Getting to know material science

Materials science is an extremely broad field of research. At the Department of Materials (D-MATL), research covers all material classes from metals to polymers, from nano- to macroscale, from interfaces to two-dimensional polymers. Research is also conducted comprehensively on various length and time scales. The diversity of the field is therefore given by the great variety not only in the nature of materials but also in the various scales. “What is typical about our research is that whenever we want to explain and influence material properties on a large scale, we draw our knowledge from the small, atomic scale,” says Walter Steurer, Chairman of the D-MATL and the Laboratory of Crystallography.

Teaching holds D-MATL together

There are about 50 professorships at ETH which conduct materials research in one way or another. Not all of them are part of the D-MATL. This is why teaching is the common denominator within the department and an identifying feature towards the outside. “Education in materials science is our core business and holds our relatively young department together,” says Walter Steurer. The D-MATL was founded in 1981.

The department organises a “Materials Day” every two years with the aim of introducing participants to the diversity of materials science in teaching, research and technology transfer. Every four years, the “Materials Day” is used as an opportunity to introduce the department and its activities to students, industry representatives and the media. This year, about half of the more than 350 participants were students and doctoral candidates, a third of whom were not ETH members. The students were interested mainly in information regarding possible topics for Master and PhD theses. The MATL scientists presented 13 research topics ranging from “Electrons on the nanoscale” to “Colours on thin materials”. In addition, they demonstrated the latest modelling techniques and results from experimental research and applications.

Staudinger-Durrer prize for polymer researcher

The Staudinger-Durrer prize was awarded to the English materials researcher Ian Ward for his outstanding achievements in nano and polymer research. He has developed a polymer gel to replace the liquid electrolytes used in lithium-ion accumulators. Ward accepted the prize in person at the Audimax of the ETH main building. “This Materials Day has been a wonderful day for me. Especially when I see all the young people who are interested in materials science,” he said. Ward is an Emeritus Professor and former head of the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leeds (UK), as well as the founder of two spin-off companies.