Interview with Matthias Arenz, Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Bern

Q: What are the main responsibilities of University of Bern (UB) within the project?

At UB we are responsible at synthesising novel high performing catalytic sites, i.e. the active phase of the water splitting catalysts, which in work package 4 are combined with the support materials to the final catalyst. The goal is thereby to minimize their content of critical raw materials while maintaining defined performance targets. For testing and confirming these targets, we have defined a common testing protocol that guarantees that the measurements the different partners carry out are comparable.

Q: How is UB coordinating the High performing catalytic sites?

A: The coordination concerning the discovery and characterization of high performing catalytic sites is greatly facilitated by the great management structure. In our bi-weekly Teams Meeting with the involved work packages we discuss the achievements of the last period and define the next steps. This guarantees a constant flow of knowledge and makes the coordination of the activities easy.