Prof. Dr. Christoph Brabec
Person
Prof. Christoph J. Brabec is a researcher for photovoltaics and printable semiconductors (organic, inorganic, hybrid). He is one of the top 100 best materials scientists in the world and number 12 in Thomson Reuter's ranking. He is also the most cited scientist in his field.
Curriculum Vitae
- 2018 – 2023: Appointment as Honorary Professor at the University Groningen
- 2018 – 2023: Appointment as Director at the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg (HI-ErN), FZJ
- 2015 – 2017: Appointment as the Head of the Material Science and Engineering Department, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen Nürnberg
- 2013 – 2016: Appointed as Head of Board of ZAE Bayern eV
- 2013: Appointed as Speaker of the International Center for Nanostructured Films (IZNF) at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg
- 2010 – 2018: Appointment as Board Member of the Energy Campus Nürnberg (EnCN) eV
- 2009 – 2018: Appointment as Executive Board Member of the ZAE Bayern
- 2009 – ongoing: Appointment to the scientific director of the ZAE Bayern, Erlangen
- since 2009: Professor (W3), Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET), Materials Science and Engineering Department, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg
- 04/2006: Appointment to the CTO and Vice President at Konarka Technologies, Lowell, USA
- 2005: Appointment to the CEO for Konarka Austria and Konarka Nürnberg
- 08/2004: Appointment to Director of OPV at Konarka Technologies, Lowell, USA
- 2004 – 2009: Various positions at Konarka Technologies after a successful outsourcing of the organic photovoltaics activities from Siemens (PV research, organic semiconductor development, coating and printing process development, reliability, lifetime and product engineering)
- 2001 – 2004: Principal research scientist & project leader, Siemens Corporate Technology, Department Microsystems and Materials, Erlangen, Germany (solar cells, displays, electrochromic windows, photo- and X-Ray detectors)
- 1998 – 2001: Principal Investigator, CD Laboratory for Plastic Solar Cells, Linz, Austria (photovoltaics, printing and coating technologies, organic electronics)
- 1996: Sabbatical at the Institute for Polymers & Organic Solids at the University of California, Santa Barbara (Prof. Alan J. Heeger, Nobel laureate 2000 for Chemistry)
- 1995 – 1998: Research Assistant, Kepler University of Linz, Austria
- 1995: Promotion (Dr. tech), Institute of Physical Chemistry (Prof Schausberger, Prof Janeschitz-Kriegl), Johannes Kepler University Linz
- 1992 Physics Diploma, Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Theoretical Physics
Research Topics:
Development and investigation of solution processed solar cells, with a strong focus on the development of novel materials, investigation of microstructure and morphology formation in organic, hybrid and inorganic semiconductor composites and on fundamentals of thin film solar cells.
Development of low cost production technologies for semiconductor devices building on ultraprecision printing & coating technologies and ultrafast laser patterning.
Development of advanced optoelectronic devices for renewable energy applications like (i) 3rd generation solar cell technologies (ii) lighting and (iii) light management.
Development and application of non-destructive imaging methods for optoelectronic devices, like EL or IR imaging.
Development of combinatorial and high throughput methods for the discovery of energy materials and energy devices.
Renewable energy systems and components for energy generation and storage
- Renewable Energies
- Photovoltaics & Solar Energy
- Production of Semiconductor Devices by Printing / Coating Methods
- Combinatorial & High Throughput Research: Methods, Materials, Processes
1992 | Study of Physics at Johannes Kepler University in Linz |
1995 | Dissertation at Johannes Kepler University in Linz with the topic of "Rheological characterization of polymer blends". |
1996 | Sabbatical at the Institute for Polymers & Organic Solids at the University of California, Santa Barbara |
1995 - 1998 | Appointment to the position of an assistant professor at the Kepler University of Linz, Austria |
1998 - 2001 | Principal Investigator (PI) at the CD Laboratory for Plastic Solar Cells, AT |
2001 - 2004 | Principal research scientist at Siemens, Erlangen, Germany |
2003 | Habilitation at Johannes Kepler University in Linz |
2004 - 2009 | Various leading positions at Konarka Technologies in USA, Austria and Germany |
2009 | BW3 Professor for material science at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg – i-MEET |
2009 | Appointment to the scientific director of the ZAE Bayern, Erlangen |
2010 | Appointment as Board Member of the Energy Campus Nürnberg (EnCN) e.V. |
2013 | Appointed as Speaker of the International Center for Nanostructured Films (IZNF) at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg |
2015 - 2017 | Appointed as Head of the Department of Material Science at the Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen Nürnberg |
ab 2018 | Director at Institute of Energy and Climate Research – Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for renewable energies |
- "Inventor of the year" with the most patents in the field of organic photovoltaics (2005)
- Listed among the ten most cited scientists in the field of organic electronics / solar cells (2007)
- Member of the advisory board of the journal "Progress in Photovoltaics", which is published via the online library Wiley VCH (2010)
- Chairman of the board and founding member of the journal "Advanced Energy Materials", which is published via the online library Wiley VCH (2009)
- Member of the advisory board and founding member of the journal "Photonics for energy", which is published via the online library SPIE (2010)
- Place 12 of the 100 best materials researchers of the past decade (awarded by the Institut Thomson Reuthers) (2011)
- Member of the editorial board for the journal "Emerging Materials Science"(2011)
- 95 Patents