Katalin Barta-Weissert
The research programme of the Barta-Weissert working group deals with scientific challenges that enable the transition from a linear industry dependent on fossil raw materials to an industry based on renewable resources. To this end, they are developing methods capable of integrating widely available sustainable carbonaceous material streams (such as renewable biomass, plastic waste) into the circular bioeconomy. Although the research group is deeply rooted in sustainable catalysis and green chemistry, it pursues a strongly interdisciplinary approach.
Katalin Barta-Weissert has been conducting research at the Institute of Chemistry at the University of Graz since December 2019. In addition to prizes such as the Innovation Award of the Province of Styria in the category "Sustainability" or the Austrian Phoenix Founders Award in the category Prototypes, she received an ERC Consolidator Grant in 2023 for her research in the field of sustainability in the entire life cycle of synthetic resins.
Leonhard Grill
Leonhard Grill has been a full professor of physical chemistry at the University of Graz since 2013. His research focuses on the imaging, characterisation and manipulation of single functional molecules adsorbed on surfaces using scanning tunnelling microscopy, typically at cryogenic temperatures and under ultra-high vacuum conditions. His research covers various topics in this field, from chemical processes in single molecules and polymerisation on surfaces to charge transport through molecular wires, molecular assemblies, operation of molecular switches and motors, cooperative phenomena in molecular nanostructures, molecular dynamics and microscopic reversibility on surfaces. 2017 his team won the first Nanocar Race. He was awarded the Seraphine-Puchleitner Prize (2021) and received an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (2023).
Wolfgang Kroutil
Wolfgang Kroutil's research focusses on biocatalysis for sustainable green chemistry. The aim is to develop the production of important products (medicines, flavour compounds, agrochemicals, polymers) in a more environmentally friendly and cost-effective way using as few chemicals as possible, ideally in water as a solvent and with proteins as a catalyst. Wolfgang Kroutil has been a university professor at the Institute of Chemistry since 2013 and heads the Synthetic Biocatalysis working group. In this interdisciplinary field of research, there are close collaborations with international research groups, international and Austrian companies as well as Graz University of Technology and the Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology (acib).
Philipp Spitzer
Since autumn 2020, Philipp Spitzer has been Assistant Professor of Chemistry Education at our institute. In addition to his work as a researcher, he now also hosts the podcast series - Treffen sich zwei...
The podcast series "Treffen sich zwei" presents interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary researchers and their projects. The scientists are interviewed by Philipp Spitzer, who, as a chemist, physicist and science communicator, may contribute even more perspectives.
Jörg Feldmann
Jörg Feldmann has been working at the Institute of Chemistry, Department of Analytical Chemistry, since 2020. The research activities of his working group include, for example, arsenic in rice, mercury contamination of birds of prey and whales, environmental toxins in wastewater, etc. The research areas cover a wide range of disciplines, from archaeology, geology, biology, pathology, medicine, food chemistry, environmental sciences to interactions with various industries, from the oil and gas sector to the food industry.