First Students at International Graduate School BACCARA

Cutting-edge research and education: Linda Quach and Valentin Göldner are the first two PhD students to start their work at International Graduate School for Battery Chemistry, Characterisation, Analysis, Recycling and Application (BACCARA). They are thus opening the 1st cohort of the new Graduate School founded in summer 2020 at the University of Münster (WWU).

Linda Quach and Valentin Göldner
© Linda Quach/Valentin Goeldner

Linda Quach works in the group of Prof. Dr Frank Glorius, Institute for Organic Chemistry of WWU, and dedicates her research to the design and synthesis of film-forming electrolyte additives for their application in lithium-ion batteries as well as to the development of novel methodologies for the photocatalytic transformation of organic molecules. Valentin Göldner focuses his doctoral thesis on the hyphenation of electrochemistry and mass spectrometry, the simulation of the oxidative phase I metabolism of xenobiotics and subsequent phase II reactions as well as imaging of electrode surfaces. He performs his research in the group of Prof. Dr Uwe Karst, Institute for Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry of WWU. The young research personalities are not only trained at the highest level in science and research, but also in scientific communication and other career-promoting qualifications.

Young researchers Linda Quach and Valentin Göldner represent a total of 45 talents who will benefit from the concentrated knowledge of renowned researchers in BACCARA over the next 5 years. More than 20 professors and heads of junior research groups from the Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacy, MEET Battery Research Center, Helmholtz Institute Münster and other WWU departments will be involved in BACCARA. The comprehensive programme covers a wide range of topics, covering the complete value-added life cycle of batteries.

Applications for BACCARA open again from January 2021

Dr. Kerstin Neuhaus, Managing Director of the International Graduate School, explains: “We had 85 applications from 20 different countries for the first cohort of BACCARA. Due to the current situation, the researchers are currently starting their work in the coming weeks and months step by step. The call for the next cohort is planned for January 2021. The International Graduate School is open to chemists and materials scientists of all disciplines. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia is funding BACCARA with 9.5 million euros over a period of five years.