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M+M Symposium

We thank you for your participation!

2024/11/25

The second M+M Symposium took place on 29. October 2024 in the Wilhelm-Köhler-Saal of the TU Darmstadt. The M+M Symposium is an open format for valuable exchange and free discussions on the broad spectrum of the Research Field Matter and Materials and the four profile topics, Materials for Circularity, Networks for Industry 4.0, Nuclear Science and Synthetic Biology. It is an excellent opportunity for the members to meet, network and discuss burning matters for the research field, which in turn strengthens its core values and identity.

In her opening speech, the president of the TU Darmstadt, Prof. Brühl, has summarized best the achievements of the Research Field M+M, and the challenges that lie ahead. As current and future generations need a more sustainable future, exploring all aspects towards this goal, puts at center interdisciplinary research and joint effort. In this vein, the president of the TU Darmstadt saluted the Symposium as a unique platform where constructive dialogue and critical communication stimulate the development of new ideas for collaborative projects within M+M and its four profile topics.

A particularly interesting approach to interdisciplinary research was presented by the top-ranked scientist Prof. Claudia Felser in her highly anticipated keynote talk on Topology and Chirality. These concepts bring forward fundamental quests that have dominated the society and scientific communities for decades: the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and how are they connected. “The potential for connecting chirality as a quantum number to other chiral phenomena across different areas of science, including the asymmetry of matter and antimatter and the homochirality of life, brings topological materials to the fore”, concluded Prof. Felser.

The programme further included presentations of current research developments in the four profile topics, putting at the forefront many new initiatives encompassing excellent projects on particles, materials and cells. The active discussions concentrated around several general topics, such as Application-oriented research; New technologies; Theoretical modeling, etc. mirroring thus the diversity of the research field and ensuring the cross-disciplinarity of the planned future activities.

We thank the speakers and the M+M members for this very exciting meeting and are very much looking forward to the next M+M events in 2025!

Photos by Julia Essl

10:00 Welcome

  • Prof. Tanja Brühl, President of TU Darmstadt
  • Prof. Achim Schwenk, Spokesperson Research Field M+M

10:15 Keynote Talk on Topology and Chirality

  • Prof. Claudia Felser, Director MPI Chemical Physics of Solids and Vice President Max-Planck Society

“Topology, a well-established concept in mathematics, has nowadays become essential to describe condensed matter. At its core are chiral electron states on the bulk, surfaces and edges of the condensed matter systems, in which spin and momentum of the electrons are locked parallel or anti-parallel to each other. Magnetic and non-magnetic Weyl semimetals, for example, exhibit chiral bulk states that have enabled the realization of predictions from high energy and astrophysics involving the chiral quantum number, such as the chiral anomaly, the mixed axial-gravitational anomaly and axions. The potential for connecting chirality as a quantum number to other chiral phenomena across different areas of science, including the asymmetry of matter and antimatter and the homochirality of life, brings topological materials to the fore.”.

11:00 Questions and Discussions

11:30 New Initiative Talks

  • Prof. Anke Weidenkaff – „Idea for an xChange Circle“
  • Prof. Debora Clever – “From Play to Application: Harnessing AI-Powered Foosball Innovations for Industrial Robotic Systems”
  • Prof. Rolf Findeisen – “Data-Driven Learning for Enhanced Performance, Individualized Control, and Monitoring”
  • Prof. Alexandre Obertelli – „Antimatter physics“
  • Prof. Oliver Boine-Frankenheim – „Advances & challenges in accelerator science at FAIR“
  • Prof. Torsten Frosch – „New initiatives in Biomedical Engineering“
  • Prof. Heinz Köppl – ”Synthetic Biology for Intelligent Biomaterials"

12:30 Flying Lunch & Table Topics

  • Application-oriented research; New technologies; Out of the box; Theoretical modeling

14:00 End

Registration for the 2. M+M Symposium is closed.

Wilhelm-Köhler-Saal and Foyer

Campus Stadtmitte

S1|03 Room 283 and Room 284

Hochschulstr. 1, 64289 Darmstadt

Arrival by public transport:

From Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof (main railway station), you can take bus lines F (Oberwaldhaus), H (Kranichstein Kesselhutweg), K (Alfred-Messel-Weg) or tram lines 2 (TU Lichtwiese/Campus) and 3 (Lichtenbergschule). Get off at Schloss.

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