Materials science and engineering benefit from research projects in related disciplines, especially when these aim to gain a deeper understanding of structure, function, and manufacturing or processing. Three new collaborative research centers funded by the DFG exemplify how physical, chemical, and mathematical approaches enrich the field.

At Freie Universität Berlin, the Collaborative Research Center “Heterostructures from Molecules and Two-Dimensional Materials” is investigating how novel nanomaterials can be produced in a targeted manner. Tailor-made organic and inorganic molecules are combined with 2D materials to create heterostructures with new properties. The focus is on modern spectroscopic and microscopic methods, supplemented by theoretical modeling and machine learning. The researchers want to not only understand the nature of these structures, but also predict them. In the long term, this should make new phases of matter accessible and enable new materials to be synthesized through modified reaction pathways.

A second consortium, based at the University of Bonn, is working on the “analysis of criticality.” Criticality occurs in many scientific contexts, such as stochastic growth processes or complex measurement procedures. However, a comprehensive understanding of the underlying structures is still lacking. The collaborative research center aims to change this and build a systematic model understanding across the boundaries of physics, life sciences, and materials science. This is particularly relevant for materials engineering, where sensitive transition states occur and have a decisive influence on material behavior.

The third collaborative research center, entitled “ChemPrint,” is based at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. Its goal is to make semiconductor materials printable in the future, thereby saving energy and resources. Instead of the classic gas-phase deposition, novel chemical syntheses on surfaces are to be carried out by means of liquid-phase deposition. In addition to developing suitable processes, the participants are also investigating defect structures and their influence on material properties.

Although all three collaborative research centers originate from related fields, they make important contributions to the further development of the fundamentals of materials science. They demonstrate how interdisciplinary research creates new methodological approaches and addresses current challenges in unconventional ways.