• Highlights

    Since July 2022

    Head of Division 
    Established new Materials Modelling Division at BAM
    Link: https://www.bam.de/Navigation/EN/About-us/Organisation/President/Department-5/Division-55/division55.html 

    Since Mar 2018

    Heisenberg Fellow of the German Research Foundation
    On studying and designing heterogeneous microstructures 
    Link: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/392881047?language=en

    Feb 2022

    Selected as 2nd rank by the Search Committee
    Position: Professor of Micromechanical Material Modelling (W2)
    Faculty of Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering
    Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany

    Dec 2020

    Selected as 2nd rank by the Search Committee
    Position: Professor of Materials Simulation (W3)
    Faculty of Engineering, University of Paderborn, Germany

     

  • Professional Career and Educational qualification

    Professional Career

    July 2022 – present

    Head of Division Materials Modelling (B1)
    Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Berlin

    Nov 2024 – present

    Professor of Materials Modelling 
    Univ.-Professorship at Department of Physics, University of Münster 

    Mar 2018 – present

    Heisenberg Fellowship of the German Research Foundation
    Hosts: Max-Planck-Institute for Iron Research GmbH (MPIE), Düsseldorf and BAM

    Apr 2020 – Jun 2022

    Research Group Leader  
    BAM

    Aug 2017 – Mar 2018

    Senior Researcher
    MPIE

    Oct 2015 – Apr 2016

    Visiting Researcher 
    Korea Institute of Material Science (KIMS), Changwon, South Korea

    Jun 2014 – Aug 2017

    Research Group Leader
    Group: Solid-solid Interface Kinetics
    Interdisciplinary Centre for Advanced Materials Simulation (ICAMS)
    Bochum, Germany 

    Feb 2013 – Jun 2014

    PostDoc on multiscale materials modelling
    ICAMS, Ruhr-University Bochum (RUB), Germany

    Jul 2009 – Jan 2013

    Research Assistant (PhD candidate)
    ICAMS, RUB 

    Educational qualification

    Ph.D.

    Computational Materials Science
    Ruhr-University Bochum, 2013
    Dissertation: Grain Boundary Motion in Polycrystalline Materials 
    (Computational Thermodynamics &Kinetics, Multi-physics Multi-Phase-Field Modelling and Simulation, Microstructure Design, Alloy Design)
    Awarded ThyssenKrupp Innovationspreis


    M.Sc.

    Nanomaterials, 2008
    Dissertation: Thermodynamics of nanomaterials and their surfaces
    (Characterization techniques, Materials Processing, Molecular Dynamics simulation studies)

    B.Sc.

    Metallurgical Engineering, 2005
    Dissertation: Boronizing steels 
    (Physical, Mechanical and Processing Metallurgy, Transport Phenomena, Heat and Surface Treatments) 

  • Funded Projects

    2025

    Physics-Informed Neural Networks Framework for High-Throughput Multi-Phase-Field Microstructure Simulation (PI)
    German research foundation (DFG)
    Budget: ~250k (Euro) for 3 years 

    2024

    Mitigating grain-boundary decohesion during liquid-metal embrittlement in advanced high-strength steels
    (Lead PI, co-PI: Prof. Dr. Robert Maaß, Dr. Tilmann Hickel)
    DFG, Budget: ~250k (Euro) for 3 years 

    2024

    SFB 1394 "Strukturelle und chemische atomare Komplexität – von Defektphasendiagrammen zu Materialeigenschaften", Section C: Computational Materials Science, Solid State Physics, Thermodynamics
    (Partner and contributor, PIs: Dr. Tilmann Hickel, Dr. Jan Janssen)
    DFG, Budget: ~500k (Euro) for 3 years 

    2023

    Density-based thermodynamics model and open-source software for quantitative description of interfacial phases (PI)
    DFG, Budget: ~250k (Euro) for 3 years 

    2018 – present

    Studying and Design of Chemo-mechanically Heterogeneous Microstructures Using Full-field and Mean-field Modelling (PI)
    Heisenberg fellowship 
    Budget: ~300k (Euro) for 3+2 years, to be converted to a professorship.

    2014 – 2022

    Evolution of strengthening phases under in-service stresses and temperatures: phase-field and experimental study
    (Lead PI, co-PI: Prof. Dr. Birgit Skrotzki, BAM)
    2 projects in the DFG Priority Program 1713
    Budget: ~980k (Euro) for 2x3 years 

    2015 – 2018

    Sampling and Statistical Modelling of Heterogeneous Microstructures
    (Project leader, PI: Prof. Dr. Guenter Gottstein, RWTH Aachen)
    Budget: ~60k (Euro)

    2014 – 2017

    Microstructure Evolution in Metallic Alloys
    (Project leader, PIs: Dr. Chang-Seok Oh, Prof. Dr. Ingo Steinbach)
    International collaboration with Korean Institute of Materials Science
    Budget: ~240k (Euro)

    2014 – 2017

    Sino-German research project on microstructure evolution in Al-alloys
    (Writing the proposal and contributing to the project, PIs: Prof. Dr. Yong Du, Prof. Dr. Ingo Steinbach)
    Budget: ~100k (Euro) for collaborative visiting

  • Awards

    2025

    ERC Consolidator Grant AMASE for systematic investigation of defects

    2018

    Heisenberg Fellowship for research in microstructure design

    2014

    Novizenprämie Prize for early independent research grant in the Priority Program SPP1713

    2012

    ThyssenKrupp Innovationspreis for researches on the grain growth in polycrystalline materials

    2008

    Young Researcher Prize for research on the kinetics of nanomaterials 

     

  • Services and Review Activities

    Since 2022
    Symposium organizer and co-organizer within the International MSE Congress, Germany

    2023
    Symposium organizer of the 11th International Conference on Multiscale Materials Modeling (MMM), Czech Republic

    2022
    Workshop organizer, Grain Boundaries: Challenges and Opportunities, BAM, Berlin

    2016 – 2017
    Workshop co-organizer, ICAMS Advanced Discussions, RUB, Bochum

    Since 2021
    Editorial board of Journal of Materials Informatics

    Reviewer of npj Computational Materials, Acta Materialia, Scripta Materialia, Computational Materials Science, Materialia, Physical Review E, Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, of Journal of Materials Informatics, Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, etc.

    Proposal reviewer for U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation, USA.

    Proposal reviewer for U.S. Department of Energy, USA.

    Proposal reviewer for DFG, Germany.