Mann im hellen Anzug und Brille

Scientific Ambassador Prof. Hans-Gerd Löhmannsröben

Hans Gerd Löhmannsröben is a professor of physical chemistry at the University of Potsdam. Prof. Löhmannsröben studied in Oldenburg, Göttingen and in the USA in Chapel Hill and held the Academic Chair of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry at the FAU (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität | Erlangen-Nuremberg) until 2000.

 

Audio Version

Prof. Hans-Gerd Löhmannsröben interviewed by Thomas Prinzler | rbb Inforadio

You are working at the juncture between two academic disciplines and you are dealing with the relationship between light and molecules. What are you researching?

I am interested in finding out what will happen when we allow electromagnetic waves, especially visible light, to interact with molecules. What exactly happens there? I'm interested in the use of lasers in the field of chemistry, but also in the environmental sciences and so on. What can I learn by using this unique light source? What can I achieve with it? What can I achieve if I use it in different academic disciplines, for example in the environmental sciences or even for medical diagnoses?

Is detecting Alzheimer's disease one of your goals?

When it comes to Alzheimer's, we still do not have a well-functioning early diagnosis method, which means that – in the worst case – Alzheimer's can be diagnosed only when brain tissue samples are available for direct analyses. Then, of course, it is too late. However, medical research has taught us that there are so-called biomarkers, which are biomolecules that can be found, for example, in the blood or in other bodily fluids. Their frequent occurrence might suggest an early stage of Alzheimer's – and this is exactly what we are researching. We are using laser spectroscopy methods to detect these so-called biomarkers in the blood. Of course, this can only be done in cooperation with many partners. For example, Berlin’s university hospital Charité is one of our medical partners – I myself have no medical expertise. We are currently carrying out an EU project. We are nine partners from seven countries, including Israel, Finland, etc. It is a highly interesting project indeed.

You've been in Potsdam for 12 years – why?

Oh, Potsdam is a very exciting science location. I came here in 2000. The construction of the Campus Golm was in full swing at that time. We are the first tenants of this beautiful building. In other words, a certain momentum was clearly palpable; there was a development process in the field of science with a pronounced upwards trend and I wanted to be part of it.

What can you research here that you might not necessarily be able to research elsewhere?

One important factor is certainly the unique research density. There used to be a saying according to which the density of scientists in terms of the number of scientists per inhabitant reaches the highest possible value here in Potsdam. Of course, that depends – as is always the case in the field of statistics – on cleverly choosing the framework conditions for the statistical analysis, but there is no doubt that we have more than 20 extramural research institutes in Potsdam alone. Many of them are our cooperation partners. To put it in a nutshell: We have more cooperation and network opportunities than we can really seize. There is no scientific research field that would interest me and is not already being covered in Golm, Potsdam or Berlin.

As a university professor you carry out basic research and as a Fraunhofer researcher you also deal with possible applications of your work – how important is this duality for you?

The close relationship between basic research and application research is very important to me. On the one hand, I want to thoroughly and comprehensibly work out the basics through research conducted at the university level, but I always want to also know what I can do with the results. This means that I'm thinking about how close they are to being used in real life. In this regard I enjoy cooperation very, very much, because it gives me the opportunity to interact with partners, e.g. from the business world, in my daily life; it allows me to notice when they are dying to deal with a certain topic, and to find out if I am able to help them. That is very important to me.

On the other hand, of course, I am also a university lecturer, which means that I am responsible for the training of my students, and here too I have to make sure that they will reach a level of qualification that will make them desirable at the job market.

What do you think are the disadvantages of the location Golm?

I really have to think about that for a while, and this is not merely coquetry. The advantages are obvious: we are a completely innovative location. To be honest, I can hardly think of any disadvantages. Of course, we have some structural issues within Brandenburg's university landscape; we have funding problems... But I have to quite honestly say that, for example, through project funding both at the state level and at the federal level and through EU projects we are given quite excellent working conditions. I know I still owe you an answer, but I can't think of any real disadvantages.

How important is Potsdam, or more specifically Golm, in your field – is Golm a known player in China or the USA?

It is slowly becoming one. Of course it happens time and again that I am asked: Where do you come from? And when I say Potsdam, I sometimes have to follow it up by saying that it is located near Berlin. The region as a whole – Potsdam-Berlin, Berlin-Potsdam – is being perceived as a science region. That goes without saying. But again and again I come in contact with people from the science sector and from the field of technology transfer that have Adlershof, Golm – our locations – on their radars and these people now what we are doing here.

What do you have to say to the world in your capacity as a scientific ambassador?

Oh that is a tough question. What do I have to say to the world? I try to shape the “added value” of education in such a way that we will end up with highly qualified and highly motivated graduates. This is an important future-oriented topic for a state such as Brandenburg and this is where I am trying to do my part.

What makes you stay here?

My working conditions here are really excellent. I am very proud of my team. All in all, we are a team of 40 to 50 people and we cover a broad spectrum of different academic disciplines – we have engineers and biologists as well as physicists and chemists. There's hardly any other place with such a broad spectrum and that's one of the main aspects keeping me here.

What are the framework conditions for your work? Which ones would you create if you could?

The most important factors we need are reliability and certainty. I want to know exactly how the next two years are going to be set up, perhaps even the next three to five years. I am talking about such things as a university development plan, programme funding or perhaps the lifting of the ban on cooperation at the federal level. If I know what the years will bring, I can adjust accordingly. That is what I mean by reliability and certainty being very important factors.

What is your vision for the future of the institute? For this technology location?

My vision includes the creation of a photonics centre; this would enable us to bring the unique laser properties to neighbouring disciplines as well, which, in turn, would provide us with a very powerful research centre. It is also still my vision to create a strong joint research centre, which would be visible on the federal and on the European level. We could do this by joining forces with extramural institutes, here on site, but also in Berlin and Potsdam.