Adolphe Merkle Institute

Our most recent Adolphe Merkle Institute activities report is available online. Research topics covered in this edition include the recycling and reuse of polymers to reduce environmental impact; hybrid halide perovskites that emulate brain functionalities for computing systems; a technique to determine the size and shape of protein aggregates implicated in Parkinson’s disease and similar disorders; a light-absorbing surface that could inspire ultra-black materials; an innovative method to analyze mechanical stress and strain in polymers; a multicellular 3D model of the human omentum; and finally a workflow to detect and observe interactions with marine life. Read it all here: https://bit.ly/AMI_AR23 #research Université de Fribourg - Universität Freiburg

Happy to share our news & views on the recent Nature Chemistry paper by CHOISE EFRC! Congratulations for such an inspiring work! It has been a joy to feature such a work in Nature Chemistry alongside Jovana Milic and Mengqiong Zhu. https://lnkd.in/eXfnFzi5

Congratulations to the Adolphe Merkle Institute's newest Dr., Aura Maria Moreno Echeverri (BioNanomaterials), who successfully defended her #PhD thesis "Exploring the Interaction of Amorphous Silica Nanoparticles with Macrophage Lysosomes" on December 20! Well done, and good luck with your next career steps! Université de Fribourg - Universität Freiburg Unifr – Faculty of Science and Medicine Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser Alke Fink

📢 Apply now for the Innosuisse Entrepreneurship Training Business Concept 2025 semester course at the Université de Fribourg - Universität Freiburg! 💡 This 10x4h semester program organized by Venturelab helps you transform your vision into a startup. Whether you already have a business idea or want to explore entrepreneurship, this course is open to students, PhDs, postdocs, faculty members, and researchers eager to dive into venture building. ✏️ Register here now for the course at Université de Fribourg - Universität Freiburg: https://lnkd.in/dD-tRYjJ 📅 The course will be held on Monday afternoons at 5 pm from 13 March to 19 May 2025 at the Adolphe Merkle Institute. 💚 Thank you for the support to all the partners: Fri Up, Université de Fribourg - Universität Freiburg, Adolphe Merkle Institute, HES-SO Haute école spécialisée de Suisse occidentale, and others! #SwissStartups#Innosuisse#BusinessConcept#Entrepreneurship#SwissEntrepreneurshipTraining Katharina M Fromm Valeria Mozzetti Rohrseitz, PhD Ana Claudia Marques Eliav Haskal Laura Camurri, PhD Sébastian Dobarco Allan L. Yann Steulet Maria Chehade Le Bour Emmanuelle Fauchart Raphael Gaudart Patrick Favre-Perrod Xavier Bertschy School of Management Fribourg (HEG-FR)

Congratulations to the Adolphe Merkle Institute’s Co-Chair of BioNanomaterials, Prof. Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser - she is one of 15 new members elected to the Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF Research Council! At its December meeting, the Foundation Council elected 52 current members of the Research Council to continue their mandates while also electing 15 new highly qualified members. These were selected from nearly 200 applications to complete the body. It will take office on April 1, 2025. According to the SNSF, these appointments, including Rothen-Rutishauser’s, strengthen the Research Council’s expertise in key areas, reflecting the ongoing commitment to rigorous scientific evaluation and support tailored to current challenges. Rothen-Rutishauser was elected as one of the council’s representatives for life sciences and will focus more specifically on long-term research and infrastructure. She is an expert in the field of cell-nanoparticle interactions, with a special interest in 3D tissue models. Her work includes the development of alternative testing methods that can be used for hazard assessments and drug testing approaches. She is also committed to gender equality issues and has initiated several activities to promote talented (female) scientists. Since 2011, she has been the co-chair of BioNanomaterials at the Adolphe Merkle Institute, a position shared equally with Prof. Alke Fink. Rothen-Rutishauser is a member of or has served on multiple international and national scientific associations and advisory committees, including Switzerland’s Federal Commission for Air Hygiene. Université de Fribourg - Universität Freiburg NCCR Bio-Inspired Materials #research #funding #academia

New funding for Adolphe Merkle Institute researchers: the Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF has awarded two Spark grants to explore innovative #materials with potentially transformative applications. AMI’s Chair of Polymer Chemistry and Materials, Prof. Christoph Weder, will investigate a new class of materials called elastic liquid metal gels, combining the properties of liquid metals (high thermal and electrical conductivity) with the mechanical characteristics of gels (elasticity and softness). The project aims to overcome the limitations of current liquid metal composites by creating gels where liquid metal is the primary component, with gelating agents forming a 3D network within the metal. This approach could yield extremely soft, stretchable, and conformable electronic materials with potential applications in heat transfer, soft robotics, wearable electronics, and biomedical devices. Dr. Andrea Dodero, a group leader in AMI’s Soft Matter Physics group, will focus on developing novel laser materials using all-polymer spherical microcavities. These are comprised of microspheres, invisible to the naked eye, that could produce laser light in a radial pattern, opening new possibilities for compact device integration. The process, if successful, could significantly reduce production costs and make advanced laser technology more accessible. The project design also suggests that these new laser materials would operate at remarkably low energy levels while still producing coherent light. According to the SNSF, the aim of Spark grants is to fund the rapid testing or development of novel and unconventional scientific approaches, methods, theories, standards, and ideas. It is designed for projects that introduce a unique approach. The focus is on promising ideas of high originality for which preliminary data are not necessarily available and are unlikely to be funded under other existing schemes. Negative results will also be regarded as knowledge gained. Université de Fribourg - Universität Freiburg Research Promotion Service - Unifr Unifr – Faculty of Science and Medicine

Gratulation an Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser vom Adolphe Merkle Institute der Université de Fribourg - Universität Freiburg für ihr Teilprojekt eines Horizon Europe Projektes "« LowC: Safe and sustainable LOW-Carbon fuels for heavy-duty, aviation, and maritime sectors »!!! Félicitations à Barbara pour son projet #Horizon #Europe "« LowC: Safe and sustainable LOW-Carbon fuels for heavy-duty, aviation, and maritime sectors »!! Europe - here we come! 🌍 #Freiburg, #Fribourg, #place2study

It is a great honor for me to represent Université de Fribourg/Universität Freiburg at the Schweizerischer Nationalfonds SNF as a member of the Research Council from April 2025!

A quick look back at our recent NanoARTS event at the Adolphe Merkle Institute. Many thanks to Christian Doninelli of the Université de Fribourg - Universität Freiburg's communications service for producing this great #video! Pro Helvetia #outreach #arts #science

Come join us at the Adolphe Merkle Institute (Université de Fribourg - Universität Freiburg) to take part in an exciting European #research project! Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser has an opening for a #PhD student in our BioNanomaterials group to assess the effects of low and zero-carbon fuels in lung-cell cultures. All the details on how to apply are below. #education #EU ULTRHAS Alke Fink