Behind the research
We are a junior research group at the Institute of Energy Materials and Devices
(IMD-1) of Forschungszentrum Jülich. We want to understand how grain boundaries and
internal interfaces control the behavior of structural and energy materials - and how
their properties differ from those of the bulk.
Our team combines backgrounds in materials science, physics, and engineering. Students
join through Bachelor, Master, and PhD projects that pair advanced electron microscopy
at the Ernst Ruska-Centre with small-scale mechanical testing and materials synthesis.
Dr. Nicolas J. Peter
Junior Research Group Leader
Nicolas J. Peter leads a junior research group at the Institute of Energy
Materials and Devices (IMD-1) of Forschungszentrum Jülich. He studied materials science
at Saarland University and received his doctorate from Ruhr-Universität Bochum for work carried out
at the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung (now MPI for Sustainable Materials) in the
department of Gerhard Dehm.
His research combines atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy and
spectroscopy with micro- and nanomechanics to understand grain boundaries and internal
interfaces in structural and energy materials - from segregation and grain boundary
complexions to in-situ deformation, heating, and biasing experiments.
Our Alumni
Former group members and thesis students. We stay in touch - alumni are welcome back for visits, talks, and collaborations, and we are happy to support the next career step with references and contacts.
