UniSysCat: ERC Synergy Grant for Peter Saalfrank and Partners

News overview

UniSysCat group leader Prof. Dr. Peter Saalfrank from the University of Potsdam.

Also this year, on November 5th, the European Research Council (ERC) awarded an ERC Synergy Grant to an UniSysCat researcher: Peter Saalfrank from the University of Potsdam is part of a team working under the acronym IRASTRO on „Quantum Dynamics in Low Temperature Condensed Phase Astrochemistry“. After Peter Hegemann (2020), Robert Bittl (2022) and Juri Rappsilber (2023), this is the fourth time that a Synergy Grant is awarded to an UniSysCat member.

Within IRASTRO, the experimentalists Alec Wodtke (University of Göttingen and Max-Planck-Institut für Interdisziplinäre Naturwissenschaften (MPINat), Göttingen), Liv Hornekær (University of Aarhus, Denmark), the electrical engineer Varun Verma from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (Boulder, Colorado, USA), and Peter Saalfrank (Universität Potsdam) as a theoretical chemist, work together to study chemical processes relevant for reactions taking place in atomic and molecular clouds in interstellar space, under extreme conditions of low pressures, darkness and very low temperatures. It was long thought that under these conditions, chemistry is basically absent or at most boring and slow, due to lack of thermal energy. However, meanwhile more than 200 molecules have been identified in interstellar clouds, among them complex organic molecules (COMs) – some scientists even believe that the „molecules of life“ could have their origin in interstellar space. The key to a rich, unexpected chemistry is on the one hand the presence of amorphous ice grains and other solid particles on and in which reactants adsorb or absorb and which catalyze reactions, and, on the other hand, the appearance of subtle quantum effects – notably tunnelling – to trigger reactivity. In particular, based on earlier work, the team proposes a prominent role of „resonance-enhanced heavy-atom tunneling“. The researchers will study, for model systems and model reactions in the lab under conditions close to those in interstellar space, the (infrared) vibrational response of single molecules and molecular ensembles as characteristic fingerprints of reactants and products in specific condensed-phase environments. From vibrational spectra, conclusions may be drawn on the effects of energy dissipation and their pathways, and on reactions and their (quantum) kinetics. This may help to further deepen our understanding of astrochemistry and to interpret data obtained by telescopes such as the James Webb Telescope, launched in 2021.

About the ERC and the ERC Synergy Grants

Established in 2007, the ERC is the European Union's main funding organization for frontier research. It funds researchers of all nationalities and ages to carry out projects throughout Europe. The ERC's total budget for the period 2021 to 2027 under the Horizon Europe research and innovation program is more than 16 billion euros. ERC Synergy Grants allow collaborations of two to four top researchers to pool their expertise and resources to tackle complex research questions. This year, the ERC is funding a total of 57 research projects through the Synergy program, with a total budget of around 571 million euros.