About us

Inside the World of Materials Research

The institute pursues a strong interdisciplinary approach by combining chemistry, physics, metallurgy and material sciences to develop new high-performance materials for use as high-tech structural and functional components.

The MPIE is structured into four departments:

DepartmentComputational Materials Design J. Neugebauer
  • Ab initio guided multiscale approaches
  • Design of compositionally and structurally complex alloys and surfaces
  • Methods and applications in microstructure evolution and defect phases
  • Machine learning, big data infrastructure and workflows for simulations and experiments
more
DepartmentInterface Chemistry & Surface Engineering M. Stratmann 
  • Electrochemical surface science
  • Catalysis and corrosion
  • High-temperatur reactions
  • Functional surfaces, interfaces, coatings and materials
more
DepartmentMicrostructure Physics & Alloy Design D. Raabe
  • Alloy Design
  • Micromechanics
  • Correlative atom probe tomography
  • Sustainable metallurgy
more
DepartmentStructure & Nano- / Micromechanics of Materials G. Dehm
  • Nano-/Micromechanics of materials
  • Grain boundary phases and properties
  • Advanced transmission electron microscopy
  • Thin films, nanostructured materials and intermetallics
more

Independent Research Groups 

Nanoanalytics and Interfaces
  • Energy materials
  • Efficiency and degradation
  • Imperfections in materials
  • Correlative microscopy
more
Electrochemistry and Nanoscale Materials
  • Materials electrochemistry
  • Electrocatalysis
  • Operando spectro-electrochemistry
  • Single entity electrochemistry
more

Interdepartmental Research Groups

External Partner Groups

All organizational units complement each other in terms of methodology and research focus and cooperate with one another as well as with colleagues worldwide. Our central research areas are highly interdisciplinary and combine the experimental and theoretical expertise of the Departments:
Advanced Materials
Microstructure and Properties
Method Development
Artificial Intelligence and Digitalization
Sustainability of and through Materials
Materials under harsh environments and their stability of surfaces and Interfaces

Besides the intra-departmental and external cooperation with other scientific organizations, the MPIE has well-established links with material and manufacturing companies mainly in the fields of structural and functional alloy design, advanced characterization methods in alloy development, surface functionalization, and computational materials science. These links are particularly valuable for the institute's development from a materials-oriented laboratory towards a system-driven institute that deals with complex materials in a holistic context including construction, production and the consideration of extreme environmental conditions. Current areas of growth with strong industrial relations are in the fields of hybrid- and electro-mobility, energy conversion and storage, renewable energy, health, hydrogen-based industries and computational materials science.

More about the Structure of the MPIE

Go to Editor View