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Adolphe Merkle Institute

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The Adolphe Merkle Institute (AMI) is a research center in Fribourg, Switzerland focused on nanoscience.[2] The institute is named after the Swiss entrepreneur Adolphe Merkle who created the foundation that partially funded the institute.[3][4]

Adolphe Merkle Institute
Adolphe Merkle Institute
TypeResearch Institute
Established2008 (2008)
Academic affiliations
University of Fribourg
Faculty of Science and Medicine
DirectorUllrich Steiner
Academic staff
ca. 100 (as of 2021)
(45% women, 55% men)[1]
Location
Fribourg
,
Switzerland
Websiteami.swiss

History

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Dr. Adolphe Merkle, an entrepreneur from Fribourg, established the Adolphe Merkle Foundation in 2007 with the goal of strengthening research and teaching at the University of Fribourg. His contribution of 100 million Swiss francs[4] constitutes one of the most important private donations to support academic research in Switzerland.[5]

In 2008, the Adolphe Merkle Institute was founded under its first director, Prof. Peter Schurtenberger, formerly a professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Fribourg and then appointed as the chair of Experimental Physics and Nanoscience at the Institute.[6] He developed the vision of an interdisciplinary institute that focuses on soft nanomaterials and combines fundamental and application-oriented research. In 2010, Prof. Christoph Weder, who joined AMI as the chair for Polymer Chemistry and Materials in 2009, became director, serving until April 2022.[7] The institute appointed Professors Alke Fink and Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser as co-chairs of BioNanomaterials and Michael Mayer as Professor of Biophysics. Prof. Schurtenberger left the institute to establish a new group at the University of Lund, and Ullrich Steiner was appointed as Professor of Soft Matter Physics.[8][9] Steiner took over as institute director in May 2022.[7]

Since 2014, AMI is located on the University of Fribourg's Pérolles campus. The Institute is housed in two renovated buildings that were previously a private clinic[10] and an additional modern construction.[11]

Structure

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AMI is an interdisciplinary research center, focused on fundamental and application-oriented research in soft nano- and materials sciences.[12]

The institute is headed by an executive director and executive board, who report to a scientific advisory board and institute council. Administrative structures are said to be kept lean and AMI employs an industry liaison and technology transfer office for partners from industry and academia, dedicated personnel for EU project proposals and a communications officer.[13]

50% of AMI staff are doctoral students and 20% postdoctoral researchers.[1]

The emphasis on interdisciplinarity is also reflected in how the research groups are constituted.[14] They do not adhere to the traditional distinction of fields in the natural sciences but rather have interdisciplinary topics as their research focus.[13]

The principal investigators of the research groups have full professorships at the University of Fribourg's faculty of science. They teach at the Master's level but have a decreased teaching load in order to dedicate more time towards research activities at AMI.

Current Research Groups

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  • Polymer Chemistry & Materials (Prof. Christoph Weder)
  • BioNanomaterials (Prof. Alke Fink and Prof. Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser)
  • Biophysics (Prof. Michael Mayer)
  • Soft Matter Physics (Prof. Ullrich Steiner)[8]

Former Research Groups

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  • Soft Nanoscience 2008-2010 (Prof. Peter Schurtenberger)
  • Nanoparticle Self-Assembly 2012-2017 (Prof. Marco Lattuada)
  • Macromolecular Chemistry 2013-2018 (Prof. Nico Bruns)[8]

Research Activities

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Conference talk at AMI

AMI's research revolves around soft nanomaterials, such as such as nanoparticles, colloids, polymers, nanostructures, and nanopores, and emphasizes bio-inspired materials design,[8] stimuli-responsive materials, optical materials, energy materials, sensing, the detection of nanoparticles in complex media, and the investigation of the interactions of nanomaterials with biological systems.[9][15]

The Polymer Chemistry & Materials group is conducting research on stimuli-responsive or smart polymers, supramolecular systems, bio-inspired materials, nanocomposites, and polymer mechanochemistry.[16]

The BioNanomaterials group's research focuses on bioprinting, hazard assessment of nanomaterials, nanoparticle analysis[17] and nanobiomechanics.[18]

The BioPhysics group's research includes nanopores for single molecule analysis, bio-inspired voltage generation[19] and pore forming peptides.[20]

The Soft Matter Physics group is investigating and manufacturing nanostructured materials made by polymer self-assembly, energy materials for solar cells[21] and batteries, photonic and plasmonic effects arising from structured materials, bio-inspired materials and surfaces. [22]

In 2017 the institute had 33 active research projects.[1] Topics of investigation include color-generation in insects,[23] the effect of graphene on human lungs,[24] bio-inspired drug delivery,[25] record-breaking perovskite solar cells,[26] and electric eel-inspired energy devices.[27][28]

Education

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For the master's students there is a strong early focus on 'hands-on' work in the AMI laboratories as well as the opportunity to join one of the research groups for their master's thesis.

In 2015 AMI launched an interdisciplinary master's program at the interface of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology that emphasizes bio-inspired materials.[29]

A summer internship program for undergraduate students from universities in other European countries or The United States[30] is also present and is run in collaboration with the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) Bio-Inspired Materials of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF).[31]

Collaborations

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AMI is conducting both fundamental as well as application-oriented research in the field of soft nanomaterials, receiving part of its funding through industrial partnerships. In 2018 AMI spawned its first startup NanoLockin.[32]

NCCR Bio-Inspired Materials

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AMI is involved with and headquarters the National Center of Competence in Research Bio-Inspired Materials, an interdisciplinary center for research and education around materials inspired by nature.[33]

Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE)

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PIRE is a collaboration between AMI, Case Western Reserve University, the University of Delaware, the University of Chicago, and the University of California at San Diego. The program is funded by the National Science Foundations of Switzerland and the US. Its focus lies on developing functional materials inspired by desirable substances in nature.[34]

Plant-inspired Materials and Surfaces (PlaMatSu)

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The European Commission is funding PlaMatSu as an Innovative Training Network (ITN) under the Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions with nine PhD students at University of Fribourg (Switzerland) and AMI, University of Freiburg (Germany), and University of Cambridge. As industrial partners the ITN includes BASF SE (Germany), Fischerwerke GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), and Dr. Tillwich GmbH (Germany), as well as VDI - The Association of German Engineers and Wikimedia CH as communication partners.[35][36]

CityCare

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CityCare is another ITN funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions with three PhD students. The projects investigates the damaging effects of air pollutants on the skin.[37]

PATROLS

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PATROLS (Physiologically Anchored Tools for Realistic nanOmateriaL hazard aSsessment) is an international project funded by the European Union through the Horizon 2020 research and innovation program with the objective to develop tools and techniques to predict potential hazards for humans and the environment from engineered nanomaterials in order to minimize the necessity of animal testing and categorize nanomaterials according to their health and safety risks.[38]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Annual Report 2020" (PDF). ami.swiss. p. 17. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
  2. ^ "Article". The Economist. Vol. 389. 2008. p. 112. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
  3. ^ "Ein Visionär ist gestorben". bernerzeitung.ch. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
  4. ^ a b "Unternehmer und Mäzen Adolphe Merkle gestorben". Die Südostschweiz (in German). 2012-02-23. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  5. ^ "Un don exceptionnel de 100 millions de francs en faveur de l'Université de Fribourg". University of Fribourg. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
  6. ^ "Peter Schurtenberger, Professor | Physical Chemistry". www.physchem.lu.se. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
  7. ^ a b University of Fribourg (27 April 2022). "New director for the Adolphe Merkle Institute". University of Fribourg. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d Delaye, Fabrice (2013-10-28). "Quand la nature se met au service des nanotechnologies". Bilan (in French). Retrieved 2018-09-25.
  9. ^ a b Weder, C. (2018-11-15). "10 Years of Soft Nanomaterials Research and Training at the Adolphe Merkle Institute". Small. 14 (46): 1804141. doi:10.1002/smll.201804141. PMID 30430730.
  10. ^ "Conférence de presse annuelle: Inaugurer, consolider, fêter". Unifr | News (in French). Retrieved 2018-09-25.
  11. ^ "Adolphe Merkle institute - Ecole - Eglise - Architectes.ch". architectes.ch. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
  12. ^ "Mission". ami.swiss. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  13. ^ a b "Structure | Adolphe Merkle Institute | Université de Fribourg". ami.swiss. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
  14. ^ "Research groups". ami.swiss. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  15. ^ Möller, Martin; Hermann, Andreas; Groß, Rita; Diesner, Mark-Oliver; Küppers, Peter; Luther, Wolfgang; Malanowski, Norbert; Haus, David; Zweck, Axel (2013). Nanomaterialien: Auswirkungen auf Umwelt und Gesundheit (in German). TA-SWISS. p. 73. ISBN 9783728135599.
  16. ^ "Research". ami.swiss. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  17. ^ "Study finds nanoparticles in over one-quarter of foodstuffs". Swissinfo. 2018-10-23. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  18. ^ "Research". ami.swiss. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  19. ^ Electric eel batteries. Nature (journal). Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  20. ^ "Research". ami.swiss. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  21. ^ "Brillante percée dans le domaine du solaire". 20 minute (in French). 2018-07-23. Retrieved 2018-11-22.
  22. ^ "Research". ami.swiss. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  23. ^ "New color-generation mechanism discovered in 'rainbow' weevil". www.sciencedaily.com. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  24. ^ "Graphene's effects on the lungs". www.phys.org. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  25. ^ "How medicine literally gets under your skin". www.phys.org. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  26. ^ "Perovskite devices break new records". www.phys.org. 13 October 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  27. ^ "Generating power like electric eels". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  28. ^ "Electric eel-inspired device reaches 110 volts". www.phys.org. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  29. ^ "Specialized Master of Science in Chemistry and Physics of Soft Materials". ami.swiss. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  30. ^ "Americans in Switzerland: U.S. Interns Do Research on Bio-Inspired Materials | U.S. Embassy in Switzerland and Liechtenstein". U.S. Embassy in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. 2018-07-23. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  31. ^ "Undergraduate summer school". ami.swiss. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  32. ^ "Das Adolphe-Merkle-Institut hat erstmals ein Start-up hervorgebracht". Freiburger Nachrichten (in German). 2018-03-03. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  33. ^ "NCCR Bio-inspired materials". ami.swiss. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  34. ^ "PIRE". ami.swiss. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  35. ^ "PlaMatSu". ami.swiss. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  36. ^ "PlaMatSu". www.plamatsu.eu. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  37. ^ "CityCare". ami.swiss. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  38. ^ "PATROLS". ami.swiss. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
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46°47′34″N 7°09′17″E / 46.79278°N 7.15472°E / 46.79278; 7.15472

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