In order to successfully promote the next generation of superb scientists for the microelectronics venue Dresden, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) founded the International Helmholtz Research School for Nanoelectronic Networks NANONET together with the TU Dresden [Dresden University of Technology], the Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research Dresden, the Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing (IZFP), and the NaMLab gGmbH corporation.  It will be supported annually with 200,000 euros over the next six years by the Helmholtz Association’s Initiative and Networking Fund.

The International Helmholtz Research School NANONET is a structured doctoral program which promotes the education of the next generation of scientists in molecular electronics while at the same time striving to advance this field of research.  It seeks to determine how atoms and molecules may be functionalized and designed so that they can switch information; thus, making them the smallest possible transistors.  That’s at least what the scientists are hoping to accomplish who are working together with Dr. Artur Erbe from the HZDR.  Dr. Erbe is also the spokesperson of the new International Helmholtz Research School:  “At the moment, individual molecules are the smallest components imaginable which can be integrated into a processor.  It’s our vision to develop components which create a circuit all by themselves.  That’s a really exciting research field which should drastically lower production costs in the chip industry by significantly reducing the consumption of energy,” notes Artur Erbe.

This research approach belongs to the “bottom up methods” in which many scientists see the future of microelectronics.  Because with the current “top down” technologies, transistors may only be reduced up to a specific size which according to the American entrepreneur Gordon Moore will be reached soon.  That’s why scientists are taking the opposite approach today by constructing complex structures out of individual molecules and atoms.  “Within the scope of the research alliance DRESDEN-concept, we’re already conducting intense research in this field with our partners.  And now we want to deliberately foster the next generation of scientific researchers,” notes Artur Erbe.

Every three years, up to 25 international doctoral candidates will be educated in the International Helmholtz Research School NANONET.  Applicants are welcome from such diverse fields as physics, chemistry, electrical engineering, and materials science.  They have to participate in a selection process and present a topic that’s of relevance to molecular electronics and about which they plan to write their dissertation.  The successful candidates who are selected for the NANONET doctoral program will get, on the one hand, a thorough and highly interdisciplinary scientific education; including the possibility of conducting their doctoral studies with greater flexibility than usual.  The doctoral program also conveys specific knowledge in research management which is becoming increasingly more relevant to the career of scientists today, for example, when seeking to successfully procure third-party funding.  Every doctoral candidate will be supervised by a scientist at one of the five partner institutes.  Academically, the NANONET doctoral program will be carried out at three TU Dresden faculties (mechanical science and engineering, electrical and computer engineering, mathematics and natural sciences) with a specific focus on an interdisciplinary education.  The Research School with its 15 renowned scientists has, thus, a clear strategy to ensure the successful cooperation between the various fields.

In addition to NANONET, the Helmholtz Association is also supporting four other International Helmholtz Research Schools and two Helmholtz Graduate Schools this year in order to provide the best possible support to the next generation of researchers while they’re still doctoral candidates.


Picture:  Katrin Kerbusch


For more information, please contact:
Dr. Artur Erbe
Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf
Spokesperson of the Helmholtz Research School
Phone:  +49 351 260-2366


Prof. Dr. Gianaurelio Cuniberti
Chair of Materials Science and Nanotechnology
Faculty of Mechanical Science and Engineering
TU Dresden
Phone:  +49 351 463 31420


Press Contact
Dr. Christine Bohnet | Press Officer
Phone:  +49 351 260-2450 or +49 160 969 288 56

www.hzdr.de

Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf
Bautzner Landstr. 400
01328 Dresden, Germany

Technische Universität Dresden
Kim-Astrid Magister | Press Officer
Phone:  +49 351 463 32398
| http://tu-dresden.de 


The long-term objective of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) is to ensure excellence in research in those fields that are of great relevance to our society.  That is why the HZDR research focuses on the following topics:

•    How does matter behave in strong fields and at small-scale dimensions?
•    How can malignant tumors be identified at an early stage and treated effectively?
•    How can resources and energy be used safely and efficiently?

To answer these scientific questions, five large-scale research facilities provide, in part, unique research opportunities.  These facilities are also accessible to external users.

The HZDR has been a member of the Helmholtz Association, Germany’s largest research organization, since January 1, 2011.  It has four locations in Dresden, Leipzig, Freiberg, and Grenoble and employs more than 800 people – approx. 400 of whom are scientists including 140 doctoral candidates.