Prof. Dr. Christoph J. Brabec

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• Research and development on organic and hybrid semiconductors, with a strong focus on the photophysics and transport properties of solution processed semiconductors.
• 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

Curriculum Vitae

since 2023: Spokesperson, Erlangen Research Cluster FAU Solar, FAU
since 2023: Spokesperson, HGF Initiative ‘Solar TAP’
since 2018: Honorary Professor at the University Groningen
since 2018: Director at the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg (HI-ErN), FZJ
2015 – 2017: Head of the Material Science and Engineering Department, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen Nürnberg
2013 – 2016: Head of Board of ZAE Bayern eV
2013: Speaker of the International Center for Nanostructured Films (IZNF) at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg
2010 – 2018: Board Member of the Energy Campus Nürnberg (EnCN) eV
2009 – 2018: Executive Board Member of the ZAE Bayern
2009 – 2021: 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: CTO and Vice President at Konarka Technologies, Lowell, USA
2005: CEO for Konarka Austria and Konarka Nürnberg
08/2004: 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

Professional Activities

Scientific Director, Board Member and Head of the Board of the ZAE Bayern e.V.
Spokesman and Coordinator of the Bavarian Research Project (Bavarian Ministry for Industry and
Technology): „Solar Factory of the Future, 2011 – 2016
Principal Investigator of the Excellence Cluster „Engineering of Advanced Materials“ (funded by DFG),
2010 – 2017
Principal Investigator of the Bavarian Research Project (Bavarian Ministry for Science & Education): “Solar Technologies goes Hybrid”, 2012 – 2017
Spokesman and Coordinator of the Bavarian Research Project (Bavarian Ministry for Industry and Technology) “Smart Grid Solar”, 2012 – 2017
Spokesman of the Interdisciplinary Center for Nanostructured Films, German Council of Science and Humanities (WBR), 2014 – 2018
Member of the Board of the Research Project “Energy Campus Nürnberg – EnCN, Phase 1 & 2) (2011-2021)
Member of the Advisory Board of PEC, Imperial College, London, UK (2014 – ongoing)
Member of the Advisory Board of AMBER (Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland) (2015 – ongoing)
Chairman or Member of Scientific Board of various magazines (Advanced Energy Materials – Wiley-VCH; Energy Technology, Wiley VCH; Progress in Photovoltaics – Wiley-VCH; Journal of Photonics for Energy – SPIE
Reviewer for multiple national and international research organizations as well as scientific journals

Honors & Awards:

2024 Ranked among the Top 1% materials researchers worldwide
(Thompson Reuters)

2023 Ranked among the Top 1% materials researchers worldwide
(Thompson Reuters)

2022 Ranked among the Top 1% materials researchers worldwide
(Thompson Reuters)

2021 Ranked among the Top 1% materials researchers worldwide
(Thompson Reuters)

2020 Ranked among the Top 1% materials researchers worldwide
(Thompson Reuters)

2019 Ranked among the Top 1% materials researchers worldwide
(Thompson Reuters)

2018 Ranked among the Top 1% materials researchers worldwide
(Thompson Reuters)
2017 Ranked among the Top 1% materials researchers worldwide
(Thompson Reuters)
2016 Ranked among the Top 1% materials researchers worldwide
(Thompson Reuters)
2015 Ranked among the Top 1% materials researchers worldwide
(Thompson Reuters)
2014 Ranked among the Top 1% materials researchers worldwide
(Thompson Reuters)
2013 Ranked among the Top 1% materials researchers worldwide
(Thompson Reuters)
2011 Ranked as #12 among the top 100 material scientists for the last decade (by ISI)
2007 Rated among the top ten cited researchers in the field of organic electronics / solar cells
2005 “Inventor of the year” with the highest number of patents in the field of organic PV

Student Supervision:

more than 40 doctoral theses, 110 master and bachelor theses

Publications

More than 900 peer-reviewed scientific publications (h-index = 140 (Scopus), 152 (Google Scholar))

98 patents (status espacenet)
special issues (guest editor Journal of Photonics for Energy, JMR)
several proceedings (E-MRS Straßbourg, session on organic photovoltaics)
3 edited books (Springer and Wiley VCH)

Grants & Research Contracts

Acquired or supported acquiring Bavarian, German, European grants and industrial contracts, among them large scale initiatives like EnCN, EAM Cluster, IZNF, SFB, SGS, SFF, during 2010-2019 about 80 M€