Get to know the new Excellence Scholars at D-CHAB

Anna Weinfurter is from Munich but has a special fondness for Switzerland. She has already completed her Bachelor's degree in chemistry at ETH Zurich and is now continuing to her Master's. "For me, chemistry is the natural science that allows you to create new molecules and materials," Anna says. "I'm particularly fascinated by inorganic chemistry. For my Master's thesis, I originally wanted to investigate halide perovskite nanocrystals because they have good properties for optoelectronic applications and could potentially be used for scintillators for X-ray detection thanks to their fast photon emission and high X-ray absorption. However, I realized that working with surface materials in the field of catalysis appeals to me even more."

In her semester project, Anna tested and characterized tin as a catalyst for selective reduction of CO2 to formate. "The tin catalyst was shaped like dendrites in order to obtain the largest possible surface area. How to obtain large surfaces is also an important question in my current Master's thesis topic. As preparation, I will spend three months in Australia. There, I will develop materials that have a large surface but are still as stable as possible, for example sponge materials. I will test these materials for their catalytic activity in Zurich. It will no longer be about CO₂, this time I'll be converting nitrogen or NOX variants into ammonia".

The ESOP scholarship enables Anna to concentrate fully on her studies and, in addition, to continue her task as president of the "Challenge" between ETH and EPFL, as she is an enthusiastic athlete. "For me, good performance in sports and good performance in studies go hand in hand, achievement is motivating!"

Gian-Luca lives on the border of Schaffhausen. After a natural science-oriented school education, he worked in a food processing company and completed his military service. Gian-Luca then studied interdisciplinary natural sciences at ETH Zurich. "I just completed my third semester thesis in organic chemistry. I have practically worked my way almost through the entire institute," he says with a laugh. Now he also wants to complete his Master's thesis in organic chemistry.

His first proposal was to do a total synthesis of mutanolin – a secondary metabolite from Streptococcus mutans – as well as the determination of all its stereocenters and an investigation of the biological activity of the newly synthesized compound. "Whether this will remain the final topic of my work is not yet certain. But the work should definitely involve total synthesis, which I think belongs to the top class in chemistry. I like the fact that you can build complex, useful compounds from small building blocks. In addition, many other disciplines are involved, such as inorganic chemistry with catalysis or physical chemistry, which can explain certain phenomena."

For Gian-Luca, the ESOP scholarship is above all a sign of appreciation for his achievements and means more freedom. "I commute 1.5 hours from Schaffhausen to ETH and back every day, and work at a climbing park on weekends. With the scholarship, I can reduce or even leave the job. In addition, it will be helpful for my semester abroad in Texas next year, and of course, it will be an advantage for future job applications, be they in academia or industry."

Sally Liu comes from Germany. She has been fascinated by natural sciences since she was at school and has always felt the need to help people: "Pharmacy is a perfect combination of both. So I did a Bachelor's degree in pharmaceutical sciences at ETH and now I'm doing the Master's degree in pharmacy." Sally finally came across the topic she wanted to investigate in her Master's thesis – "exosomes" or bacterial extracellular vesicles, their proteins and their benefits for wound healing. The topic, however, has changed a bit in the meanwhile.

"Now the focus is more on gene delivery," Sally explains, "the first question will be: How can I modify the gene of a certain, preselected protein so that the protein ends up having the desired properties in order to be of therapeutic use. The property or function of a protein can later be tested using assays. Some of these assays are already established, some I will have to optimize. When the protein has folded correctly and the function is right, it will be possible to introduce the gene, for instance, into a human cell culture, and explore the effects."

For Sally, the scholarship is the confirmation that she is doing a good job. In addition, "it allows me to expand my network, attend cool events, and of course it also brings financial relief." Sally emphasizes, "It gives me the freedom to focus on my studies and continue to be involved in the ETH Zurich Tanzquotient promoting dancing in my free time. I also learned a lot through the ESOP application process itself – it was good practice for the Master's thesis."

Vincent Wirth grew up in Switzerland, completed a Bachelor's in chemistry at ETH Zurich, and is now pursuing his Master's degree. "Actually, a school teacher got me interested in chemistry," he recalls, "I particularly appreciate its interdisciplinarity. Physical chemistry is especially fascinating: you specialize in a subject and try to mathematically grasp it down to the smallest detail, compare it with theories, and explore your depth of understanding of the world and its complex processes. That's exciting!"

This fascination led Vincent to Professor Merkt's group, where he gained experience in high-precision spectroscopy. For his Master's thesis, he originally wanted to contribute to the development of new methods to study chemical reactions at very low temperatures. "This is basic research at its core, but it can be applied, for example, to understand chemical processes in the universe where some of the molecules differ from the ones on our planet," Vincent explains. "It is not yet clear though whether this will remain the topic of my thesis. "I'd like to explore more possibilities. In any case, I will stay with physical chemistry."

In his free time, Vincent enjoys bouldering and volunteers as ski tour guide. The scholarship gives him freedom: "It means financial independence; I can concentrate on my studies. At the same time, it opens doors and offers a great network. At the getting-to-know-you-apéro, for example, I already met many people from other fields. That's helpful, you never know where you're going to end up."