee et al., Advanced Electronic Materials, 7, 4, 2001090 (2021).

[3] M. Tanaka et al., ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 12, 45, 50668 – 50674 (2020).

  12 and 13 September 2022

 Institute Charles Sadron (ICS) on 12/09/'22 and Institut de Science et d'Ingenierie Supramoleculaires (ISIS) on 13/09/'22

 Website : https://x-con.jp/en/aboutus

 Registration : https://usias.wufoo.com/forms/rdlj4p000ps5kq/

 By: Benoit Lebot

 Public: everyone

 13 juillet 2022, 5 to 7 pm

 CDE Strasbourg

Benoit Lebot, founding member of the Negawatt Association and member of the European Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, will present their approach to tackling energy and climate challenges while leading to a more sustainable, equitable, and resilient society in France. He will explain the complex and sometimes confusing issues of the links between economic development and environmental degradation. A special focus will be given to the materials needed to achieve the energy transition.

The ecological transition has become everyone's business and is now at the heart of corporate social and environmental responsibility. Everyone is thus invited to come to the conference!

'Curiosity' is their first joint conference.

 30 June - 1 July 2022

 Mulhouse, France

 Website : https://ycur2022.sciencesconf.org/

The goal of the conference is to provide networking opportunities for young chemists and to promote the chemistry research carried out on both sides of the Upper Rhine river banks in France and in Germany. 

The conference will have three main objectives:

• Highlight the research of chemistry students and young scientists of Upper Rhine;
• Promote scientific exchange across disciplines;
• Integrate younger researchers in an international network to open up opportunities of cross-border collaborations and exchange programs.

YCUR will give the opportunity to young chemists, under 35y, to present their work in the form of a 15-minute presentation or in the form of a poster or flash presentation (5 minutes). We expect that the networking opportunities provided by the event will facilitate new collaborations and acquaintances that benefit both French and German researchers as well as their research.

The plenary talks will be given by Pr. Jean-François Carpentier, Pr. Dr. Ingo Krossing, Dr. Alexander Hinz and Dr. Joanna Wencel-Delord.

 2-3 June 2022

 Esplande Campus, Strasbourg

 Registration deadline : 30 April 2022

 Public : Master students, PhDs, Postdocs and others

For more information and to register visit the Soft Matter Meeting website

This meeting aims at bringing together students (master, PhD) and researchers working in the broad field of Soft Matter (polymers, biophysics, complex fluids, active matter, colloids, wetting, microfluidics, membranes, out of equilibrium phenomena) to present their activities. Do not miss this opportunity to have stimulating discussions and create future collaborations between different groups and laboratories in the Grand Est region and beyond.

You can discover last year meeting here.

KEYNOTE CONTRIBUTIONS

Juliane Simmchen (TU Dresden) : Active matter mimicking biological behaviours

Giulio Ragazzon (ISIS, Strasbourg) : Non-equilibrium chemical reaction networks

Christophe Chassenieux (ICS, Strasbourg) : Hydrogels obtained by hydrophilic block copolymer self-assembly

Hong Xu (LCP–A2MC, Université de Lorraine) : Simulation of model binary mixtures: viscosity, viscoelasticity and effects of scalar activity

Nacho Molina (IGBMC, Strasbourg)

PRIZES

• Two prizes of 100 euros will be awarded by our sponsor Soft Matter (RSC).
• Two additional prizes: Springer book vouchers of 150 euros will be awarded by our sponsor European Physical Journal E.

 21 April 2022, 9am - 6pm

 ECPM, Amphitheater Forestier, Campus Cronenbourg, Strasbourg

 Registration deadline: 07 Mars 2022

You are invited to the first HiFunMat conference! This day aims to give us a privileged opportunity to meet each other and share our latest results and ongoing projects, and to discover the variety of research issues developed in HiFunMat. Furthermore, this event is the ideal opportunity to create new links or strengthen existing ones, and to establish collaborations that can be supported by the ITI. The program aims to display the large range of research topics studied in HiFunMat, and covers the three themes targeted by HiFunMat: Materials for energy, health and environment.

Find more information on the webpage of the conference

You can also direclty download the program

Dr Valérie Keller
ICPEES, Strasbourg
 

 28/01/2022, 14h00
 IS2M amphitheater and via visioconference
 Link : https://uha.webex.com/meet/benedicte.lebeau

Davide Ruffoni

Liège Université - Mécanique des matériaux biologiques et bioinspirés

 15/03/2022, 10h30
 ICS : amphitheater Henri Benoit
 Zoom : https://cnrs.zoom.us/j/93213114040?pwd=aGtIeGJOVnh1d0Z5VnFUWnFCWDdnUT09

Meeting ID : 932 1311 4040

Code : HWBXT9

Abstract.

The tremendously rapid development of additive manufacturing technologies is enabling the fabrication of a new class of advanced materials, referred to as architectured materials. In contrast to monolithic materials, architectured materials have well defined internal structures at length scales which are smaller than the overall macroscopic component, but which are much larger than the length scales traditionally associated with the microstructure (e.g. grain size, lattice constant or polymer chains). Typically, architectured materials feature a controlled internal architecture ranging from 100 µm to 100 mm, therefore bridging the gap between microstructure and component size. The design of new architectured materials can profit from the strategies followed by nature in load-bearing biological materials.

This is the context of our work, where we are focusing on introducing nature’s design principles into synthetic architectured materials using inkjet multimaterial 3D printing, with the final goal to prototype next generation materials with enhanced mechanical efficiency and multifunctionality. Architectured material contains numerous internal interfaces and we have first turned our attention on the characterization of interfaces formed during inkjet printing. In short, this fabrication method is based on the controlled deposition and curing of micrometer-sized photopolymer droplets. By combining different experimental methods we have characterized the properties and the role of internal interfaces in 3D printed multimaterial composites [1]. Ongoing work is aimed at improving the mechanical behavior and failure resistance of bimaterial attachments, based on minimal interface patterning and inspired by the insertion of the soft tendon into the much stiffer bone.

Multimaterial 3D printing has a huge potential for cost-effective manufacturing of high performance composites, with soft and stiff building blocks combined in a countless variety of arrangements and linked through interfaces. Inspired by the multilayer tube-like structure of the wood cell, we have prototyped architectured materials having stiff polymeric helix-reinforcements embedded into softer rubbery matrix. By controlling the fiber winding angle and matrix compliance, we could program the mechanical response of our structures in terms of stiffness and energy absorption. We also demonstrated that adding thin outer and inner reinforcing layers to the main helicoidal structure, with small fibrous elements oriented perpendicular to the applied load as seen in the wood cell, could lead to a huge amplification of failure strength and energy absorption of the wood-inspired structures [2]. Our work has highlighted the possibility to use 3D printing in combination with computer simulations and experimental testing to design and prototype novel synthetic materials featuring design principles of biological materials, which are replicated at higher length scales and using completely different building blocks.

[1] Zorzetto et al., Sci Rep 2020; 10.

[2] Zorzetto and Ruffoni, Adv Funct Mater 2019; 29.

A conference held under the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union

 10/03/2022, 10h00-15h15

 Grand Est Region building, 1 Place Adrien Zeller, Strasbourg & Videoconference

 Free inscription (dealine in person format 04/03/2022 & digital format 07/03/2022)  : https://www.allianceenergie.fr/save-the-date-europe-en-transition-les-defis-pour-la-recherche-et-la-formation/

 download the program here

Abstract.

Beyond disciplinary research and education questions, is it possible to raise more systemic horizontal concerns, regarding the major transitions: climate, ecology, energy, food and heath? Over the last decade, crises are increasingly frequent and have a tendency to pile up. They affect the way of life, the way of consumption, the way of production. Such periods of tension provide information on the significant damages caused by the different types of climatic disturbances, such as social or health crises, or the loss of biodiversity and also reveal the high level of the interdependencies underlying the current ways of life. Enough observations, data and tools are now available to understand and model the impact of these global changes on the environment, health, biodiversity and society. In the European context, the Green Deal aims at making Europe the first carbon-neutral continent; this policy aims to preserve biodiversity, reduce pollution, and promote a clean and circular economy, while making this green transition a factor of economic growth, by ensuring a fair transition. The European legislative package «Fit for 55» will establish the mechanisms for fitting to the new European ambitions in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (a 55% at the horizon 2030, cut-off compared to 1990 level, to reach carbon neutrality in 2050), thus requiring an acceleration of the energy, environmental, sanitary and digital transitions, the implementation of carbon sinks, and probably major systemic disruptions. Progresses in disciplinary research and innovation are able to provide many solutions. On the other hand, whereas the problems are largely systemic, the approaches of them are often led in sectoral silos. Innovations must be more and more hybrid, bringing together a broad spectrum of technologies and skills from different disciplines. Working at the interfaces of different scientific fields - life sciences, physical science, digital science, engineering science, human and social science - will contribute to boosting systemic innovations that are necessary to reach a carbon-neutral and resilient society by 2050. Under the aegis of the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, the five national alliances (gathering the French research organizations and universities under 5 embedding topics: energy, environment, numeric, health, human and social sciences) have produced a positioning document which reflects a common and shared vision of new directions in research, to serve the major transitions, in the emerging academic discipline of sustainability science.

 ICS, Online

 16 February 2022

 Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87934230664?pwd=QWtFdTFubFVBbmxndkhXNHVJL0M5dz09
Meeting ID: 879 3423 0664
Secret code: 509508

The 11th of February is the UNESCO day to commemorate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The main aim of this celebration is to give visibility to the work of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). More specifically, to show female referents for children and young researchers to consider these areas as professional careers. Furthermore, due to the complexity of the issue, each year there are different discussions about the factors affecting the current situation of women in STEM in order to promote practices leading to gender equality in the scientific field.

Svetlana Samokhvalova, PhD student at the ICS, and a team of students, has organized a special event to celebrate this day. The main topic of the event is mental health.  An important subject that affects everyone, and even more in the field of science. The aim is to have as much participation as possible, from both male and female colleagues.

the program:

• 09:30 - Introductory words, by Quentin Bailleul
• 09:40 - Mental health in science, by Svetlana Samokhvalova.
• 10:20 - DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) in academia, by Dr. Mehdi Vahdati
• 10:50 - Introducing Egal'ITI, by Dr. Laure Biniek
• 10:55 - Mental health at ICS, by Svetlana Samokhvalova
• 11:00 - Closing remarks

During the event we will discuss mental health in academia, the mental load, the COVID-19 crises and how it affects scientists and especially women in academia. The DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) principles in science will be discussed as well. We hope to have an open discussion with the audience to what can be changed to improve mental health, and how we can influence it at the Institute level. We will also provide information on mental health professionals that work with the employees and students in the CNRS and the University of Strasbourg.

 31/01/2022, 14h00

 Zoom: https://cnrs.zoom.us/j/98412151271?pwd=dXQ0N0hCZnVHUXQzY2hqRTBteDljdz09

Meeting ID: 984 1215 1271

Secret code: 4bgS04

ITI HiFunMat is pleased to invite you to the "PhD webinar" which will take place on Monday 31 January 2022 at 2pm

We have recruited 19 motivated and competent PhD students to join the ITI HiFunMat Graduate School and obtain the HiFunMat label for their PhD degree.
During the webinar, the PhD students will introduce themselves and present their thesis projects.

You can download here the invitation and program.

Connect and join us!

 17/12/2021, 14h00
 IS2M : amphitheater Starcky
 Zoom : https://uha.webex.com/meet/benedicte.lebeau

Abstract.

Everyone is talking about plastic wastes and their impact on the environment. However, it is important to resist expedient reactions, because if plastics didn't exist today, humans would invent them.
In this presentation, a polymer chemist will trace the history of plastics, and explain their structure, manufacture, and waste treatment. Plastics are a much larger family than they seem, with some "good" and some "bad" plastics whose danger comes from the fact that their global production has grown so fast that it is now unmanageable.
What are the possible solutions to the problems of certain plastics? Energy recovery, "recycling", biosourced plastics and (bio)degradable plastics are the existing and developing solutions. But wouldn't the best solution be to moderate or even regulate the production/consumption of certain plastics, or to replace them with other materials?

Miryam Criado Gonzales

POLYMAT Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain

 23/11/2021, 10h30

 ICS : amphitheater Henri Benoit

 Zoom : https://cnrs.zoom.us/j/91044979572?pwd=RzIyTTNwZGxtZ2NFengxMHlxZEtxUT09

Meeting ID : 910 4497 9572

Code : semi23

Abstract.
Molecular self-assembly plays a key role in the development of tailor-made materials for biomedical applications. In this regard, natural polymers, which possess inherent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and non-toxicity, and more recently peptides, whose biological properties can be tailored by the sequenced defined chemical structure, have gained increasing attention. These two kind of soft materials are able to self-assemble in a controlled manner driven by intermolecular, i.e., van der Waals, hydrogen bonding, and/or hydrophobic intramolecular forces, leading to micro- and nano-structured platforms with different functionalities. Considering that the final biological properties will be highly influenced by the physical-chemical characteristics of the engineered materials, it becomes necessary to stablish a correlation between physics, chemistry, material science, biology, and medicine for the successful biomaterial implementation. Herein the design, fabrication and characterization of different supramolecular soft materials based on natural polymers and peptides will be
presented. Besides, the incorporation of nanoparticles and specific drugs within the polymer/peptide assemblies to tune the final properties of these materials to be employed for drug delivery, magnetic hyperthermia therapies, and tissue engineering applications will also be addressed.

Les personnes souhaitant rencontrer M. Criado Gonzales sont priées de prendre contact avec Fouzia Boulmedais.