3DMM2O News

Cluster scientists, including Postdoctoral Researcher Yi Chen, Doctoral Researchers Jonathan L. G. Schneider, Ke Wang and Sebastian Kalt, and Principal Investigator Martin Wegener, have studied the fascinating properties of frozen evanescent waves in elastic metamaterials. Their findings show how these waves enable unique material responses and challenge Saint Venant’s principle, suggesting forces can have long-range effects. This research, published in Nature Communications, opens new possibilities for mechanical sensing and material design.

Cluster researchers, including Doctoral Researchers Jannis Weinacker and Sebastian Kalt, Principal Investigator Martin Wegener, and Alumnus Maximilian Bojanowski, have developed the first two-photon 3D-printable plastic scintillator. This innovation enables micrometer precision and optical-grade surfaces, as demonstrated in the KATRIN experiment. While the light yield is below that of commercial scintillators, it provides the basis for advanced high-resolution detectors in particle physics and medical imaging.

We are delighted to announce that three outstanding researchers from our Cluster have been awarded the prestigious ERC Synergy Grants! Principal Investigators Christian Koos and Stefan Bräse from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Cluster Scientist Venera Weinhardt from the Heidelberg University secured this competitive funding for their innovative research projects. The ERC Synergy Grants support complex, collaborative projects that bring together several researchers to address major scientific challenges.

We are pleased to announce that registration is now open for The Future of 3D Additive Manufacturing – The 3DMM2O Conference 2025! Join us on 23-27 March 2025 at the beautiful Schöntal Monastery to learn about the latest advances in additive nano- and micro-manufacturing in optics, electronics and bioengineering. This time Jasmin Aghassi-Hagmann and Christian Koos from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Wolfram Pernice from the University of Heidelberg will bring together renowned scientists on this topic. Take advantage of our early bird tickets, available until 30 November 2024!

Explore the latest Special Issue of Advanced Functional Materials (Volume 34, Issue 20), featuring groundbreaking research from our Cluster of Excellence 3D Matter Made to Order (3DMM2O). This issue focuses on advances in digital 3D additive manufacturing, covering innovations from the molecular and nanometer scale to larger micro- and macroscale applications. The articles explore how these technologies are pushing the boundaries of engineering and the life sciences, offering new solutions to previously unsolvable challenges. Learn more about the future of 3D printing and the pioneering work of 3DMM2O.

Join the 4th Materials Day of the KIT Materials Center (MaTeLiS) on October 16, 2024 at the KIT Campus North. This event will bring together top scientists from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and beyond to focus on the latest innovations in self-assembling, adaptive, and biomimetic materials systems. The day will feature keynote presentations by experts such as Mr. Peter Hassenbach from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Prof. Jörg Neugebauer from the Max Planck Institute, and Dr. Frank Runge from BASF. Attendees will also have the opportunity to network and explore cutting-edge research through poster presentations. Registration is open until October 12, 2024.

A groundbreaking paper in organoid research, published in Nature Nanotechnology by Cluster Doctoral Researchers Cassian Afting, Tobias Walther, and Christina Schlagheck, along with Principal Investigators Ulrich Schwarz, Joachim Wittbrodt, and Kerstin Göpfrich, involves nanoengineered DNA microbeads that enable precise control of signaling in organoids. These microbeads enhance organoid development by providing essential biochemical cues. This technology is particularly useful for modeling complex tissues such as the retinal pigmented epithelium and holds promise for advancements in organ models, personalized medicine and disease modeling.

A recent Cluster publication introduced CART (Carrier-Based Actuatable and Reprogrammable Transport), an innovative system for remote manipulation of microcargos on both solid and liquid surfaces. Developed by Postdoctoral Researcher Nikolaj K. Mandsberg, Doctoral Researcher Julián A. Serna, and Principal Investigator Pavel Levkin, this technology revolutionizes miniaturized experiments in fields such as biology, chemistry, and diagnostics. By using a magnetic carrier to decouple the cargo from the substrate, CART overcomes traditional limitations and enables versatile, automated experimentation. Its flexibility provides a universal solution for interacting with different types of cargo.

A recent article in the Perspectives section of Nature Nanotechnology, co-authored by Cluster Principal Investigator Kerstin Göpfrich, describes the latest advances in synthetic immunology. This groundbreaking research examines how the integration of nanotechnology with synthetic biology is reshaping the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. The article highlights significant advances in the development of genetically engineered immune cells, such as CAR-T cells, and innovative bottom-up approaches that use nanoscale structures to target diseases with high precision. These advances promise to improve treatment efficacy and open up new therapeutic opportunities.

A recent paper published in Nature Communications, co-authored by PI Motomu Tanaka, presents an innovative water purification method inspired by plant proteins. The phytochelatin-inspired copolymers developed by the team effectively bind toxic heavy metals such as cadmium (Cd²⁺), providing a highly efficient and sustainable solution for water treatment. By attaching these copolymers to silica microparticles and cellulose membranes, the researchers have created a system that significantly reduces cadmium levels in water, paving the way for safer and cleaner drinking water.

A new study with Postdoctoral Researcher Steven Gauci and Principal Investigator Christopher Barner-Kowollik, published in Nature Communications, has identified a goldilocks zone of optimal photoreactivity. By precisely spacing photoreactive units in macromolecules, the research demonstrates how reaction efficiency and 3D printing quality can be significantly improved. These findings have the potential to revolutionize light-based manufacturing and advance the development of new photoresists.

A team of researchers, including Cluster Doctoral Researchers Clara Vazquez-Martel, and Elisa Genthner and PIs Martin Bastmeyer and Eva Blasco, extracted and functionalized microalgae lipids for use as inks in two-photon 3D laser printing. Microalgae offer significant advantages as 3D printing materials due to their reduced carbon footprint and superior bio- and cytocompatibility. Their CO2 fixation during cultivation and rapid growth make them ideal for creating sustainable, eco-friendly materials with promising applications in biocompatible implants and non-toxic 3D cell scaffolds.

Cluster Principal Investigator Prof. Dr. Eva Blasco has been selected as one of the winners of the 2024 Advanced Science Young Innovator Award.
The award recognizes outstanding interdisciplinary scientific contributions in materials science, physics, chemistry, medical and life sciences, and engineering through the development of research leaders. Eva Blasco’s work on creating smart functional materials with “life-like” properties using high-resolution 3D/4D printing has earned her this prestigious recognition. Congratulations!

Our Cluster Principal Investigator, Prof. Dr. Joachim Wittbrodt from the University of Heidelberg, has been elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) for his outstanding contribution to life science research. The international scientific organization honors researchers worldwide. Prof. Wittbrodt studies the development of fish embryos from the first cells to the differentiating organism. He combines state-of-the-art genetic, molecular and cell biology approaches, and his work has contributed significantly to the development of the CRISPR/Cas gene scissors. Congratulations!

Cluster Principal Investigator Prof. Dr. Kerstin Göpfrich receives the Alfried Krupp Prize 2024, one of the most prestigious scientific awards in Germany. The prize, which is endowed with 1 million euros, gives the winners freedom in research and teaching for a period of five years. Kerstin Göprich is a professor at the Center for Molecular Biology at the University of Heidelberg. She also heads a research group in the field of biophysical engineering at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg. Her research focuses on the construction of artificial cells from customized components. With her groundbreaking work, she aims to create an artificial model cell that will open up new ways of describing and harnessing the processes of life. Congratulations!

Cluster Principal Investigator Prof. Dr. Uli Lemmer was part of a research team at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology that developed a portable multispectral 3D camera using inkjet printing. This palm-sized camera captures both 3D spatial and spectral information in a single snapshot, which traditionally requires multiple devices or time-consuming scanning processes. By integrating AI, the palm-sized camera can accurately distinguish objects and materials based on their spectral characteristics. This innovation opens the door to a wide range of applications, from autonomous driving and consumer electronics such as smartphones to medical devices such as endoscopes.

Printing a new cornea during surgery to restore vision: This groundbreaking step in the fight against corneal diseases will be made possible in the future by a laser-based procedure using customized bio-ink. It was developed by researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) led by Cluster Principal Investigator Ute Schepers with the participation of Principal Investigator Stefan Bräse together with the companies Carl Zeiss Meditec AG and Evonik Healthcare. The project was awarded a prize in this year’s NEULAND innovation competition.

A new cluster publication with first author Niklas Schwegler has been published in Small. Postdoctoral Researchers Maria Villiou, Federico Colombo, Barbara Schamberger and Principal Investigators Christine Selhuber-Unkel, Franziska Thomas and Eva Blasco are also involved. The scientists developed a direct method to fabricate 3D microstructured cell-adhesive and cell-repellent multimaterials using two-photon laser printing. This method offers better molecular control, high customizability, and fast and precise 3D fabrication, suitable for a variety of applications, such as cellular studies in complex environments.

Register now for our summer program July 29 – August 2, 2024 and spend a week learning about 3D printing! Our Cluster is organizing a summer program for young women aged 13-19 once again. Participants will learn about the entire 3D printing process: From the creation of a CAD model to the printed part. By the end of the week, they will be able to produce their own small projects such as cell phone cases, key chains, name badges, holders and more. The summer program is held in German at the ZEISS Group Innovation Hubs on the KIT Campus North in Karlsruhe.

Our annual 3DMM2O Conference took place at Schöntal Monastery in April. A very exciting program was put together: In addition to the PIs and Doctoral Researchers, an excellent selection of invited speakers gave presentations. During the five-day conference, there were also plenty of networking opportunities and exchange during the poster sessions or the social program. Get some impressions of this year’s conference!

Cluster Alumnus Kevin Jahnke is second author and Cluster PI Prof. Dr. Kerstin Göpfrich is co-author of a pioneering paper published in Nature Communications. The research team succeeded for the first time in developing a ring of DNA nanotubes that could be used for artificial cell division. The results have provided new insights into the formation of DNA nanotube rings and the architecture of their contraction mechanism. Findings based on DNA-based contractile rings could be used to create artificial machines for dividing or contracting muscle-like materials.

A new Cluster publication by first author Dr. Pascal Kiefer addresses one of the key challenges of multi-photon 3D laser printing. The scientists have developed a new setup that allows printing speeds to increase 10-fold. The combination of the large array and fast scan speeds means that very large or small samples can be produced in large quantities at a high 3D printing rate. This opens up the possibility of new studies, for example in the field of respiratory drug delivery, where some sample requirements were previously unachievable.

In March, the Cluster members met for the yearly Winter Cluster Meeting at Kloster Neustadt. During the two-day event, there were presentations by Principal Investigators, insights into Postdoc Take-Off Grant projects, poster sessions and a lot of room for networking and scientific discussion. It was a great pleasure to see and talk to you!

The renewal application for the Cluster of Excellence 3D Matter Made to Order, which has been funded since the end of 2019, is entering the final round. The application must be submitted by August 22, 2024. In May 2025, the Excellence Commission, made up of the members of the expert panel and the federal and state science ministers, will make the final decision on which Clusters of Excellence will be funded in the future. Funding will begin on January 1, 2026 and will run for seven years. The aim of the Excellence Strategy is to strengthen Germany as a science location in the long term and to further improve its international competitiveness.

A recent Cluster publication by first author Young Scientist Federico Colombo introduces a novel 2-photon laser printing method for mechanically stimulating multicellular systems in 3D. This technique enables precise control over the mechanical environment of cells, allowing for a deeper understanding of their behavior and potential therapeutic applications. The findings pave the way for the development of novel tools and strategies for manipulating cellular behavior in a controlled manner, opening up new possibilities for regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, and drug discovery. Cluster PIs Joachim Wittbrodt and Christine Selhuber-Unkel were also involved in this paper.

A new Cluster publication in Advanced Functional Materials highlights the transformative potential of printed electronics for interfacing with biological systems, from single cells to organoids. The review article by first author Young Scientist Mahsa K. Saghafi summarizes the recent advancements in this rapidly growing field and showcases its diverse applications in biosensing, neural interfacing, and organ-on-a-chip technologies. The article resulted from the collaboration of researchers from KIT and Heidelberg University, including PIs Motomu Tanaka, Martin Bastmeyer, Christine Selhuber-Unkel, Ute Schepers, and Jasmin Aghassi-Hagmann.

A new review article by first author Cluster Young Scientist Paul Somers discusses the physics of 3D printing with light. The article published in the journal “nature reviews physics” focuses on the physics underlying optics-based approaches, including interference lithography, tomographic volumetric additive manufacturing, stereolithography, continuous liquid-interface printing, light-sheet printing, parallelized spatiotemporal focusing and (multi-)focus scanning. It depicts the challenges to make 3D printing ‘finer’, ‘faster’, ‘more’ (i.e. to largely expand the possibilities of multi-material printing), and ‘less expensive’. Cluster alumnus Alexander Münchinger and PI Martin Wegener were also involved in this publication.

Multi-photon 3D laser printing, also known as direct laser writing (DLW), has revolutionized the fabrication of complex microstructures. A new review by co-first authors Cluster Young Scientists Philipp Mainik and Christoph Spiegel as well as PI Eva Blasco highlights recent advances in the field, with a focus on the use of active materials. The review published in Advanced Materials provides a comprehensive overview of the latest advances and challenges, and it offers insights into the future of the field, covering a wide range of topics, including applications in microrobotics, optics and photonics, microfluidics, and life sciences.

You can now register for the 3DMM2O Conference 2024 – Future 3D Additive Manufacturing on the topic 3D Cellular Systems: Synthetic Environments, Mechanobiology & Organoids. It will take place from April 7 to April 11 in the baroque Schöntal Monastery, Germany (near Heilbronn) and aims at bridging the gap between advanced biomaterials design and its application in biological research. Conference chairs are Martin Bastmeyer (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, KIT), Kerstin Göpfrich (Heidelberg University), and Ulrich Schwarz (Heidelberg University). Early bird tickets are available until November 30!

Cluster PI and Spokesperson Martin Wegener received the prestigious MOC Award from the Japan Society of Applied Physics / Microoptics Research Group for his pioneering contributions to the research on 3D additive manufacturing of metamaterials. The award ceremony took place during the 28th Microoptics Conference on September 25, 2023, at the Seagaia Convention Center, Mayazaki, Japan. Prof. Wegener gave a plenary talk about the status and perspectives of 3D laser micro- and nanoprinting beforehand. Congratulations!

We warmly welcome T.T.-Prof. Dr. Pascal Friederich and Prof. Gáspár Jékely as new Associate Principal Investigators in our Cluster! Pascal Friederich is head of the research group “Artificial Intelligence for Materials Sciences” at the Institute of Theoretical Informatics and associated group leader at the Institute of Nanotechnology, both at KIT. Gáspár Jékely is Professor of Molecular Organismal Biology at the Centre for Organismal Studies of Heidelberg University and head of the department “Evolutionary Neurobiology”. We wish both of them a good start in our Cluster and look forward to fruitful collaboration.

In a recent Cluster publication by first author Young Scientist Steven Gauci, the authors review the current status, challenges, and opportunities of photochemically activated 3D printing inks. The publication published in Advanced Materials is a collaboration of Heidelberg University, KIT, and the QUT Centre for Materials Science. Besides second author Young Scientist Aleksandra Vranić, who also strongly contributed to the paper, Cluster PIs Eva Blasco, Stefan Bräse, Martin Wegener, and Christopher Barner-Kowollik were involved.

Cluster PI Stefanie Dehnen was elected president of the German Chemical Society (GDCh) for the years 2024/2025. The election took place during the board meeting of the GDCh Science Forum Chemistry 2023 in Leipzig. The GDCh is the largest chemical society in continental Europe with over 30,000 members from academia, education, industry, and other areas. Its mission is to support chemistry in teaching, research, and application and to promote the understanding of chemistry in the public. Congratulations!

From August 27 to September 1, the HEiKA Summer Science Academy 2023 took place at the Black Forest hotel “Zuflucht”. Interested master students had the opportunity to learn from Cluster PIs, leading experts in the field of 3D Materials and Applications, about topics ranging from new 3D printing strategies to optoelectronic devices, microscopy and spectroscopy, and hybrid organoid systems. In addition to the lectures and workshops, the students also had the chance to explore the Black Forest, share ideas, and network with their peers. Thank you to everyone who made this event possible, especially the lecturers and organizers.

From the Stone Age to the Metamaterial Age? A recent Cluster publication with PI Martin Wegener published in the IOP journal “Reports on Progress in Physics” summarizes the conceptual as well as experimental state-of-the-art of mechanical metamaterials, including different functional architectures, dimensions, and length scales, ranging from below one micrometer to tens of meters. The review addresses an approach that is based on creating artificial atoms with designed and tailored properties, allowing for desired behavior and functionalities of the artificial amorphous arrangements.

Cluster Principal Investigator Jasmin Aghassi has been appointed member of the editorial board of the IEEE Journal on Flexible Electronics (J-FLEX) on July 2023. The journal publishes cutting edge research covering all aspects of sensors, transistors, related devices, circuits, systems on flexible, disposable, stretchable and degradable substrates. Since 2022, she is also executive editorial board member of the IOP Journal Flexible and Printed Electronics (FPE). We congratulate her and wish her much success for this new responsibility.

First author Young Scientist Britta Weidinger presents new self-assembled printable materials based on a novel ink, enabling precise control of the nanostructure in 3D in a new Cluster publication. The ink developed by the researchers of Heidelberg University and KIT is suitable for high-resolution two-photon 3D printing and based on self-assembled block copolymers containing photo-cross-linkable groups. The authors including PIs Petra Tegeder, Rasmus Schröder and Eva Blasco expect their versatile approach to create new avenues for the precise design of functional polymer materials suitable for high-resolution 3D printing exhibiting tailor-made nanostructures.

A recent Cluster publication with participation of Associate PI Wolfram Pernice paves the way for controllable integrated photonic circuits. By using heterogeneous integration of electroluminescent, semiconducting carbon nanotubes into hybrid two dimensional – three dimensional (2D-3D) photonic circuits, the authors overcome existing challenges of emerging photonic information processing systems. The paper titled “An electroluminescent and tunable cavity-enhanced carbon-nanotube-emitter in the telecom band” was published in the renowned scientific journal nature communications.

In a recent publication that resulted from the collaboration of Heidelberg University and KIT, first authors Cluster Young Scientists Natalie Munding and Magdalena Fladung designed and manufactured microstructured bio-metamaterials that influence the behaviour of mesenchymal stem cells. The metamaterials they designed and manufactured based on a silicon elastomer-like photoresist and two-photon laser printing can create surfaces that can be used to control the behavior of stem cells in a precise and controlled manner. This could lead to the development of new tissue engineering therapies for a variety of diseases.

The General Assembly of the Cluster 3DMM2O has confirmed the election of Principal Investigator Christine Selhuber-Unkel as new Cluster Spokesperson for Heidelberg University. Prof. Selhuber-Unkel, former Deputy Spokesperson, will follow PI Jochen Wittbrodt. We are grateful for his high efforts as Spokesperson in the last three years. Principal Investigator Eva Blasco becomes Deputy Spokesperson for Heidelberg University. We warmly welcome her to the Executive Board and wish her and Christine Selhuber-Unkel all the best for their new responsibilities!

A new Cluster publication with the participation of seven Cluster PIs provides a nice overview of 3D architected pyrolytic carbon produced by additive micro- and nanomanufacturing. The review by first author Yolita Eggeler discusses the recent advances in the additive manufacturing of 3D pyrolytic carbon structures and the different techniques that can be used to produce them. It also discusses the properties of 3D pyrolytic carbon structures and the applications of this highly porous, high-performance material in a variety of industries, including aerospace, automotive, energy, and biomedicine.

The review on Engineered Living Carbon Materials by first author Cluster Young Scientist Monsur Islam and PIs Christine Selhuber-Unkel and Jan Korvink was published in the journal “Matter” of Cell Press with an impressive impact factor of about 20. The article emphasizes the potential of Hybrid Living Carbon Materials (HLCMs) by reviewing currently available examples of HLCMs, identifying current challenges, and proposing a methodology for HLCMs. These HLCMs can exhibit revolutionary potential in a plethora of applications, ranging from biomedical and biotechnological applications to space exploration.

The exhibition of the Cluster 3DMM2O moves for a limited time from theIMSEAMto the FoF4Core Facility for Neuroscience of Self-Regulation (CNSR)(Hauptstr. 47-51) in the Old Town of Heidelberg. The exhibition aims to share the fascinating research of the Cluster with the public and takes place in cooperation with the City of Heidelberg as part of the event series “Science in the City”. During the week of July 10 – 21, our Young Scientists will offer free tours of the exhibition Monday through Friday from 2:00 – 6:00 pm. In addition to that, workshops on different 3D printing topics will be held every Thursday from July 6 – 27 from 4:00 – 6:00 pm.

Cluster Young Scientists Cassian Afting and Tobias Walther have both been selected to participate at the 72nd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. The meeting, which will take place from 25 to 30 June 2023, is dedicated to the discipline of physiology/medicine. 635 young scientists from all over the world have been invited to the conference. Not only lectures, talks and panel discussions await the selected participants, but also personal exchange with Nobel laureates and other young scientists. The Carl Zeiss Foundation has nominated both of them for participation. Congratulations!

Cluster PI Christine Selhuber-Unkel receives the Lautenschläger Research Award endowed with 250,000 euros as an internationally outstanding representative of the innovative research field of Molecular Systems Engineering. The prize is awarded every two years for special achievements in cutting-edge research. Prof. Selhuber-Unkel conducts research at the interface of materials science and biophysics on biohybrid life-inspired microsystems and is pursuing the goal of linking synthetic systems made of molecular building blocks with living cells. The festive award ceremony of the highest endowed research prize of a private donor in Germany will take place on June 22, 2023.

Cluster Young Scientist Christian Rainer received the Outstanding Student Poster Award out of 46 posters presented at the 2023 European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) Spring Meeting in Strasbourg for his poster entitled “High-resolution patterning of doping in semiconducting polymer films by non-resonant laser excitation”. Christian conducts research on the fabrication of laser assisted additive and subtractive inkjet printed photonic devices and materials at the Light Technology Institute of the KIT. Congratulations!

The Young Scientist Retreat 2023 has once again offered the Young Scientists of the HEiKA Graduate School on Functional Materials the opportunity to connect, exchange ideas and discuss their research results. At this year’s team building event, they had to work closely together to successfully build suspension bridges. New impulses for research, collaboration and general improvements of the Cluster resulted from different workshops. And although many good posters were presented, in the end Tobias Abele, Magdalena Fladung and Clara Vazquez-Martel received the award from the postdoctoral researchers.

In a recent Cluster publication, first author Young Scientist Kai Xia combines Digital Light Processing (DLP) technology and inkjet printing to fabricate customized 3D conductive structures. The results shown in this publication on electrical conductivity and photodetection in 3D printed nanoporous structures via solution-processed functional materials are a promising step towards the fabrication of complex systems. The authors, including PIs Peter Gumbsch, Uli Lemmer, Yolita Eggeler, Pavel Levkin, and Gerardo Hernandez-Sosa, expect that the utilized approach could be applicable to the additive integration of other types of functional 3D printed optoelectronic devices and sensors.

The Heidelberg Karlsruhe Strategic Partnership HEiKA in collaboration with the Cluster 3DMM2O invites interested Master students to the HEiKA Summer Science Academy 2023 on 3D Materials and Applications. The event will take place from August 27 to September 1 at the Hotel Zuflucht in the Black Forest, Germany. There will be daily workshops and lectures presented by Cluster PIs on topics reaching from new 3D printing strategies to optoelectronic devices, microscopy and spectroscopy, and hybrid organoid systems. Of course, there will also be many opportunities to network, share ideas and explore exciting future research opportunities.

This year, different research groups of the Cluster 3DMM2O offered again a variety of workshops for young female students as part of the Girls’Day 2023. At the IMSEAM of Heidelberg University, the students 3D printed materials on the micro and nanometer scale, examined different biological samples with a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and experimented with proteins. They were supervised by the groups of PIs Franziska Thomas, Eva Blasco and Rasmus Schröder. The girls also learned about 3D printing at the KIT and got hands-on experience on how to get from an idea to the final product.

We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Wolfram Pernice and Prof. Dr. Moritz Kreysing as new Associate Principal Investigators in our Cluster! Wolfram Pernice is leader of theNeuromorphic Quantumphotonics groupat the Kirchhoff Institute for Physics (KIP) of Heidelberg University and currently Fellow of the Marsilius Kolleg. Moritz Kreysing is Professor forBiophotonics in the Life Sciencesand head of theBiophysical Information Processing departmentof the KIT. He is alsogroup leaderat the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics and Principle Investigator at the Karlsruhe School of Optics and Photonics. We wish both of them a good start in our Cluster and look forward to fruitful collaboration.

The state agency “BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg” has published an article about the research of Cluster PI Eva Blasco and her group on printed intelligent 4D polymers. It illuminates the possible applications of the programmable polymer materials with lifelike properties in the medical sector, e.g., for implants, self-healing tissue or microrobotics. Prof. Blasco and her team at the Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials at Heidelberg University managed to produce microscopically small 4D structures from intelligent polymers that can be tailored to individual requirements.

The research group of Cluster PI Uli Lemmer at the Light Technology Institute of KIT demonstrates at the Hannover Messe 2023 how optical filters and dielectric mirrors can be manufactured in a customized, cost-effective, and energy-saving way via inkjet printing. They present their new manufacturing process based on new materials and inks from April 17 to 21 at their booth. The researchers see a high demand for the printed filters and mirrors in medicine, metrological devices, telescopes and microscopes, camera systems, sensor systems and solar panels.

The Cluster publication “Multi-Photon 4D Printing of Complex Liquid Crystalline Microstructures by In Situ Alignment Using Electric Fields” from 2021 by first author Young Scientist Alexander Münchinger is among the most downloaded articles in the journal Advanced Materials Technologies. The approach presented in the paper enables the making of 3D micro-heterostructures operating under ambient conditions that show large-amplitude elastic actuation, with temperature serving as the stimulus. Also involved in this publication were Cluster PIs Carsten Rockstuhl, Eva Blasco and Martin Wegener.

Cluster PI Uli Lemmer is one of the awardees of the European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant. His project “Origami inspired thermoelectric generators by printing and folding” will receive 2.4 million euros in funding over the next five years. With this project, he wants to develop and test a cost-effective and scalable process for manufacturing thermoelectric generators (TEGs). TEGs convert ambient heat directly into electrical energy, offering for example great potential for recovering unused waste heat. With the ERC Advanced Grants, the European Research Council funds established top researchers with an outstanding scientific record who want to open up new research areas.

A recent Cluster publication in Advanced Materials with participation of PI Eva Blasco and Christopher Barner-Kowollik introduces the first example where 3D structures consisting of both degradable and non-degradable segments can be printed via direct laser writing (DLW) from a single photoresist based on a light-stabilized dynamic material. The authors were able to selectively toggle between stable and fully degradable structures, simplifying the direct laser writing manufacturing process of multi-functional materials significantly, which typically requires the use of separate resists and consecutive writing efforts to achieve degradable and non-degradable material sections.

At this year’s 3DMM2O Conference – Future 3D Additive Manufacturing three posters by Young Scientists were acknowledged with an award endowed at 500 euros each. The evaluation was carried out by external speakers on the basis of visual impression, content and presentation of the poster. The winners are Barbara Schamberger, Maria Villiou (both PI Christine Selhuber-Unkel) and Britta Weidinger (PI Eva Blasco). Congratulations!

First author Young Scientist Pariya Nazari presents the realization of a highly sensitive and highly compliant microfiber strain sensor for high-resolution and real-time Li-ion battery thickness monitoring in a new Cluster publication published in Advanced Materials. The good dynamic strain sensing properties, lightweight, miniature form factor and high durability suggest that this economic and simple approach offers promising pathways for in-situ lithium-ion battery thickness monitoring applications. The publication is the result of a close collaboration between Heidelberg University and KIT. Also involved were PIs Jasmin Aghassi-Hagmann, Gerardo Hernandez Sosa and Uli Lemmer.

A new Cluster publication on laser printed microelectronics resulted from the strong collaboration between Heidelberg University and KIT. The paper by first author Young Scientist Liang Yang introduces laser printing with three different inks (zink oxide, platinum and silver) as a facile process for fabricating printed functional electronic devices with minimum feature sizes below 1 µm. The research has potential implications for the development of sensors, bioelectronics, and security applications. Four Principal Investigators were involved in this publication published in Nature Communications.

Cluster Young Scientist Monsur Islam has been awarded the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship for his project on 3D Printing of pyrolytic and graphitic Carbon. The project will be hosted at the IMDEA Materials Institute in Madrid, Spain. The Fellowship targets researchers holding a PhD who wish to carry out their research activities abroad, acquire new skills and develop their careers. It helps researchers gain experience in other countries, disciplines and non-academic sectors.

The Cluster 3DMM2O is now also present on Instagram! With Instagram we try to reach a younger audience interested in our research with different formats. Following an edutainment approach, we will explain interesting topics surrounding additive manufacturing and give vivid insights into our work. To allow a more personal approach and connection to our Cluster, a focus will also be on presenting the researchers involved.

A new Cluster publication resulted from a collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research demonstrates how holographic sound fields enable rapid prototyping of matter in 3D. PI Peer Fischer is one of the authors who succeeded in the one-step assembly of matter using acoustic forces. In theirpaper published in Science Advancesthey combine multiple holographic sound fields to drive the contactless assembly of solid microparticles, hydrogel beads, and biological cells. Since conventional methods are slow and apply mechanical or chemical stress on biological cells, the results are especially promising for biofabrication.

The third 3DMM2O Conference – Future 3D Additive Manufacturing starts soon! The conference on the topic 3D Molecular Systems takes place at Schöntal Monastery near Heilbronn from March 12 to 16. It aims at linking Molecular Materials with 3D Hybrid Organotypic Systems. International experts in the fields of materials, molecular self-assembly, and (bio)nanomaterials design and characterization will give exciting talks and presentations.

The Cluster of Excellence 3DMM2O has a permanent exhibition at the Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials. The exhibition was officially opened on February 2 with a vernissage for invited guests. It is composed of different stations with various exhibits. Visitors are able to explore 3D printed nanostructures as well as pictures and canvases with selected research illustrations. An interactive touch screen conveys further information about the Cluster and shows media from the research groups involved.

Cluster PI and Executive Board Deputy Christine Selhuber-Unkel has been appointed scientific member of the National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech). She was elected into the Academy at the General Assembly based on the strength of her research accomplishments and reputation. Acatech members bring their scientific expertise to bear in advising policy makers and society.

Cluster Principal Investigator Eva Blasco was recently appointed W3 professor by the Heidelberg University. The research of her lab at the Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials is located at the interface of organic chemistry, material sciences and optics with a focus on the development of new polymer-based functional materials with application in 4D printing. Her Inaugural Lecture about this topic will be part of our Public Lecture Series and take place on January 11. We congratulate her sincerely and invite everyone to join us on Wednesday!

In a new Cluster collaboration, first author Young Scientist Vincent Hahn reviews three promising alternatives to Two-Photon Absorption: Upconversion Luminescence, Two-Step Absorption and Triplet–Triplet Annihilation. All of those emerging excitation processes the authors termed “(1+1)-Photon Absorption” allow the use of continuous-wave lasers at much lower peak laser powers and at much lower cost than those typical for Two-Photon Absorption. The paper also sheds light on current challenges and opportunities in 3D Laser Printing based on (1+1)-Photon Absorption as well as future perspectives.

Cluster Young Scientist Vincent Hahn is one of the winners of the 15th KIT Doctoral Award of the year 2021/2022 for his efforts on making 3D Laser Micro- and Nanoprinting faster, finer and more affordable. With this award, the KIT honors outstanding doctoral researchers. The award ceremony will be part of the President’s Banquet on July 22, 2023. Vincent Hahn conducts his research in the group of PI Martin Wegener at the Institute of Applied Physics. Find all of his fascinating publications on 3D Laser Micro- and Nanoprintinghere.

In a new Cluster publication, first author Cluster Alumnus Maximilian Bojanowski together with Young Scientists Vincent Hahn, Pascal Rietz, Tobias Messer, Julian Brückel and PIs Christopher Barner-Kowolloik, Eva Blasco, Stefan Bräse and Martin Wegener systematically explores alternatives to the few already reported one- and two-color two-step-absorption photoinitiators for 3D laser nanoprinting. The aspect of their work they find most interesting regarding future possibilities is that rotationally locked diketones open the door to depletable two-step absorption initiators. On this basis, inexpensive and compact setups based on continuous-wave lasers come into reach that systematically break the optical diffraction barrier in 3D laser printing.

Cluster PIs Kerstin Göpfrich and Daniela Duarte Campos are among the winners of the European Research Council (ERC) 2022 Starting Grant that is being awarded to excellent young scientists for their promising ideas and research projects. With this grant, Prof. Göpfrich funds her project “From engineering to evolution of synthetic cells with RNA origami” and Jun.-Prof. Duarte Campos her research on surgical optogenetic bioprinting of engineered cardiac muscle. The ERC is the premier European funding organisation for excellent frontier research and funds creative researchers of any nationality and age, to run projects based across Europe.

On November 23, our new Public Lecture Series “3D Matter Made to Order” starts with a lecture by Principal Investigator Jochen Wittbrodt about the potential and limitations of Retinal Organoids. Within this series, different Cluster PIs explain the research in their groups and present previous successes to a wider audience. It takes place regularly on Wednesdays at the Centre for Organismal Studies at Heidelberg University from 4.30 pm to 6.00 pm. Participation online is possible after registration on the page linked below.

Cluster Principal Investigator Kerstin Göpfrich was recently appointed as W3 Professor by the Center for Molecular Biology Heidelberg (ZMBH). She will also be research group leader at the ZMBH with a focus on biophysical engineering of life. We congratulate her sincerely!

We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Jana Zaumseil and Dr. Jens Bauer as new Associate Principal Investigators in our Cluster! Jana Zaumseil is Professor for Applied Physical Chemistry and leads the research group “Nanomaterials for Optoelectronics” at the Heidelberg University.Jens Baueris leader of the Emmy-Noether research group “Nanoarchitected Metamaterials” at the Institute of Nanotechnology of the KIT. We wish both of them a good start in our Cluster and look forward to productive collaboration.

You can now register for the 3DMM2O Conference 2023 – Future 3D Additive Manufacturing with the topic 3D Molecular Systems. It will take place from March 12 to March 17 in the baroque Schöntal Monastery, Germany (near Heilbronn) and aims at providing the latest research developments and future trends in the fields of materials, molecular self-assembly, and (bio)nanomaterials design and characterization. Conference chairs are Franziska Thomas (Heidelberg University) and Stefan Bräse (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology). Early bird tickets are only available in October and November!

In a new publication by Cluster Young Scientists Alexander Münchinger and Li-Yun Hsu as well as PIs Eva Blasco and Martin Wegener published in Materials Today, the authors present mechanical metamaterials composed of liquid-crystal elastomers whose director field is arranged into a designed complex three-dimensional pattern during the 3D laser printing process. The presented examples overcome major limitations in responsive mechanical metamaterials and, with further improvements, many more possibilities for stimulus-responsive designed material architectures arise, e.g. optomechanical metamaterials responsive to sun light.

Not long after being awarded with the Dr. Herrmann Schnell Grant, Cluster Principal Investigator Eva Blasco now received the Ernst Haage Prize in Chemistry for her outstanding scientific achievements in the field of design and synthesis of new polymer-based functional materials for applications in 3D and 4D printing. The Ernst Haage Prize is presented by the Ernst Haage Foundation, which is carried by the two Mülheim Max Planck Institutes. The award ceremony will take place on November 4, 2022, during a ceremony at the Mülheim Chemistry Campus of the MPIs for Coal Research and for Chemical Energy Conversion.

We welcome Prof. Dr. Peer Fischer as new Principal Investigator in the Cluster 3DMM2O. He will contribute his longstanding expertise in the Research Thrusts B1 and C3.

In the new episode of our video format “Explain Like I’m 5”, Cluster Young Scientist Hankun Yang from the Light Technology Institute (LTI) of the KIT explains what an electronic nose is, how it differs from the human nose, and how it can help us sniff out fire or mold.

Together with theInstitute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis, the Cluster 3DMM2O has produced a five-part German-language podcast series exploring 3D printing technology and its current and future implications for society. In each episode, science journalist Isabelle Rogge talks to two experts that are working either with or on the technology or explore its societal impact. Some of the topics are 3D printing for future healthcare and opportunities and challenges for more sustainable production.

Cluster Alumni Tobias Frenzel is one of the recipients of the 14th KIT Doctoral Award. He received the award for his doctoral thesis “On 3D Chiral Mechanical Metamaterials”. With the KIT Doctoral Award, the university honors outstanding doctoral researchers, highlighting the great importance of young scientists at KIT. Today, the award was officially presented to him at the President’s Banquet.

During a special session at the EPF Congress, Principal Investigator Christopher Barner-Kowollik has been awarded the European Polymer Federation Prize 2022. The board of the European Polymer Federation honored Barner-Kowollik’s “pioneering work in the field of macromolecular photochemistry enabling unprecedented access to polymer design, spatially resolved interface functionalization and advanced photoresists technology”.

Principal Investigator Eva Blasco will receive a Dr. Herrmann Schnell grant. With this award, the German Chemical Society (GDCh) honors Blasco’s “innovative research work in the highly topical area of functional materials for 3D laser printing and lithography.” The prize will be officially awarded during the Biennial Meeting of the GDCh-Division of Macromolecular Chemistry in September.

The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings aim at exchange between different generations, cultures and disciplines by bringing together Nobel Laureates and the next generation of leading scientists.This year, the Chemistry meeting takes place from June 26 to July 1. Cluster Young Scientist Clara Vázquez-Martel from the group of Principal Investigator Eva Blasco is one of the participants of this prestigious event.

A new episode in the Women in Science video series was recently published. In it, Principal Investigator Yolita Eggeler talks about her research in the fiel of electron microscopy, how it relates to the development of new materials and how she got into science.

The Cluster of Excellence 3D Matter Made to Order (3DMM2O) now has a LinkedIn page. Follow the page to get all the latest information in your feed and add the Cluster to your profile if you are a member!

On May 5, the Opening Ceremony of the Carl Zeiss Foundation 3D User Lab took place. During the Ceremony, guests from the Carl Zeiss Foundation and the two foundation companies Carl Zeiss AG and SCHOTT AG as well as the members of the Cluster Industry Advisory Board got an insight into the shared infrastructure and the state of research in the Cluster.

The Girls’ Day takes place April 27 each year and offers young women the opportunity to learn about career and study opportunities in STEM areas and the trades. This year, the Cluster 3DMM2O was represented with four offers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Heidelberg University.

After a week of great talks and interesting exchange on the state-of-the-art in 3D Nano- and Micro-Manufacturing, Future 3DAM 2022 has concluded. The Cluster would like to thank all speakers and participants.

Principal Investigator Daniela Duarte Campos has been awarded a grant by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for the project “BlindZero” which focuses on irreversible diseases of the human cornea. The projects investigates innovative hydrogels to produce corneas directly on the patient’s eye using 3D bioprinting. The “NanoMatFutur” competition supports junior researchers in pursuing ambitious project ideas through innovative research approaches in materials science and materials technology.

April 28 marks Girls’ Day, an opportunity for girls to explore technical careers and study courses. Like last year, the Cluster 3DMM2O offers several workshops for girls interested in a STEM career. The four offers, two at KIT and two at Uni HD, explore the topics3D printing food,3D printing for medical research,realizing product ideas with 3D printing, andconstructing a gelatinous display. Most of the workshops still have a few places left!

As biocatalysts, enzymes accelerate many chemical reactions. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now incorporated enzymes into metal-organic cages (MOFs). They then demonstrated for the first time that stabilization by these framework structures is sufficient for use of the enzymes in a continuously operated reactor. The authors, including Cluster Postdoctoral Researcher Tawheed Hashem and Principal Investigator Christof Wöll, report in the journal Angewandte Chemie.

When compared to polymer-based 3D Laser Nanoprinting, multi-photon 3D printing of metals is lacking in both structure quality and printing speed. In a new paper published in Laser & Photonics Reviews, Cluster Researchers including Principal Investigators Eva Blasco, Carsten Rockstuhl and Martin Wegener show that light-induced forces onto the nanoparticles play a significant role in the process, thus opening the possibility for further process optimizations and applications.

A team including Cluster researchers from the working groups of Principal Investigators Pavel Levkin and Wolfgang Wenzel present a 3D printable polymer gel system (PEGgel) with properties such as high stretchability and toughness, rapid self-healing, and long-term stability under ambient conditions. Soft materials like the reported PEGgel hold promises for broad applications in wearable electronics, soft actuators and robotics. The results are reported in Advanced Materials.

The registration and abstract submission deadlines for Future 3D Additive Manufacturing – The 3DMM2O Conference 2022: 3D Nano- and Micro-Manufacturing: Technology and Technical Applications have been extended until February 28, 2022. The conference will take place from April 3-8, 2022 in the baroque Schöntal Monastery, Germany (near Heilbronn).

A team of Cluster scientists and researchers of Friedrich Schiller University of Jena succeeded in developing a diffuser, a disk that scatters light, based on silicon nanoparticles. It can be used to specifically control the direction, color, and polarization of light. This novel technology may be used in transparent screens or augmented reality. The results are reported in Advanced Materials.

A team including Cluster researchers from the working group of Principal Investigator Martin Wegener report the direct experimental observation of roton-like dispersion relations in two different 3D metamaterials under ambient conditions. The results open experimental opportunities to tailor the lowest dispersion branch of 3D metamaterials. Their work builts upon atheoretical framework detailed in June of this year.

In a new ELI5 (“Explain Like I’m 5”) video on the Cluster YouTube channel, Cluster Young ScientistTobias Abele(working group of Principal Investigator Kerstin Göpfrich) explains his research in the field of synthetic biology. The video details a new approach using 3D laser printing directly within a synthetic cell that waspublished recently in Advanced Materials.

Currently, 3D Laser Printers require big and expensive laser systems. Cluster researchers from KIT and Uni HD now present an approach to use two-step absorption with inexpensive and small, blue laser diodes instead of two-photon absorption to realize smaller, more compact printers. This could pave the way to make 3D laser printing accessible for a wider audience. The paper was published in the journal Nature Photonics.

On November 16, the first “Successes and Challenges” event took place atCAM Heidelberg. Once a month, two presenters report on their successes while also highlighting their challenges to start a collaborative exchange with the audience. The first presenters were Tobias Spratte (AG Selhuber-Unkel) and Cluster Postdoctoral Researcher Lucie Zilova (AG Wittbrodt). The next event will take place on December 14, 03:15 p.m. at CAM and online.

Cluster Spokesperson and Principal Investigator Martin Wegener (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) has been recognized as Highly Cited Researchers 2021 by Web of Science in the category ‘Cross-Field’. This means that his publications rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year. In order to create the list, Web of Science evaluated research published between 2010 to 2020.

On October 1, Principal Investigator Jasmin Aghassi was appointed to the W3 professorship “Electronic devices and systems in future technologies” at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (ETIT). In the framework of this new professorship, she will conduct interdisciplinary research into future electronic technology that combines additively manufactured electronic components and silicon systems.

A new video in the Cluster’s Women in Science series was recently published. In it, Principal Investigator Kerstin Göpfrich talks about her research focus on synthetic cells, how she perceives herself as a Woman in Science and gives advice to young researchers just starting their scientific career.

A new publication by Cluster Young Scientist Zheqin Dong (first author) as well as Principal Investigator Pavel Levkin and other members of his group presents a new materials concept for 3D printing of complex-shaped objects with bulk superhydrophobicity, a property that is desirable for a broad range of applications such as anti-wetting materials for engineering and environmental technologies, microfluidics or medical devices. The paper was published in Advanced Materials.

A team of researchers that included several Cluster Young Scientists as well as Principal Investigators Carsten Rockstuhl, Wolfgang Wenzel, Stefan Bräse, Petra Tegeder and Christof Wöll has developed a new programmed assembly strategy based on metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) that allows for electric fields to be integrated into crystalline, porous thin films. Their research was published in the journal Advanced Materials.

On July 7, pupils from course KA 16 of the Hector Seminar explored the versatile possibilities offered by 3D food printers. Under the guidance and supervision of Cluster Young Scientists Saskia Braun, Maximilian Elter, Clara Vázquez-Martel and Pascal Kiefer, they learned the theoretical and practical basics of designing and printing with mashed potatoes, pasta dough and chocolate.

A team of researchers that includes Cluster Young Scientist Mariia A. Kuzina and Principal Investigator Pavel A. Levkin presents a new way to contain fluids without a wall using so-called “liquid wells”. The authors conclude that the water walls are self-repairing, adaptive and functional, thus displaying properties that are uncommon when it comes to solid walls. Their research was published in the journal Advanced Materials.

In a new paper published in Nature Communications, a group of researchers including Cluster Young Scientist Kevin Jahnke and Principal Investigators Rasmus R. Schröder, Joachim Spatz and Kerstin Göpfrich demonstrate that the use of top-down engineered bacteria can enhance bottom-up assembled synthetic cells, thus providing a vision to bridge the gap between the two approaches in synthetic biology.

Research Data Management is an important aspect of the research conducted in the Cluster of Excellence 3D Matter Made to Order (3DMM2O). In order to provide Young Researchers with the necessary tools and knowledge, a recently launched online course by the Cluster introduces good scientific practice of research data handling in an interactive way including practice-oriented examples.

Researchers led by Principal Investigator Martin Wegener are currently working on using rotons in artificial materials. These metamaterials could in the future manipulate or direct sound waves in a way never achieved before. The researchers report on their work in a paper published in Nature Communications.

Registrations for Future 3D Additive Manufacturing – The 3DMM2O Conference 2022: 3D Nano- and Micro-Manufacturing: Technology and Technical Applications are now open! The conference will take place from April 3-8, 2022 in the baroque monastery of Schöntal, Germany (near Heilbronn).

In a recently published paper, a research team led by Principal Investigator Christian Koos presents optical biosensors that combine Si3N4 sensor circuits with hybrid on-chip organic lasers. The sensors may be used to produce low-cost point-of-care devices, thus enabling early and efficient disease diagnosis as well as other applications in biophotonics.

On May 21 at 4 pm, Martin van Hecke (Leiden University & AMOLF Institute Amsterdam) will give an online lecture in the event series Physikalisches Kolloquium of KIT’s Department of Physics following an invitation by Cluster Co-Spokesperson Martin Wegener. The topic of the lecture is “Mechanical Metamaterials: Step by Step”. Cluster members are invited to take part.

An upcoming live webinar of Two-Photon Polymerization technology manufacturer Nanoscribe will feature Prof. Dr. Martin Wegener as an expert on 3D Microfabrication with highest precision and speed using Two-Photon Polymerization (2PP). The webinar will take place April 13 from 5 to 6 pm (CEST).

Cluster Members are invited to take part in the lecture by Prof. Dr. Rainer Herges (University of Kiel) with the title “Molecular Spin Switching in Solution, Soft Matter and on Surfaces”. The event will take place April 21 from 3 to 4 pm (CEST) on Zoom. The access information will be disseminated through internal channels.

Prof. Dr. Martin Bastmeyer (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) and Joachim Wittbrodt (Heidelberg University), the organizers of Future 3D Additive Manufacturing – The 3DMM2O Conference 2021: 3D Hybrid Organotypic Systems, were interviewed by Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg. In the interview, they give an insight into the topics of the Conference.

The Cluster 3DMM2O warmly welcomes Jun.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Daniela Duarte Campos as a new PI in Research Thrust C3. Before joining Heidelberg University as a W1 professor recently, Daniela Duarte Campos worked at RWTH Aachen University. Her research focuses on bioprinting and advanced materials for biomedicine.

Cluster scientists have developed a mass-producible low-cost fully printed flexible origami thermoelectric generator which is able to power an autonomous weather sensor comprising a Bluetooth module and a power management system. This approach might be a milestone for the use of low-cost TEGs. They present their results in the journal npj Flexible Electronics.

Cluster scientists have developed new functional materials to extend the possibilities of 3D Nanoprinting. In a paper published in Nature Communications, they show their results: 3D polymer structures of highly complex geometries and spatially controlled pore sizes from 10 nm to 1000 µm. This new approach extends the scope of applications of 3D printing to hierarchical inherently porous 3D objects.

The Cluster 3DMM2O has a lot of talented Young Researchers. In order two increase their visibility, we have published two interviews with female Carl Zeiss Foundation Scholarship holders Britta Weidinger (A3) and Tamara Molitor (C3). In the interviews, they talk about their research and the role of the CZF Scholarship Program for their academic career.

The Cluster 3DMM2O warmly welcomes Prof. Dr. Christine Selhuber-Unkel as a new PI. Prof Dr. Selhuber-Unkel is head of the Molecular Systems Engineering research group at the Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering (IMSE) of Heidelberg University and will conduct research in Thrust B1 of the Cluster. Furthermore, she recently received an ERC Consolidator Grant for her project „Photomechanical writing of cell functions“ (PHOTOMECH) which aims at regulating cell functions through external physical forces.

Cluster Principal Investigator Frauke Gräter receives an ERC Consolidator Grant for her project „Mechanoradicals in Collagen“ (RADICOL), which focuses on radicals caused by excessive mechanical stress on collagen, the protein which provides structural and mechanical stability to the connective tissues in the human body.

A new feature issue of the journal Optical Materials Express, guest-edited by Cluster PIs Eva Blasco and Martin Wegener as well as SAB member Shoji Maruo, showcases selected latest developments and results in the field of optical 3D printing and its applications in optics and other areas. The virtual feature issue is available on the Optical Materials Express website.

Cluster Young Scientist Jasmin Busch is one of the recipients of the 13th KIT Doctoral Award. With the award, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology acknowledges outstanding doctoral researchers, thereby highlighting the great importance of Young Scientists at KIT. We congratulate!

Principal Investigator A. Stephen K. Hashmi (Heidelberg University) and Cluster Spokesperson Martin Wegener (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) have been recognized as Highly Cited Researchers 2020 by Web of Science. This means that their papers rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year. For the current list the authors evaluated publications from 2009 to 2019.

The November issue of Physik Journal, the member journal of the German Physical Society, features an article on the Cluster 3DMM2O. For the article, Cluster Spokesperson Martin Wegener was interviewed on the goals as well as the current state and research developments of the Cluster. The article is available to all registered pro-physik.de users as well as DPG members.

The project “HiSCORE”, which aims at developing a method for high-throughput screening using nuclear method resonance, has been selected for funding by the European Research Council in its Synergy Grant scheme. Principal Investigator Jan Korvink will work on the project alongside Benno Meier (KIT) and partners at École normale supérieure and Radboud University.

A new paper published in Advanced Functional Materials, introduces a biocompatible and photocurable resist for scaffold fabrication that can be readily degraded by a certain enzyme. The authors, among them Cluster PIs Eva Blasco, Martin Wegener and Christopher Barner-Kowollik, describe their photoresist as a step towards “enabling 3D tissue constructs to be created to heal patients with tissue loss or to guide tissue regeneration”.

On October 6, 2020, the Cluster’s Industry Advisory Board (IAB) had their inaugural meeting. During the meeting, they elected Kai Keller (Notion Systems) as Chairman and Kenneth Sorensen (Nonpareil Biotechnologies) as Vice Chairman.

We warmly welcome Jun.-Prof. Dr. Yolita Eggeler as a new Principal Investigator in Thrust B3 of the Cluster of Excellence 3D Matter Made to Order.

Researchers of the Cluster 3DMM2O developed a new method to analyze the impact of external forces on singular cells by creating microstuctures using 3D printing to stretch the cells. The scientists were able to observe how different cells counteract or give in to the pressure.

In a paper recently published in the journal Advanced Materials, Cluster researchers describe a newly developed photoresist for 3D laser microprinting that can be used for manufacturing nanoporous polymer microstructures. By tuning the writing parameters, the porosity of the printed material can be controlled.

On July 21 at 6 pm, the ITAS event technik.kontrovers “Zukünfte des 3D-Drucks” will take place online. It will feature talks and a discussion on the present and future as well as the social dimension of 3D printing. The information on how to access the event is available on the website of the ITAS.

On July 27, the first workshop in the new ZEISS Makerspace @ KIT, located in the ZEISS InnovationHub @ KIT on Campus North, will take place. The Makerspace is a place that provides every interested party with the tools to realize their own ideas e.g. 3D printers or a table saw.

A new Cluster paper, published in the journal Advanced Materials, details water erasable microstructures produced by 3D laser printing. The paper features three Principal Investigators of the Cluster as co-authors: Martin Wegener, Christopher Barner-Kowollik and Eva Blasco.

The cover of the newly published Physical Review Letters 124 (23) features a three-dimensional network of achiral rods. The figure is from a new paper written by, among others, Cluster Spokesperson and PI Martin Wegener titled “Isotropic Chiral Acoustic Phonons in 3D Quasicrystalline Metamaterials”.

A new Cluster publication written, among others, by Cluster Postdoc Nicole Jung as well as PIs Ute Schepers and Stefan Bräse was published in highly respected journal Chemical Reviews. The review article describes and discusses types of the Staudinger Ligation and compares them to other bioorthogonal labeling methods.

The cover of the newly published ChemistryOpen 5/2020 depicts a successful synthesis of high quality, monolithic UiO‐66‐NH2 MOF thin films on diverse solid substrates detailed in a publication by Postdoc Tawheed Hashem and others, including PI Christof Wöll.

The Cluster 3DMM2O warmly welcomes PD Dr. Pavel Levkin as a new PI. Dr. Levkin is head of the Biofunctional Materials research group at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and will conduct research in Thrust A3 of the Cluster.

The Cluster 3DMM2O warmly welcomes Prof. dr. ir. Martijn Kemerink. As Professor at the Centre for Advanced Materials (CAM) at Heidelberg University, he receives start-up investments within the Carl Zeiss Foundation-Focus@HEiKA. He will act as a PI in Thrust C1.

A new website by Cluster researchers provides a comparison of different 3D printing technologies by speed and voxel size. To keep the comparison updated, visitors can suggest new references to be included in the diagram.

The Cluster 3DMM2O is now on Twitter. Follow us to get all the latest information about the Cluster and get in contact!

In view of the current situation, we would like to draw your attention to the recommendations of the KIT in respect to the coronavirus. See also theinformation by Heidelberg University.

A new paper, co-written among others by Cluster PIs Schröder, Lemmer and Hernandez-Sosa, introduces printable light sensors that are able to detect colors, thus enabling data transmission by light. They report their results in Advanced Materials.

With regret, the organizers of Future 3D Additive Manufacturing – the 3DMM2O Conference 2020: 3D Hybrid Organotypic Systems have decided to cancel the conference. Further information will follow soon.

PLEASE NOTE that the workshop had to be postponed. 

On March 4 & 5, the German-Japanese Workshop “Aquatic Materials Made to Order” will take place at Heidelberg University. The workshop is jointly organized by MEXT Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas “Aquatic Functional Materials” and the Cluster 3DMM2O.

Researchers of the Cluster develop a new 3D printing system that allows for submicron accuracy at speed. They publish their findings in a special issue of Advanced Functional Materials.

The Carl Zeiss Foundation supports doctoral students who want to work with one of our five new Principal Investigators on topics in their fields of research with stipends.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Speck, vice spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence “livMatS”, will give a talk during the KIT Materials Colloquium on January 14 at 4 pm. Principal Investigator Peter Gumbsch will guide the discussion.The colloquium will take place in the Redtenbacher-Hörsaal on Campus South.

On January 28, there will be a talk on “Publishing advanced materials science” by Advanced Materials editors (Wiley) Jos Lenders and Dimitra Gkogkou. It will take place at KIT (Campus North), Institute of Biological and Chemical Systems (build. 316), room 105 at 9 am.

Principal Investigator Peter Gumbsch was elected as a member by acatech – National Academy of Science and Engineering.

Researchers including Cluster scientists publish a paper in the journal Small describing the fabrication of ultra-compact scanning-probe microscopy engines using 3D printing.

On December 12, 2019, one of our new PIs, Dr. Franziska Thomas, will talk about “Exploring de novo designed protein folding motifs in the development of biomimetic systems and biomaterials” at CAM in Heidelberg.

The Cluster 3DMM2O warmly welcomes five new Principal Investigators: Dr. Eva Blasco, Dr. Gerardo Hernández-Sosa, Prof. Dr. Franziska Thomas, Prof. Dr. Jasmin Aghassi, Dr. Kerstin Göpfrich.

Like our new Facebook page to get the latest information about the Cluster and to find out more about the research that is being conducted by our scientists.

The first conference of the Cluster 3DMM2O will take place from March 29 to April 2, 2020 and focus on 3D Hybrid Organotypic Systems. The deadline for submissions isJanuary 6, 2020!

Female high school students with an interest in STEM are invited to take part in a week of fascinating insights into the world of 3D Printing. Places are limited!

On October 26, as part of the 40 year anniversary of the Rotary Club Karlsruhe-Fächerstadt, Rotary Club members visited the Center for Functional Nanostructures at KIT to learn about the research of the Cluster 3DMM2O.

Kristen Kozielski will give a talk on “Magnetoelectric materials for wireless neuronal modulation”on November 7, 3.00 pm, in Karlsruhe. The event is open to the public that has previous knowledge of the topic.

Researchers of the Cluster present a review of the state and potential future of 3D Laser Nanoprinting. The feature article was published in the October 2019 issue of Optics & Photonics News (OPN), the renowned monthly news magazine of The Optical Society.

During their first Young Scientist Retreat, the doctoral and postdoctoral researchers of the Cluster 3DMM2O had an productive exchange of ideas and made connections across Thrusts and disciplines. Different team building exercises helped strengthening the group cohesion.

On 23 September 2019, the Cluster met for its first internal review to discuss the progress within the Thrusts. Furthermore, the newly-formed Scientific Advisory Board participated in the review and met up on the following day.

During the Presidents’ Conference of the German-Japanese University Consortium HeKKSaGOn on 12 and 13 September 2019 in Heidelberg, members of Working Group I – including several Cluster PIs – met up to discuss further research activites.

On 4 June 2019, Prof. Dr. Martin Wegener gave an introduction into 3D Additive Manufacturing research to the public at the event KIT in the City Hall.

Researchers of the Cluster demonstrate polarization rotations during acoustical activity in metamaterials. They present their research in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

Both Universities cooperating within the Cluster 3DMM2O were successful in the second funding line of the Excellence Strategy and are awarded the title of University of Excellence.

The magazine LookKIT presents KIT’s research to the general public. The current issue features the Cluster 3DMM2O as a key institution within the materials research conducted at the University.

A new special issue of the journal Advanced Materials is dedicated to Materials Research at KIT, including the work of several Cluster PIs and their teams.

The Cluster’s Lecture Series in 3D Printing continues. The second lecture will be presented by Dr. Venera Weinhardt on July 18, 2019, 2.45 pm, in the context of the HEiKA Day 2019 at Heidelberg University.

PI Barner-Kowollik has been elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science for his significant and lasting impact in the field of soft matter nanotechnology. We congratulate!

On May 6, there will be a special seminar on “Overcoming the conflict between stiffness and toughness in architected lattices“ by Dr. Jochen Mueller (Harvard University). It takes place at KIT Campus South, Physics building (30.23), in room 6-1 from 10-11 am.

On April 9, 2019, Prof. Dr. Martin Wegener gave the inaugural lecture for the Nano Institute of the University of Syndey on the topic “Nano 3D printing: Materials beyond Imagination”.

Researchers of the Cluster introduce a platform technology for multimaterial photoresists that can be orthogonally cured by changing the colour of light.

The new Cluster explores the possibilities of 3D Additive Manufacturing reaching all the way from the molecular to the macroscopic scale.

Researchers of the Cluster 3DMM2O create a new method enabling the production of 3D-printed micro- and nanostructures efficiently and precisely using mixed materials. Their findings are published in Science Advances.

Scientists of the Cluster 3DMM2O develop a new method for producing controllable 3D microstructures. They present their multidisciplinary research in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

We are happy to announce the call for application for doctoral scholarships as part of the scholarship program funded by Carl Zeiss Foundation in the HEiKA Graduate School on Functional Materials.

Scientists of Heidelberg University are key participants in two research teams, each of which has obtained an ERC Synergy Grant, a highly-endowed grant from the European Research Council.

We are proud to announce that the Cluster of Excellence 3D Matter Made To Order was successful within the Excellence Initiative. It will officially be funded starting from January 2019.

The jury awarded Nanoscribe for their extraordinary innovations in the field of 3D printing on the microscale as well as their entrepreneurial success.

We are looking for scientists who are passionate about revolutionizing 3D printing.