Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) have been in the spotlight of scientific research for over a decade due to their remarkable properties and performance in solar cells. Their future relies on a deeper understanding of their fundamental properties, better control of their structure, and implementation by scalable deposition methods. While most research efforts are dedicated to the solution processing of MHPs, vapour deposition holds many benefits. It is a solvent-free, scalable method of high industrial relevance offering high throughput, homogeneity, material economy, safety, yield and controllability. Despite these clear advantages, the development of engineering approaches to precisely control the properties of MHPs by vapour deposition remains in its infancy. In PEROVAP, I will develop novel routes for engineering MHPs by vapour deposition and the fundamental understanding of their growth and crystallisation, thus enabling new material structures with tailor-made properties. I will establish structural control over the phase, orientation and microstructure of MHPs by additive engineering, and develop a new class of perovskite-organic hybrid semiconducting composites. I will also demonstrate efficient, controllable n- and p- electrical doping of vapour deposited MHPs and create graded MHP layers with tailored optoelectronic properties and energetic landscape. To realise this, I propose a unique combinatorial fabrication-characterisation methodology for their in-situ spectroscopic characterisation. This approach will allow to efficiently explore the multi-dimensional parameter space required to engineer the MHP properties, and enable the development of the fundamental understanding of the film formation processes. Finally, to reveal the structure-property relations, the engineered MHPs will be integrated in novel solar cell architectures. The approaches developed in PEROVAP will open a new path for MHP electronics and optoelectronics far beyond state-of-the-art.

The neocortex is a fascinating brain structure, as it is the seat of mammalian, and notably primate, higher cognitive abilities. In the primate lineage, different neocortex morphology, in form of size and folding differences, has evolved. The development of the neocortex, and particularly of the different neocortex morphology, depends primarily on the precise regulation of the activity and behavior of cortical neural stem and progenitor cells (cNPCs), a regulation that is primarily mediated by transcription factors. One of the largest transcription factor families is the C2H2 zinc finger transcription factors (C2H2-ZFTFs), which also significantly expanded during primate evolution. Previous studies suggest that these transcription factors could be important regulators of primate neocortex development and evolution. Here, I propose that differential expression of these C2H2-ZFTFs is one essential cause of the differences in neocortex morphology between different primate species. To address this hypothesis, I plan to first identify expression differences of C2H2-ZFTFs in cNPCs of different primate species by transcriptome analysis of fetal human, macaque, and marmoset neocortex. These differences will then be tested for a functional role in cNPCs using electroporation and stable genetic modification of brain organoids. Finally, for C2H2-ZFTFs with a functional role in cNPCs, the downstream gene regulatory network will be uncovered by identification of the indirect and direct targets using RNAseq and ChIP-exo of in vitro differentiated neural progenitor cells. This will lead to a better understanding of the role of C2H2-ZFTFs in the regulation of cNPCs, while also identifying their contribution to primate neocortex development and evolution that has led to different primate neocortex morphology. This is also likely to provide novel insights into the formation of cortical malformations (e.g., microcephaly or lissencephaly).

The Kitaev model on a honeycomb lattice has caused an abiding fascination due to its quantum spin liquid ground state, which is relevant to register information in matter and specifically for topological quantum computation. Here, alpha-RuCl3 is believed to be the prime material to-date to harbor such a quantum spin liquid phase. Recent studies from 2016 showed that a magnetic field can induce the highly desired quantum spin liquid state. As a new route towards the realization of this state in alpha-RuCl3, this research project will concentrate on tuning the magnetic properties by the application of hydrostatic pressure and chemical substitution. Their influence on the Kitaev-like interaction, the magnetic ground state, and the field-induced quantum spin liquid state will be studied by magnetization and thermodynamic techniques. During the time of his PhD, the applicant acquired a strong knowledge on magnetism and experimental skills in high-pressure and low-temperature measurements. This makes the applicant perfectly adapted for this research project, which will be conducted under unique conditions at the host institution. At the IFW Dresden high-quality single crystals and world-class experimental facilities (such as a unique pressure cell) are available. Via the solid experience of the applicant in high-pressure physics, this pressure cell will be improved to an even higher accuracy in the research project. The applicant will follow trainings to study research integrity, develop his own leadership, construct this career development plan and learn German to obtain a clear visibility to continue an excellent career in academic research. He will disseminate his results among the scientific community through publications in high-ranking scientific journals, and participation in conferences. He will also communicate them to the public through a Science Night. In the future, the obtained results will eventually lead to the realization of quantum computing.

Rapid care tests and patient-oriented bedsite testing, termed as point of care (POC) testing, have proven unanticipated relevance for the fast detection and containment of the pathogen in the course of the corona pandemic. We have developed RNA aptamer based sensors as a basis for a novel rapid care test. The sensor will give a florescent signal once the target molecule attaches to its aptameric site. The sensor as the main component of a novel POC test will be produced by a cheap and scalable biotechnological synthesis. The unique selling points of our invention are the cheap and scalable production of the sensor molecule and the high flexibility in terms of analytes that can be covered by aptamers. To proof our concept and to demonstrate the applicability of our aptamer sensors we will choose the avian influenza virus as an use case, based on the high relevance of this disease in veterinary medicine and its perception as a high risk disease for the next human pandemic. Our test will comply with the ASSURED criteria of the WHO: affordability, sensitivity, specificity, user friendliness, rapid and robust, equipment-free and deliverable to end-users Our aim is to establish a RNA aptamer based sensor as a basis for a cheap single-use test according to the ASSURED criteria. In this action, we will establish the applicability of our highly sensitive and selective RNA based sensor. We will devolop a prototype of a POC test and test the novel sensor principle under laboratory and environmental conditions. In addition, we will analyse the market and patent situation and the stepstones to be taken for an approval by the European authorities. We will finally establish our own IPR position as a basis for the further road-to-the-market.