Prof. Dr. Christoph J. Brabec

Prof. Dr. Christoph J. Brabec

Prof. Dr. Christoph J. Brabec

Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Chair of Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology

Room: Room 367
Martensstr. 7
91058 Erlangen

Publication list

• 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

  • 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

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:

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 800 peer-reviewed scientific publications (h-index = 140 (Scopus), 141 (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€