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Welcome to the Institute of Nanotechnology
We conduct fundamental and applied
research
with a focus on
innovation
in the fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Our
scientists
collaborate within the institute and with
partners
around the world across the disciplines of physics, chemistry, and materials science, as well as biology and medicine.
Peter W. Roesky
Novel rare-earth single-molecule magnets
By replacing specific carbon atoms of the ligands with the heavier element tin, researchers at KIT have
succeeded in synthesizing
rare-earth sandwich compounds which display single-molecule magnetic behaviour with great potential for applications in data storage and quantum information technology.
KIT Press Release
ZDF/Mona Lynn Wiemers
Battery storage for power grid stability
Harald Lesch interviewed Prof. Maximilian Fichtner from KIT on how battery storage can help to stabilize power grids to avoid potential blackouts (
Terra X
from April 7th, 2026, starting at 9:06 in the video).
A longer interview
is available that touches also other aspects of electrochemical energy storage.
Direct Link to "Terra X" video
Jo Richers
Optically detected coherent nuclear spins
Researchers from INT, IQMT and PHI at KIT
have demonstrated
optical detection and initialization of coherently controlled nuclear spins in an europium-based molecular crystal. The achieved lifetime of up to 2 ms of quantum coherent nuclear spin oscillations  and spin echos underscores the promise of molecular nuclear spins for quantum information processing.
KIT Press Release (in German)
INT, KIT
Two "Highly Cited Researchers" from INT
Torsten Brezesinski
and
Jürgen Janek
have been selected as
„Highly Cited Researchers“
by Clarivate, the company behind Web of Science for the year 2025. To be selected a researcher has to author multiple publications which rank in the top 1% by citations for their field(s) and publication year.
KIT Press Release
INT, KIT
Thermodynamics of Water Displacement from Binding Sites
In a study combining high-precision calorimetry measurements and molecular dynamics simulations researchers from at INT, Bremen and San Diego showed that the thermodynamic properties of water in molecular cavities  affect the binding affinities of molecules that displace this water from their binding sites. This might improve the development of medical drugs that bind on certain proteins.
KIT Press Release (in German)
Laila Tkotz, KIT
Platform MaterialDigital entered third phase
The goal of the
MaterialDigital platform
is to advance the digitalization of materials science by systematizing and standardizing the management of materials data. Key areas of development are workflows and IT architectures to achieve this goal. The German Federal Ministry of Education, Research and Technology (BMFTR) has extended the funding of the platform until September 2028.
KIT Press Release
Anastasia August, KIT
New Science Slam wins for Anastasia August
Anastasia August of INT continued her successful Science Slam performances. On June 26th she won the Science Slam of the Joachim Herz Foundation in Hamburg and on June 27th she won the Dr.-Lörcher Award of the NaturVision Slam in Ludwigsburg.
NaturVision Science Slam
Sandra Göttisheim, KIT
Heinrich-Hertz Award for Jürgen Janek
Prof. Jürgen Janek from J
ustus-Liebig University at Gießen
and head of the
BELLA Laboratory
at KIT has been awarded the "Heinrich-Hertz-Preis" by the EnBW Foundation for his contributions to sustainable energy supply with his work on electrochemical energy storage.
Heinrich-Hertz Award 2025
Lena Pilz, KIT
Metallic conductivity in MOF films
Combining automated synthesis, machine learning and theoretical insights scientists from
IFG
INT
and collaborators from Germany and Brazil achieved a
thin film of a metal-organic framework
(MOF) material that displays metallic conductivity of a type similar to graphene.
KIT Press Release (in German)
Laila Tkotz, KIT
Two successful Excellence Clusters with INT contributions
In May the
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
(DFG) announced the Clusters of Excellence that are funded for the period of seven years starting January 2026. The clusters
3D Matter Made to Order
(3DMM2O)  and
Post Lithium Storage
(POLiS) with significant INT contributions were successful in obtaining a continuation of funding.
DFG Press Release
KIT, A. Bramsiepe
Manfred-Fuchs-Preis for Pascal Friederich
Prof. Pascal Friederich
, Associated Group leader at INT, received the
Manfred-Fuchs-Preis
for junior researchers awarded by the
Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften
for his work on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for the development on new molecules and materials. His research allows to accelerate the discovery of materials for various applications.
Press Release Manfred-Fuchs-Preis 2025
Leslie Hawthorne Klingler
Horst Hahn joins University of Arizona
Prof. Horst Hahn
, former Executive Director of the Institute of Nanotechnology and KIT Distinguished Senior Fellow, began a new role as Special Advisor at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He will serve as the strategic architect for the university’s fusion energy research initiatives.
University of Arizona Press Release
KIT, Uni Marburg
Aromatic Bismuth-5 ring in a cobalt-based inverse sandwich complex
Researchers from KIT and the Philipps-Universität Marburg have isolated an all-metal aromatic bismuth ring sandwiched in a cobalt-based complex, defining a new era of aromatic compounds with potential applications in catalysis and electronic devices (
Nature Chemistry, 2025
).
KIT Press Release
Marco Schilling
Hector Science Award for Stefanie Dehnen
The
Hector Science Award 2024
by the Hector Fellow Academy for Stefanie Dehnen (INT) and Matthias H. Tschöp (TU München) honours outstand­ing research in the fields of inorganic chemistry and mater­ial research (Dehnen) as well as diabetes and obesity research (Tschöp).
KIT Press Release
Authors, KIT
Remarkable stability of Bismuth-18 clusters to oxidation
Researchers from the US, China and the KIT have studied negatively charged bismuth clusters and found a remarkable stability of Bi-18 clusters to oxidation despite the existence of an unpaired electron. It suggests a structural route to larger clusters with interesting electronic properties.
Science Advances, Vol. 10, No. 44 (2024)
KIT, JLU, Peking University
All-solid-state Lithium–Sulfur batteries with ultrafast charging
Researchers from KIT, JLU Gießen and Peking University demonstrated an all-solid-state
lithium–sulfur battery (ASSLSB) with a redox mediator that displays ultrafast charging capability, high specific capacity and an ultrastable cycling performance. This might pave the way to batteries with high specific energy, high safety and low cost.
Nature 637, 846-853 (2025)
Kurt Fuchs/HI ERN
Inverse Design of perovskite solar cells using AI
A closed-loop workflow that combines high-throughput synthesis of organic semiconductors to create large datasets and Bayesian optimization to discover new hole-transporting materials with tailored properties for solar cell applications was used to identify and synthesize a series of high-performance molecules.
Science 386, 1256-1264 (2024)
KIT, Anastasia August
Triple Science Slam success
Dr. Anastasia August
won first prize in three Science Slams at Eislingen, Heidelberg and Karlsruhe with her talk about harvesting solar energy by example of a polar bear, demonstrating her impressive talent in science communication. We congratulate Anastasia to her success and are proud to have her in the INT team.
Science Slam Eislingen 2024
Xuchen Wang and Harbin Engineering University
Towards Space-Time Crystals in Photonic Materials
Researchers from INT in the group of
Prof. Carsten Rockstuhl
and Harbin Engineering University showed that the momentum band gap of photonic time crystals can be drastically expanded by temporal variations in a resonant material. The resonance can emerge from a suitably spatially structured material like an optical metasurface, thus paving the way towards the first experimental realizations of photonic time crystals.
Nature Photonics
Jonathan Schneider, KIT
Metamaterial displays anomalous frozen evanescent phonons
By introducing connections beyond nearest-neighbor elements researchers in the group of
Prof. Martin Wegener
managed to design a metamaterial using 3D laser microprinting that displays anomalous frozen evanescent phonons to achieve nonlocal stress and stretching response which could be used for remote mechanical sensing.
Nature Communications 15, 8882 (2024)
KIT
Multiscale observations of grain rotation mechanisms in nanocrystalline materials
Researchers from INT
together with colleagues from the China, Colombia and the US have combined in-situ scanning transmission electron microscopy and atomistic simulations to elucidate the mechanisms of grain rotation in nanocrystalline Platinum.
Science 386, 49–54 (2024)
KIT
Symposium "Innovative Minds & Inclusive Science"
This symposium aims to honor the scientific achievements of Prof. Annie Powell on the occasion of her 65th birthday through presentations by long-standing collaborators and friends, recognizing her strong commitment to equality and diversity with respect to gender and ethnicity.
Symposium website
Chem4Quant
Proposal for Chem4Quant submitted
The newly proposed
Cluster of Excellence
Chemical Design of Highly Precise Quantum Architectures
(Chem4Quant) is a collaboration of
KIT
, the
University of Stuttgart
and
Ulm University
. It aims at quantum architectures with molecular structures to develop novel quantum devices and to implement first components for the future quantum internet.
KIT Press Release
3DMM2O
Renewal proposal for 3DMM2O submitted
The
DFG
Cluster of Excellence
3D Matter Made to Order
(3DMM2O) is a collaboration of
KIT
and
Heidelberg University
. It aims to establish scalable digital 3D Additive Manufacturing from the molecular to the macroscopic scale. This approach converts digital information into functional materials, devices and systems “made to order.”
3D Matter Made To Order web site
POLiS
Renewal proposal for POLiS submitted
The
DFG
Cluster of Excellence
Post Lithium Storage
(POLiS) is a
collaboration
of
KIT
Ulm University
, the
ZSW
and the
University of Giessen
. POLiS aims to develop the necessary new battery materials and technology concepts beyond lithium for efficient and sustainable storage of electrical energy.
Post Lithium Storage web site
Christine Liebhardt, Uni Ulm
Maximilian Fichtner received the Wissenschaftspreis of the City of Ulm, Germany
Prof. Maximilian Fichtner, Director of the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU) and since more than twenty years affiliated with the INT, was awarded the Wissenschaftspreis of the City of Ulm for his outstanding research on electrochemical storage and his contributions to scientific communication as an expert on this topic within the German speaking countries.
Chemie.de (in German)
Oliver Townrow
Liebig Fellowship and YIG Prep Pro for Oliver Townrow
Dr. Oliver Townrow will start his independent career at INT, funded by both the VCI Liebig Fellowship and the KIT YIG Prep Pro funded fellowship. The Townrow research group will utilise the direct method metal vapour synthesis (MVS) to target novel complexes containing metals across the periodic table in their zero-oxidation state. These will then be explored as soluble Single-Atom Sources to prepare functional organometallics.
KIT
Review on High-Entropy Materials applications
This review by a collaboration of INT scientists on the recent research on high-entropy materials highlights their emerging potential in energy and electronic applications, based mainly on the intrinsic features of the "cocktail effect" and the lattice distortions of these materials. The emphasis lies on ionic and covalent ceramic materials.
Nature Reviews Materials
Dr. Johannes Richers | Visual Science Communication
Cluster initiative Chem4Quant passes first selection round
The proposal "Chemical Design of Highly Precise Quantum Architectures" (Chem4Quant) was selected by the DFG expert council to enter a full proposal for the "Clusters of Excellence" funding line. The initiative by the KIT, the University of Stuttgart and the University of Ulm was headed for the KIT by
Prof. Mario Ruben
of INT.
KIT Press Release
Nature / AOC, KIT
Cyclocenes - rings of organometallic sandwich structures
In organometallic chemistry, so-called sandwich complexes always displayed linear chain structures. Now researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Philipps-Universität Marburg have formed multi-level sandwich complexes into nanoscale rings and named them  "cyclocenes". The work has been published in
Nature
KIT Press Release
Stefanie Dehnen, KIT
Stefanie Dehnen wins the 2023 RSC/GDCh Lectureship in Chemical Sciences
For her pioneering research on molecular multinary cluster nanoarchitectures for applications in catalysts, white-light emitters, and battery materials Prof. Dr. Stefanie Dehnen was awarded the Alexander Todd-Hans Krebs Lectureship by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh).
RSC Announcement
Queensland University of Technology
Christopher Barner-Kowollik awarded the 2023 RSC Centenary Prize
Prof. Dr. Barner-Kowollik won the Centenary Prize of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) for the development and photophysical understanding of precision macromolecular photochemistry, and for excellence in communication. He and his team developed the ‘action plot analysis’ to understand photochemical processes in the realm of polymer chemistry with never-before-seen precision.
RSC Announcement
Dr. Jens Bauer, KIT
3D printing of glass nanostructures
Using a hybrid organic-inorganic polymer resin as starting material the group of
Dr. Jens Bauer
succeeded in 3D printing of silicon dioxide nanostructures without the need of a high-temperature sintering process, as reported in Science (DOI: 10.1126/science.abq3037 )
KIT Press Release