15 graduates made their way to Clausthal-Zellerfeld and celebrated the 60th anniversary of the handing over of the diploma at the Technische Universität Clausthal no distance is too far for Clatusthal graduates to come back to their university to celebrate the 60th diploma anniversary. "Your coming is a sign of high esteem and solidarity with Clausthal University of Technology," said Vice President Prof Christian Bohn at the ceremony in the auditorium in his address to all the jubilarians   1963 was a very special year for the then Clausthal Mining Academy which was named "Technical University" from that time on It was also 60 years ago that the first building on the then-new campus in the Feldgraben area There was a spirit of optimism among the students and professors "The years of personal and professional development in Clausthal meant a lot to him," said Dr.-Ing looking back on the time on behalf of the graduating class of 1963 He also reminded his fellow students of old Clausthal traditions after the final exams: "It was 60 years ago that the coachman Stümmel picked us up after the last exam and drove us to a merry drink." In addition to their studies many students had to earn extra money during the semester break and worked in the iron and steel industry The rule was: "Work as many shifts and as many holidays as possible You can recover during the semester." The students lived privately with the local people The attachment to the people and the place was quite strong Yes, I would like to receive the bi-weekly Foundry-Planet newsletter with all latest news, product and material tests and reports. Plus the special newsletters – all can be cancelled anytime and at no cost. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. A steam train travels through the Harz mountains where the trees are destroyed by the bark beetle and drought, near Schierke, Germany, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Ranger Marion Petrik holds spruce bark beetles during a bark beetle monitoring at the Lower-Saxony state forests in a forest of the Harz mountains near Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, Thursday, July 27, 2023. The tiny insects have been causing outsized devastation to the forests in recent years, with officials grappling to get the pests under control before the spruce population is entirely decimated. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Employees cut a tree infested with bark beetles in a forest of Lower-Saxony state forests at the Harz mountains near Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, Thursday, July 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Dead trees stand in Lower-Saxony state forests at the Harz mountains near Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, Friday, July 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Burrows created by spruce bark beetles course across the inner side of bark pulled from an infested spruce tree in a forest in Lower-Saxony state forests at the Harz mountains near Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, Thursday, July 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) A car passes dead trees in Lower-Saxony state forests at the Harz mountains near Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, Friday, July 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Spruce bark beetles lie in a trap during bark beetle monitoring by employees of Lower-Saxony state forests, in a forest of the Harz mountains near Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, Thursday, July 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Spruce trees felled due to infestation by spruce bark beetles lie in the Lower-Saxony state forests at the Harz mountains near Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, Thursday, July 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Dead trees stand in Lower-Saxony state forests at the Harz mountains near Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, Thursday, July 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Media officer Michael Rudolph shows burrows created by bark beetles at the inner side of bark pulled from an infested spruce tree in a forest in Lower-Saxony state forests at the Harz mountains near Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, Thursday, July 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Forest contractor Heiner Schulte removes a felled tree infested with bark beetles in a forest of Lower-Saxony state forests at the Harz mountains near Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, Thursday, July 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Marion Petrik, a forest ranger of Lower-Saxony state forests, checks a trap used to monitor European spruce bark beetles in a forest at the Harz mountains near Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, Thursday, July 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) CLAUSTHAL-ZELLERFELD, Germany (AP) — Nestled in the spruce trees in the Harz mountains of northern Germany is a bark-eating pest not much bigger than a sesame seed. Known as “book printers” for the lines they eat into the bark that fan out from a single spine resembling words on a page, these eight-toothed beetles have always been part of the local forest. Officials expect the bugs to typically kill a few spruces each summer as they find suitable trees to lay their eggs — they burrow into the tree’s cambium, or growing layer, hampering it from getting the nutrients it needs to survive. Ranger Marion Petrik holds spruce bark beetles during a bark beetle monitoring at the Lower-Saxony state forests in a forest of the Harz mountains near Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, Thursday, July 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) “Since 2018, we’ve had extremely dry summers and high temperatures, so almost all trees have had problems,” said Ahrenhold. Spruce trees in particular need a lot of water so having less of it weakens their defenses, and they’re not able to produce their natural tree resin repellent, he said. And even though the beetles tend to target weakened trees, in dry years the population can reproduce so much “that the beetles were even able to attack healthy spruce in large numbers,” he said. “In some regions there are now no more spruces.” Experts say there’s no easy solution, but forest managers work to remove trees that might be susceptible to beetles as early as possible and use pesticides where they’re needed. Michael Müller, the Chair of Forest Protection at the Technical University in Dresden, said there are “very strict requirements for the use of pesticides” which can be very effective in getting rid of the bugs, although the chemicals are sometimes frowned upon for their potentially harmful environmental side effects. “It’s of course preferable to take the raw wood out of the forest and send it for recycling or to store it in non-endangered areas outside the forest,” he said, but noted that requires a separate logistical operation. On trees that are still standing, he said, it’s not really possible to remove the beetles. Müller added that forest conservation measures can “sometimes take decades from being implemented to taking effect” and other factors, like storms and drought, and other species, such as game and mice that can also hamper plant growth, are potentially more damaging to the forest in the long run than the bark beetle. But he said that conservation efforts are limited by external factors, like the changing climate. “After all, we can’t irrigate the forests,” he said. In the longer term, mixing other tree species into the forest could be a solution, Ahrenhold said. “It makes sense to plant other conifers that can cope better with these conditions, especially on south-facing slopes and on very dry soil,” he said. Having too many spruce trees in the Harz is a result of centuries of planting big concentrations of the tree, according to Richard Hölzl, an environmental historian at the University of Goettingen and at Five Continents Museum in Munich. “Clausthal-Zellerfeld is one prime example of a mining area in the Harz where they very early on tried to establish artificial reproduction for spruce to have it for mining construction works,” said Hölzl. Officials realized by the 19th century that planting just one type of tree over and over again wasn’t a good idea ecologically, but “the economy countered that realization because spruce was such an attractive species,” he said. Spruce was the preferred tree for industrial forestry, paper mills and pulp. Still, without the warmer and drier weather from climate change, the bark beetles wouldn’t be flourishing in all that spruce. “There is a long, long prehistory, but there’s also the (climatic) change now,” said Hölzl. “We can’t really blame our forefathers for that.” Volume 3 - 2024 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnuen.2024.1414964 In the search for a repository site for high-level radioactive waste in Germany the perception of safety and trust in the actors are central to public acceptance methods of safety assessment and the role of uncertainties need to be addressed there is a need for indicators that are suitable both for assessing the long-term safety of repositories and for communicating with the general public there is a requirement to communicate uncertainties in an accessible manner The TRANSENS project provides basic research in nuclear waste management (NWM) and utilizes a transdisciplinary approach: Non-experts who are not directly affected by the site selection process and who have no stated interest in NWM are involved in the research process A series of four transdisciplinary workshops was specifically designed to explore the perspectives of individuals with a high level of disciplinary knowledge but no system knowledge of NWM Participants were selected from doctoral students in science and technology who had no prior knowledge in this area Two of these workshops address the questions stated above and are presented here The article describes the considerations underlying the workshop planning and implementation phases and the content developed in the workshops on indicator selection and visualisation of uncertainties The participants compiled a list of desirable indicator properties which showed a high degree of congruence with the relevant literature administer and assess uncertainties shows similarities with the approach followed by the German implementer and complements it with an interactive visualisation Transdisciplinary work is resource-intensive and its use in a research context must be carefully considered for each individual application A transdisciplinary approach was successfully used for the purposes of method validation method optimisation and the development of disciplinary impulses An application of transdisciplinary approaches for optimising the Safety Case of nuclear repositories is feasible The research was motivated by the requirements for transparency and public participation laid down in the German Site Selection Act: Information obtained in the course of the site selection process must be made publicly available in order to ensure that the public is kept fully and systematically informed at an early stage about, i. a., the status of its realisation and its likely impacts (Deutscher Bundestag, 2017) The wording of the regulations is broad and leaves room for interpretation it is understood that the information to be provided includes the results of long-term safety analyses and the methodology used to demonstrate safety Although not explicitly stated in the legal text it is implied that relevant data should be prepared in such a way that it can be understood without expert knowledge The results of the remaining two workshops are presented and discussed here and the questions they sought to address were: Which indicators should be used to assess (long-term) repository safety How can these indicators and their associated uncertainties best be communicated to the general public The two workshops are jointly presented by a member of the TRANSENS research team (Martina Heiermann) and one of the workshop participants (Vinzent Olszok) After explaining the motivation for transdisciplinary research the planning and implementation processes of the workshops are described The results achieved by the workshop participants are presented Selected results are discussed in order to demonstrate the application of transdisciplinary processes to method validation method optimisation and generation of disciplinary impulses although the circumstances of each project and group of participants need to be considered individually non-experts can provide both fresh impetus to disciplinary research and legitimisation in socio-technical contexts There are several taxonomies that allow distinction between different bodies of knowledge. TRANSENS most commonly uses the “three types of knowledge that science should provide to sustainable development” (ProClim, 1997): Systems knowledge knowledge about the current situation; target knowledge knowledge about the situation as it should be; and transformation knowledge knowledge about the transition from the current situation to the target situation Interactions are aimed at accessing and integrating the relevant types and bodies of knowledge while engineering and natural science topics form a significant part of their scope This process is fundamentally different from many other applications of transdisciplinary workshops where the participants with their types of knowledge emerge from the existing problem field the questions or challenges are formulated together and there are no specific expectations regarding the results Epistemic gain was not the goal of the workshops, nor is it a reasonable expectation for any transdisciplinary work, as Drögemüller and Seidl (2024) note. Scholz and Steiner (2015) distinguish four functions of transdisciplinary processes: Societal capacity building analytical mediation and legitimising by informal power analytical mediation is the primary concern and the two workshops discussed here dealt exclusively with analytical mediation • Method validation: Are the presented paradigms will participants without systems knowledge create and outline methods similar to those already established in the expert community • Stress test: If invited to critique the presented paradigms do participants identify any weaknesses that are currently not addressed Which aspects and perspectives are of interest to the participants • Technical impulse: Are participants able to transfer their disciplinary knowledge to a new context and use this to provide input in terms of improving established methods the researchers’ objectives became more refined so that their expectations were quite clear before the workshops commenced the participants reported that the same was not true for them: Prior to the workshops they were not able to form any specific expectations due to the brevity of the information given in the promotional materials The aims and methods of the workshop remained quite unclear to them the participants were not sure whether the main objective was to generate new knowledge or to educate the participants their roles were not defined until the workshops started they merely expected to join a discussion group on an interesting but rather unfamiliar topic Based on the need to address potential arguments from “difficult stakeholders” as well as the objectives formulated above it was decided that the prospective participants in the transdisciplinary process should have a high level of education in science and technology but no system knowledge in the field of NWM the concept of indicators plays a fundamental role Indicators are parameters that signal certain conditions Obtaining the information that certain conditions have been reached (or passed) allows for the indirect observation of complex processes or conditions that cannot be measured directly Examples from other sciences can be used to illustrate the concept in climate research: climate is a complex state arrived at through superposition of many processes and as such not directly measurable; whereas indicators such as precipitation temperature and hurricane frequency each contribute to defining the climate time scale and processes relevant in repository safety are much further removed from the everyday experience of the public it is more difficult to explain the use of indicators for assessing the long-term safety of repositories in a comprehensible manner to persons without prior knowledge: The challenge is to make terms such as “radioactivity flux from the geosphere to the biosphere” or “swelling pressure of the backfill” (to name but two examples for such indicators) more accessible to convey a basic understanding of processes that are of relevance for their estimation and to provide context to make the assessment period of a million years more relatable The two workshops discussed here were to address the question of which indicators are suitable for assessing repository safety and for communicating with the non-scientific public Of particular interest was the use of graphs to communicate uncertainties The participants’ high level of education notwithstanding the workshops are examples of transdisciplinary work: Their lack of system knowledge the broader context of the different workshop series and the specific requirements of the research question have to be taken into account different workshop methods had been tried out and the plenary discussion proved to be a popular and fruitful method several methods considered during the planning phase of the third and fourth workshops as was a practical exercise on understanding scientific graphs the technical work was carried out in plenary discussions preceded in several cases by a short pause for reflection or by short impulse presentations As these changes to the schedule were not initiated by (or even discussed with) the participants we do not consider these workshops to be co-designed The participants were given the following tasks: Which indicator(s) would you use to demonstrate repository safety Which sources of uncertainties are conceivable and which categorisation would you suggest for addressing uncertainties in the Safety Case How should information about uncertainties be communicated How can uncertainties be presented so that comprehensibility and complexity appear well balanced The questions were formulated at a rather abstract level The participants were familiar with terms like “indicators” and “uncertainties” from their own everyday experience The basic approach in conducting the workshops was to impart only absolutely necessary system knowledge on the subject of nuclear waste disposal in short introductions of approx This was to minimise influencing of the participants by the workshop organisers Participants should draw on their experiential knowledge as well as expertise from their respective disciplines to complete the tasks They should be restricted as little as possible in their work moderation of the discussions was exercised with great restraint The aim of these measures was to reduce the potential for bias introduced by the workshop organisers whether workshop participants or organisers worked together as a team with common goals This fundamental attitude is also reflected in the participants’ self-assessment in which objectivity and solution-orientation play a key role From the participants’ perspective the group’s homogeneity was perceived as beneficial in a number of ways: A common technical vocabulary allowed for fast-paced discussions and ideas could be quickly sketched out without having to explain the technical background at length Discussions were characterised by an error culture that allowed for the admission of mistakes without any negative implications ideas could be expressed without fear of criticism and could serve as nuclei for in-depth consideration and development by the group the different professional specialisations and personal perspectives of the participants came into play which they recognised as central to the development of the content the participants did not run out of ideas or perspectives; on the contrary the facilitators had to intervene several times in order to bring the discussion to a close the participants viewed the good error culture and the appreciative behaviour in general as crucial for the success of transdisciplinary work more so than in other collaborative work situations (e.g. as the transdisciplinary approach forced them to engage with ideas and topics that did not correspond to their own area of expertise and took them out of their comfort zone The following analysis is based on the facilitators’ and observers’ notes anecdotal selection of statements and results They reflect the opinions and knowledge of the workshop participants No audio recordings were made and there is no transcript of the discussions As unclear or incorrect statements were repeatedly challenged by other participants the absence of disagreement (verbal or non-verbal) was interpreted as agreement statements made by one participant were taken to reflect the opinion of the whole group Whenever unanimity is explicitly mentioned all participants had signalled their agreement The topic of knowledge transfer and science communication was of particular interest to the participants since teaching and thesis supervision are often among the tasks of doctoral students and thus part of their everyday lives The focus of the discussions was often not on the content to be communicated other aspects of communication were more closely considered with the intention of making communication more efficient work on the question “What indicators would you use to show the safety of the repository?” began with a comment about trust and perception and other meta-level aspects such as context level of complexity and level of detail were closely intertwined with the message content throughout the discussion Participants agreed and accepted that in terms of effectiveness goal would be to make the sender’s and receiver’s messages congruent (“they hear what I say”) there are two major challenges: technical expertise and trust in the senders Some tasks were therefore implicitly addressed at two levels: • Under which conditions will the message be perceived by the recipients in the first place and then considered worth dealing with • How must the content be selected and prepared so that the interested public can understand the information and draw valid conclusions The participants did not elaborate on the issue of trust but it was implied in all discussions that trust in science as such trust in scientists as fallible human beings and/or trust in the site selection process is lacking amongst members of the general public The possibility of instrumentalising information was illustrated with the example of monitoring: “Why are you measuring this Are you not sure [of your design’s reliability]?” Instead of promoting a sense of safety through regular measurements clever framing could turn the message into the opposite and promote mistrust and anxiety Target group-oriented communication was viewed sceptically: “Target group-oriented communication means that everyone else falls by the wayside” the necessity was seen: “You cannot please everyone” The group was also divided on the issue of data availability: On the one hand open access to all data was seen as a necessary prerequisite for transparency and meaningful participation; on the other hand there was concern that de-contextualised information could be misunderstood or misused An interesting question that arose from the discussion on uncertainties was formulated as follows: “Are people supposed to actively seek information or are they “bombarded” like during a commercial break on TV” The discussion on motivation was not pursued further but was touched upon several times in relation to entertainment which participants believed to have promoted acceptance of nuclear energy production in the 1950s and 1960s The suggestions of talk shows and satirical programmes as potential means of communication also point to passive reception of information through entertainment The participants first looked at communication in general - the discussion on target group-oriented communication described above also took place within the scope of this task - and at contextualisation in particular Communication should provide spatial and temporal context to make it more relatable: Where is surface contamination unlikely As one participant stated: “I care about the next 1,000 years I do not care who owns my property after that” Other examples of contextualisation were given: Reference values and limits - how are they determined Trustworthiness - who collected the data and made the calculations A brief discussion arose about how views and evaluations of indicators can vary over time and depending on the social context This stretched the arc even further and embedded the use of indicators in the overall context of society and science Participants gave two examples: One possibility is that new knowledge will give the indicator a new significance “like the atmospheric CO2 concentration after its role in the greenhouse effect was better understood” Another possibility is that society’s values and (risk) perceptions may change over time: “the cloning of non-human mammals is becoming more acceptable” Participants identified a number of properties that a suitable indicator should possess: • Relevance: The indicator has to be effective and specific (“the indicator must represent what we want to represent”) • Communicability: The statements made by the indicator must be easy to convey This also includes comparability with experiences from personal everyday life In order to address a range of target groups effectively the use of several different indicators should be considered • Uncertainties must be taken into account and communicated Since they increase in both space and time the indicators “must be adjusted for time” selected for their suitability in regard to the time frame under assessment • Measureability: Participants mentioned (environmental) monitoring several times implying that measurability is a desirable characteristic • Practicability: This characteristic was mentioned the term can mean that the derivation of the indicator should not be too complicated or computationally time-consuming Workshop participants often expressed repository safety in terms of a probability without specifying the event in question (although two possible interpretations were given as “something goes wrong” and “I get cancer”) the concept of “risk” was not considered very suitable for public communication purposes since statistical relationships were deemed difficult to convey This is particularly relevant here because several interrelated probabilistic processes had to be considered (probability of exposure; probability of developing cancer after exposure) Several indicators already established in the expert community were discussed Participants offered suggestions for indicators not currently established that might be useful in communicating with the public: • Impact: The indicator either directly quantifies the impact of the repository at the surface or allows for an estimate of this impact how “impact” is defined and how it should be quantified it was suggested that the area affected by exposure should be estimated The basic approach proposed by the group was to prepare and make available all indicators that are suitable in principle but to select only a few for communication in the mass media the group did not specify which indicators or types of indicators they considered most appropriate for this task participants were asked to reflect on possible categorisations of uncertainties with the intention of comparing their results and motivation with the established method The first step was to compile sources of uncertainty The top entry in the list was “time” such as the evolution of society and the political framework One idea that had already occupied the group in connection with the formal site selection procedure was that new findings or changed social values might lead to a re-evaluation of facts (see 3.2.1) Other sources referred to modelling in the broadest sense parameter variability and numerical effects Humans as a source of error were mentioned as was the availability and comprehensibility of the documentation produced environment and economy were named as further sources of uncertainties Despite the previous discussion on the instrumentalisation of information (see above) participants agreed that uncertainties needed to be disclosed as an integral part of all communications Different categorisations of uncertainties were explored different dimensions of uncertainties were considered: their cause Example for proposed categorisation of uncertainties The question of a motivation for such a categorisation was not raised by the group; it was only mentioned in an aside that the categorisation of uncertainties “influences how we deal with them” without this point being taken up further in the discussion The discussion on the topic of uncertainties nevertheless focused on a related question: Does the decision for a certain categorisation of uncertainties change the safety evaluation of the repository Acknowledging this led to a further question: Does the categorisation influence future actions the group of participants was unanimous in coming to a positive answer The main line of reasoning was that the prioritisation of the categorisations has an influence on the subsequent treatment of the problem; in this respect the categorisations are important for future outcomes and may therefore trigger different responses participants’ attention was deliberately drawn to digital formats in order to ensure that they would consider the additional tools and opportunities offered by digitalisation While the researchers intended this to refer to the use of digital tools within the formal framework of the Safety Case the participants interpreted the question much more broadly In line with the general approach to workshop facilitation the group was allowed to pursue its discussion the use of a whole range of different formats for different conditions and purposes was discussed Examples are educational videos for school lessons; webinars and Q&A sessions with experts for the interested public; podcasts talk shows and documentaries on streaming platforms as easily accessible information sources; graphic novels and educational game apps for playful learning of younger people Participants identified the following challenges for successful communication of uncertainties: • Adaptation to the needs of many different target groups: Level of detail wording and format must be tailored to the audience and their (presumed) background knowledge The need for granular adaptation was expressed by one participant’s comment that “15-year-olds communicate differently than 25-year-olds” referring to the preferred social media platforms of different age groups • Trustworthiness of the format: TV documentaries were perceived as more valuable than videos on internet platforms; print media in turn as more trustworthy than TV There are personal preferences for information channels and the use of a few conventional formats may fail to reach a significant portion of the population • Short attention span: Intensive engagement with a complex topic like NWM requires time and concentration This was seen as problematic in a time when an endless number of short messages and videos compete for attention must counteract problems such as loss of knowledge and disinterest The same questions will be asked many times by the public The participants identified various instruments that support communication: • Interactivity: The user’s ability to control the level of detail was judged to be of particular importance • New technologies: The use of virtual reality and artificial intelligence offers new possibilities to answer questions in an internet forum created for this purpose • Didactic methods: The importance of graphics was emphasised (“a picture is worth a thousand words”) and various stylistic devices were mentioned • Contextualisation: Uncertainties should be “embedded in the whole package” as their relevance only becomes apparent in the context of the specific topic This includes an appraisal of their impact - or lack of impact - on the safety of the repository • Framing: Embedding in a narrative involves a selection and evaluation of information and often has negative connotations (“the evil atom”) suitable framing can also have a mobilising effect: “I would rather click on the page “safety-in-the-repository.de” than on “uncertainty-in-the-repository.de” In task 4, participants created sketches of graphs showing data with uncertainties. One of these proposals is presented in Figure 2 as an example Participants’ suggestions for the visualisation of Monte Carlo simulations (B) area below maximum for five discrete scenarios; (C) maximum plane as interpolation of several scenarios differentiated by a continuous parameter they could be used to create a 3D surface that encompasses all values resulting from the considered scenarios Color can be used to encode the probability of values occurring The participants further discussed the possibility of creating a dimensionless parameter in order to characterize the uncertainties in each scenario Another participant suggested plotting the curve of maximum doses from all calculated scenarios in an X-Y scatterplot The presentation is to be in the style of an infographic Features are to include the use of “yellow barrels” as markers; icons for “a playing family” and “a hazmat suit” to indicate the safe and hazardous dose value ranges respectively; and the marking of limit and reference values Such an infographic is to be created for each time of interest A third suggestion concerned an interactive network diagram (Figure 3) it is possible to encode continuous or categorical data in five dimensions Clicking on an uncertainty reveals information about it while clicking on the link between two uncertainties reveals information about the relationship between them cross-hatching or colour saturation to add a further dimension to the graphs (e.g. a graduated colour band representing probability from 0 to 1) but showed awareness of both the emotional and evaluative effect of colours and potential accessibility issues Interactive 3D network diagram suggested by workshop participants Clicking on a marker highlights the uncertainties’ predecessors (P1 - P3) and successors (S1 S2) and opens a context menu with information regarding the selected uncertainty The results below were selected to provide examples for the application of transdisciplinary methods for method validation method optimisation and generation of technical impulses It shows that many of the concepts compiled by the IAEA experts were either explicitly addressed or implied by the workshop participants Notable exception are properties related to the determination of the indicator value It was apparent from the discussion that they assumed that this would be unproblematic and relevant methods well-established Noteworthy is the additional criterion of measurability The participants repeatedly implied that the indicator should be measurable implies that the indicator (or the parameter it is directly derived from) is detectable at the Earth’s surface or at least close to the surface It is conceivable that measurability may be even more important for the general public who are less familiar with modelling and less trusting of scientists Whether measurability is technically relevant or useful is besides the point: The decisive factor is that a value perceived as “real” or “true” is available which can be compared with previous model calculations if necessary Figure 4. Comparison of indicator properties collected by workshop participants and by IAEA experts. Illustration based on data taken from International Atomic Energy Agency (1994) Task 4 (see section 3.4) asked participants to prepare sketches of graphs that might help to communicate uncertainties. The discussion of this task was chosen to illustrate the potential adaptation of an existing method for an additional purpose. One of the suggestions made by the workshop participants was the creation of an interactive network diagram as shown in Figure 3 All uncertainties related to the evaluation of repository safety could be represented in a 3D diagram five categories would be available to encode relevant data with marker diameter an intuitive choice to represent the impact of the uncertainty on the end result Predecessor-successor relationships could be easily visualised The data stored for each uncertainty could be displayed in pop-up windows or tooltips Although network diagrams are in use for tracking parameter relationships and/or uncertainties as part of the database maintained by the German implementer Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH these are designed to facilitate the preparation and review of the Safety Case by experts They are not suitable for use by non-experts it should be feasible to extract the relevant information and build an interactive diagram as envisaged by the workshop participants with one caveat: In order for the size of the bubbles to be a meaningful representation of safety relevance there must be a method of assessing the impact of uncertainties that is common to all parameters Task 3 (see section 3.4) asked participants to reflect on the communication of uncertainties The discussion of this task was chosen to demonstrate the potential for disciplinary impulses Starting with graphs showing the results of Monte Carlo simulations the participants discussed the use of the Buckingham Pi theorem to create a dimensionless parameter that would allow the comparison of the uncertainties of different scenarios The basic requirement for comparability is that the diagrams share a common structure If the uncertainties contained in each diagram could then be expressed as a single numerical value the uncertainties of a large number of simulations would be easily comparable the information content of many complex diagrams could be condensed into a simple bar chart and would then be easy to convey in public communication Although the underlying methods and assumptions may be too complex for non-experts to understand they could be used to effectively illustrate site comparisons different design concepts and alternative evolutions of the repository not elaborated further during the workshops due to time constraints may serve as an example of disciplinary inspiration by persons without systems knowledge The participants did not offer any preferences regarding the choice of indicator(s) for the safety assessment they favoured indicators that were directly measurable and could be used to estimate the impact on the surface caused by a loss of containment Uncertainties should be communicated transparently Communication with the general public should make use of interactive graphics: The user should be able to adjust the level of complexity and information content as required Similarities in the backgrounds of the participants helped to deepen the discussions A greater diversity of perspectives can be achieved by other means by including participants from different organisations or personal backgrounds Careful selection of research questions that focus on the interface between science and society or on a social or societal aspect of the research topic offers the best chance of producing useful results in science and engineering research Transdisciplinary research is resource intensive in the planning and implementation phases Experiments cannot be repeated and results are not amenable to statistical processing a thorough analysis has to indicate whether a transdisciplinary approach is appropriate for the problem at hand costly problem with an extremely long time horizon that affects the entire population The choice of a transdisciplinary approach therefore seemed appropriate and our results confirm this: The content developed by the participants during the workshops was similar to the findings of experts This supports the plausibility and comprehensibility of the contents and methods under consideration and thus strengthens their legitimacy The transdisciplinary approach has been shown to be effective in scientific and engineering research for the purposes of method validation stress testing and technical impulse generation For future applications of the transdisciplinary approach in natural scientific or engineering research, the theoretical basis and terminology need to be refined and a toolbox of methods should be developed specifically for these applications. On the basis of the ten-step approach Pohl et al. (2017) specific guiding questions could be formulated to help assess the suitability of research questions for transdisciplinary treatment and to support the planning phases of transdisciplinary workshops The datasets presented in this article are not readily available because the data contains information which allows the identification of individuals. Requests to access the datasets should be directed to bWFydGluYS5oZWllcm1hbm5AdHUtY2xhdXN0aGFsLmRl Ethical approval was not required for the studies involving humans because the research is based on workshops offered within the framework of a postgraduate programme The studies were conducted in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research This research was funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection and the Volkswagen Foundation The authors would like to thank the TRANSENS team Klaus-Jürgen Röhlig and Marcel Ebeling The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 1The term “experts” is used here in the sense of “individuals with extensive system knowledge” which includes practice actors and scientists 2The term “citizen” is used specifically in the sense of “any member of the civil society without in-depth knowledge of NWM” Its use in this text can be considered equivalent to “non-expert” and appears only as part of the title of the Citizens’ Working Group 3The term “scientist” is used in this text to refer to any individual who seeks to advance science, but in particular to those who do so in an academic setting (e.g., universities, research institutes). On the pitfalls of defining the participants in transdisciplinary research, see also Defila and Di Giulio (2018) Behavioral receptivity to dissonant information PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Bundesministerium für Umwelt Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherheit (2020) Verordnung über Sicherheitsanforderungen an die Endlagerung hochradioaktiver Abfälle: EndlSiAnfV Google Scholar Bundesministerium für Umwelt Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherheit (2022) Verordnung über Anforderungen an die Durchführung der vorläufigen Sicherheitsuntersuchungen im Standortauswahlverfahren für die Endlagerung hochradioaktiver Abfälle: EndlSiUntV Google Scholar Transdisziplinär und transformativ forschen: Eine Methodensammlung (Wiesbaden: Springer VS) Google Scholar Deutscher Bundestag (2017) Gesetz zur Suche und Auswahl eines Standortes für ein Endlager für hochradioaktive Abfälle: StandAG Google Scholar Drögemüller “Die Arbeitsgruppe Bevölkerung im Projekt TRANSENS,” in Transdisziplinäre Ansätze in der nuklearen Entsorgungsforschung: Erfahrungen und Reflexionen aus dem Projekt TRANSENS (TRANSENS-Bericht Nr CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar “Planung und Durchführung transdisziplinärer Workshops zur Optimierung des Safety Case,” in Transdisziplinäre Ansätze in der nuklearen Entsorgungsforschung: Erfahrungen und Reflexionen aus dem Projekt TRANSENS (TRANSENS-Bericht Nr CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Opportunities for the further development of the safety case for deep geological repositories by transdisciplinary research – FEP catalogs and scenario development Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar science and system analysis,” in 3rd conference on key topics in deep geological disposal Cologne (Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft Endlagerforschung) Google Scholar International Atomic Energy Agency (1994) Safety indicators in different time frames for the safety assessment of underground radioactive waste repositories: INWAC subgroup on principles and criteria first report of the for radioactive waste disposal Google Scholar International Atomic Energy Agency (2012) The safety case and safety assessment for the disposal of radioactive waste Google Scholar Drawing on subjective knowledge and information receptivity to examine an environmental sustainability policy: insights from the UK’s bag charge policy CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Integrating societal concerns into research and development (R&D) on geological disposal at the national level CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Ten reflective steps for rendering research societally relevant CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Research on sustainability and global change—visions in science policy by swiss researchers Google Scholar Radioactive Waste Management Committee (2013) The nature and purpose of the post-closure safety cases for geological repositories Google Scholar Transdisciplinary research on repository safety: challenges and opportunities CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar The real type and ideal type of transdisciplinary processes: part I—theoretical foundations CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Die Arbeitsgruppe Bevölkerung (AGBe) in TRANSENS: Bestimmung und Rekrutierung CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar TRANSENS (2019) Forschung zur Verbesserung von Qualität und Robustheit der soziotechnischen Gestaltung des Entsorgungspfades: Vorhabenbeschreibung Google Scholar TRANSENS-SAFE (2023) Optimierung des Safety Case durch transdisziplinäre Forschung: Ergebnisse der Selbstevaluierung im transdisziplinären Arbeitspaket SAFE CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar “Von der Interdisziplinarität zur Transdisziplinarität?,” in Transdisziplinarität Völker (Göttingen: Universitätsverlag Göttingen) Google Scholar Challenges of transdisciplinary research as interactive knowledge generation: experiences from transdisciplinary case study research CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Zum Wissenschaftsvertrauen in Deutschland: Erkenntnisse aus dem Wissenschaftssurvey Wissenschaftsbarometer Google Scholar Citation: Heiermann M and Olszok V (2024) Transdisciplinary research on the safety case for nuclear waste repositories with a special focus on uncertainties and indicators Received: 09 April 2024; Accepted: 23 September 2024;Published: 16 October 2024 Copyright © 2024 Heiermann and Olszok. 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Please refer to our privacy policy to find out how we use cookies and how you can edit your preferences Metrics details In this work froth flotation studies with LiAlO2 (lithium-containing phase) and Melilite solid solution (gangue phase) are presented The system was optimized with standard collectors and with compounds so far not applied as collectors the principle of self-assembled monolayers was introduced to a froth flotation process for the first time resulting in excellent yields and selectivities a potential shortage of raw materials could threaten supply safety efficient recovery of lithium from spent LIBs is vital they have been functionalized for these applications with different molecules we present here an alternative approach towards froth flotation and compare the behavior of different collectors in an in situ standard flotation to a pre-functionalization approach the main phase of the ore is Melilite s.s. there are some impurities such as Merwinite ATR-IR-Spectra were recorded on an Alpha-T IR (Bruker) with a platinum ATR-unit and diamond crystal 10 w% of organic compound and toluene were refluxed under N2 in a Dean–Stark apparatus for 16 h or stirred at room temperature for 16 h The remaining solid was washed three times with toluene and dried under high vacuum The combined toluene solutions were evaporated and non-reacted organic compounds were recovered Used collector compounds next to sodium oleate the material was washed with toluene and dried The combined toluene filtrates were combined and evaporated to dryness to recover the phosphonic acid or phosphate In all cases both minerals became very hydrophobic to such an extent that froth flotation experiments were not possible the experiments showed that also at room temperature a high level of functionalization is feasible Flotation yield of TTA and TOPO functionalized LiAlO2 (a) and Melilite (b) Functionalization with LiAlO2 and Melilite s.s. Self-dehydroxylation on silica under water removing FT-IR measurement of TTA functionalized LiAlO2 (a) and Melilite s.s with lithium-containing minerals so far flotation experiments with these collectors Effect of Collector Dosage on Flotation of LiAlO2 using decyl dihydrogen phosphate. Effect of Collector Dosage on Flotation of Melilite s.s it is possible to note that for the flotation of LiAlO2 decyl dihydrogen phosphate has a low selectivity with a dosage of 300 g/t is about 10% lower than that of LiAlO2 which can be explained again by the fast hydrolysis of the collector Effect of Collector Dosage on Flotation of LiAlO2 using bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate at natural pH Finally, a standard system was also scaled up in a small flotation machine. The achieved results are shown in Table 2 for LiAlO2 and Melilite s.s at natural pH by using a small flotation machine Sodium oleate and LiAlO2 treated in sodium oleate solution (b) IR spectra of samples obtained after the desorption experiment: stirred at a rate of 500 rpm without washing; stirred at 500 rpm with washing; stirred at 1000 rpm with washing In summary it was possible to show that LiAlO2 and Melilite s.s Both standard collectors and compounds not previously used as collectors were investigated Very good yields and selectivities could be achieved with these collectors after optimization the principle of self-organized monolayers (SAM) was introduced for the first time in a froth flotation system The pre-functionalization resulted in a significant improvement compared to the standard These results will allow a new approach for the separation of different minerals via froth flotation in the future and further studies are currently conducted Jaskula, B. W. Lithium. https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2020/mcs2020-lithium.pdf (2020) Jaskula, B. W. Lithium. https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-lithium.pdf (2021) Laser ablation in air and its application in catalytic water splitting and Li-ion battery Li-distribution in compounds of the Li2O-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-CaO system—A first survey Phase composition of high lithium slags from the recycling of lithium ion batteries in SME Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy Handbook (eds R Speciation of manganese in a synthetic recycling slag relevant for lithium recycling from lithium-ion batteries A study of the solubility of pure slag minerals An Introduction to the Rock-Forming Minerals 3rd edn Metallurgical Process Mineralogy (Metallurgical Industry Press Sintering and devitrification of glass-powder compacts in the akermanite–gehlenite system New data on the composition of melilite during solid phase and solid-liquid phase synthesis Comptes Rendus-Academie Bulgare des Sciences 48 in European Mineral Processing & Recycling Congress in Adsorption from Aqueous Solutions (ed P in Adsorption from Solution at the Solid/Liquid Interface (eds G Mechanisms of alkyl sulfonate adsorption at the alumina-water interface The quantitative application of infrared spectroscopy to studies in surface chemistry Surface precipitation of inorganics and surfactants and its role in adsorption and flotation Chemistry of Flotation (Soc of Mining Engineers of AIME Revealing water films structure from force reconstruction in dynamic AFM Sum-frequency vibrational spectroscopy on water interfaces: Polar orientation of water molecules at interfaces Water adsorption on the α-Al2O3(0001) surface The chemistry of water on alumina surfaces: Reaction dynamics from first principles Formation and structure of self-assembled monolayers targeted drug delivery systems using mesoporous silica nanoparticles: Opportunities & challenges Mesoporous silica and organosilica nanoparticles: Physical chemistry Development of silica-based stationary phases for high-performance liquid chromatography A high temperature capacitive humidity sensor based on mesoporous silica Functional organophosphonate interfaces for nanotechnology: A review Reversed active sites boost the intrinsic activity of graphene-like cobalt selenide for hydrogen evolution Synthesis of alkyl dihydrogenphosphate by the reaction of alcohols and silyl polyphosphate Enhanced mobility for increasing on-current and switching ratio of vertical organic field-effect transistors by surface modification with phosphonic acid self-assembled monolayer Facile synthesis of zirconia-coated mesoporous silica particles by hydrothermal strategy under low potential of hydrogen conditions and functionalization with dodecylphosphonic acid for high-performance liquid chromatograph Straightforward immobilization of phosphonic acids and phosphoric acid esters on mesoporous silica and their application in an asymmetric aldol reaction Electrochemical stability enhancement of electrochromic tungsten oxide by self-assembly of a phosphonate protection layer Characterization of functionalized glass and indium tin oxide surfaces as substrates for super-resolution microscopy Detection of surface silanol groups on pristine and functionalized silica mixed oxides and zirconia Magnetically recoverable chiral catalysts immobilized on magnetite nanoparticles for asymmetric hydrogenation of aromatic ketones Self-assembling adhesion promoters for corrosion resistant metal polymer interfaces Phosphonate coupling molecules for the control of surface/interface properties and the synthesis of nanomaterials Covalent surface modification of oxide surfaces Angew Collecting performances and adsorption mechanism of alkylphosphorous esters on cassiterite Method of beneficiating sulfide and oxide ores of copper Synergetic effect of a mixture of anionic and nonionic reagents: Ca mineral contrast separation by flotation at neutral pH adsorption and flotation studies of sphalerite using di(2-ethyl hexyl)phosphoric acid Spectrophotometric determination of iron species using a combination of artificial neural networks and dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction based on solidification of floating organic drop Separation and determination of a trace amount of lithium as its complex with 12-crown-4 by means of synergic extraction and flame thenoyltrifluoroacetone photometry Solvent extraction of lithium from ammoniacal solution using thenoyltrifluoroacetone and neutral ligands μ-Phenoxide bridged mixed ligand Cu(II) complex: Synthesis energy frameworks and antimicrobial studies Molecular information on the potential of europium complexes for local recognition of a nucleoside-based drug by using nanostructured interfaces assembled as langmuir−blodgett films Surface modifcation via 2-thenoyltrifuoroacetone and the photophysical studies Solvent extraction of lithium ions using benzoyltrifluoroacetone in new solvents Enhancing the properties of perovskite quantum dot light emitting devices through grid structures formed by trioctylphosphine oxide Effective surface ligand-concentration tuning of deep-blue luminescent FAPbBr 3 nanoplatelets with enhanced stability and charge transport Highly stable all-inorganic perovskite quantum dots using a ZnX2-trioctylphosphine-oxide: Application for high-performance full-color light-emitting diode Amorphous SiO2 surface models: Energetics of the dehydroxylation process ab initio atomistic thermodynamics and IR spectroscopic signatures Thermal stability of phosphonic acid self-assembled monolayers on alumina substrates Solvent extraction of beryllium from aqueous solutions of mineral acids by alkyl esters of phosphoric acid Acidic organophosphorus extractants: I: Extraction of lanthanides by means of dialkyl phosphoric acids: Effect of structure and size of alkyl group A multi-stage process for recovery of neodymium (Nd) and dysprosium (Dy) from spent hard disc drives (HDDs) Lithium recovery from Li3PO4 leaching liquor: Solvent extraction mechanism of saponified D2EHPA system and forsterite using sodium oleate as the collector Enrichment of silicocarnotite from silicocarnotite and gehlenite mixtures using a kerosene-based liquid-liquid separation process Download references We thank Petra Sommer from the Institute of Mineral and Waste Processing Waste Disposal and Geomechanics for analysis We thank Sebastian Keber from the Institute of Mineral and Waste Processing Waste Disposal and Geomechanics for his help with flotation experimental design We thank Thomas Schirmer from the Institute of Disposal Research for discussions Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL performed the experiments and were responsible for analytical data preparation was preparing Elemental Analysis und TGA data All authors helped in improving the manuscript The authors declare no competing interests Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00008-z Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science Babette Tonn welcomes and congratulates many deserving participants there was a lot to celebrate at TU Clausthal's Foundry Technology Colloquium at the Institute of Metallurgy Sponsorship: 30 years of the Freunde und Förderer der Gießereitechnik an der TU Clausthal e.V (Friends and Sponsors of Foundry Technology at the TU Clausthal) Here it's all about attractive student life and a lively network Research: Innovations and Industry 4.0 - Reports from Industry and Research Celebrating: Professor Reinhard Döpp on his 90th birthday Babette Tonn had gathered many friends and supporters of Clausthal University of Technology around her and put together an interesting program: The crisis as a permanent state - how can the foundry industry become more resilient Dr Sustainability through innovation management and cooperation Dr Possibilities of digitalising material information in the foundry Dr Quality assurance in iron casting Dr Torsten Rieck FONDIUM Mettmann GmbH Mettmann Wolfgang Baumgart Faster to better results through digitalisation of simulation Dr Bocar GmbH Leinfelden-Echterdingen    Understanding core shooting better Rudolf Wintgans Process-side elimination of step artefacts in 3D-printed moulds and cores Christoph Hartmann Special features of interface formation in Al-brass composite casting Vanessa Glück Nardi TU Clausthal The technical presentations also dealt with the significant challenges that are currently affecting us all as well as the view into a digitalized and highly networked future This was comprehensively confirmed from the point of view of the presenting foundries lack of skilled workers and so much more cannot be solved ad hoc but the colloquium always contributes to cultivating and promoting exchange and cohesion Reinhard Döpp was appropriately honored and celebrated the evening before as a prelude to the Foundry Evening which the participants will remember fondly I would like to receive the bi-weekly Foundry-Planet newsletter with all latest news Plus the special newsletters – all can be cancelled anytime and at no cost you’d be nothing!” My favourite response: “What makes you think I’m something now Do you think the chancellor cares if you or I live or die?” People who make “problematic statements” online would also be screened The meeting abroad would be a victory for the separatists as it gives the appearance of bilateral negotiations between two heads of state a veteran of the German automotive industry recently sat down for an interview to discuss the ideological struggle of the Greens against the automobile—and the consequences for Europe Spaniel studied chemical engineering in Clausthal-Zellerfeld and mechanical engineering at RWTH Aachen and worked for many years as a development engineer He became a member of the German Bundestag in 2017 where he is currently the AfD policy-spokesman for transport cars with internal combustion engines could continue to be operated in a CO2-neutral way the supply network would already exist via the filling stations and the problem we have today—of spiralling energy costs for e-car owners—would not weigh so heavily the Greens and their stalwarts in the other parties strictly reject e-fuels This shows me that their reasons are ideological private transport will become more and more expensive The freedom we have experienced in recent decades to decide for ourselves when and how we get around will no longer be affordable for many people unless we can effectively oppose this policy throughout Europe one must develop the most efficient and resourceful infrastructure road transport remains essential for mobility Directing investments into infrastructure and road transport leads to efficient mobility and great economic benefit The second point is simply to foster openness to technology we will recognise synthetic fuels as CO2-neutral There will be competition for the best technology and the electric car will also come under cost and reputational pressure This will create the climate of innovation that we need I personally believe that the internal combustion engine will ultimately prevail The FDP has even written the preservation of the combustion engine they cannot—or will not?—come good on the commitment If an open-minded approach to technology and e-fuels had been more than just a campaign slogan A representative of the French transport committee answered that they had not evaluated the draft decisions in detail It was assumed that the Germans knew what they were doing Germany is increasingly becoming a transfer society Transfer societies tend to nationalise their industries; and that is exactly what the European Union is actually striving for: more state control The nationalisation of industry will lead to greater centralisation at the EU level which is definitely in the interest of the Brussels bureaucrats and not necessarily in the interest of the liberal European parties You have to look at the future of the car industry in different ways which will relocate to countries with better conditions This will lead to massive job losses in Germany and Europe but not necessarily to negative business results for the respective corporations Then there are the many supplier companies They will not be able to simply relocate abroad even more of the wealth creation in Europe will take place in the non-manufacturing sector This in turn will lead to high economic volatility and one of the pillars of the economy will be research and development But you can only develop things whose production processes you understand And if the production processes no longer take place in Europe it will become a big problem to maintain Europe’s GDP through services Great Britain has already experienced something similar The countries mentioned have the advantage that energy costs are lower there than in Germany That means they can benefit to some extent from relocations within Europe But they are equally affected by corporate relocation outside Europe Metrics details We present in-situ self-diffusion experiments in solids which were carried out by Focussing Neutron Reflectometry on isotope multilayers This new approach offers the following advantages in comparison to classical ex-situ measurements: (1) Identification and continuous measurement of a time dependence of diffusivities (2) significant reduction of error limits of diffusivities and (3) substantial reduction of the necessary experimental time yet unknown self-diffusivities in amorphous germanium are measured at various temperatures quasi-continuously A significant decrease of diffusivities as a function of annealing time by one order of magnitude is detected that is attributed to structural relaxation accompanied by defect annihilation In metastable equilibrium the diffusivities follow the Arrhenius law between 375 and 412 °C with an activation energy of Q = (2.11 ± 0.12) eV The diffusivities are five orders of magnitude higher than in germanium single crystals at 400 °C The drawback of all tracer methods (radiotracer NR etc.) is that the diffusion process cannot be monitored in-situ In order to extract diffusivities after tracer deposition diffusion annealing and tracer redistribution the sample under investigation has always been cooled down to room temperature in order to freeze diffusion before time-consuming analysis is done For several advanced metastable materials (amorphous semiconductors nano-materials) an in-situ recording of diffusivities directly during diffusion and annealing with high temporal resolution in the minutes range is highly interesting It would allow identifying and quantifying the modification of time-dependent diffusivities due to structural relaxation Such effects are often masked by ex-situ experiments due to heating and cooling periods and a limited number of data points (diffusivities per time interval) it is not necessary to complexly adjust the sample after each annealing step This will drastically enhance the exactness of the determination of reflectivities and reduce error limits of diffusivities as well as experimental time A significantly higher number density of diffusivity values can be reached and activation energies might be determined more precisely This enables a quasi-continuous in-situ detection of self-diffusivities directly during annealing This new approach offers the following advantages: (1) Identification and continuous measurement of time dependent diffusivities (2) significant reduction of error limits of diffusivities and activation energies (3) substantial reduction of the necessary experimental time and (4) direct measurement of diffusion during diffusion controlled structural re-arrangements (e.g we present and discuss first experiments on in-situ monitoring of self-diffusivities for the model system amorphous germanium in order to illustrate the efficiency of the method Classical prototypes are silicon and germanium due to their simple tetrahedral short range structure The knowledge of diffusion processes in such materials is relatively limited The high covalent bond energy leads to low self-diffusivities below the crystallization temperature the intrinsic metastability has the consequence that annealing (e.g during preparation or microstructural tailoring) at elevated temperatures may lead to crystallization processes an experimental access to such systems is complicate Such effects will lead to time-dependent diffusivities that have to be identified is kept fixed and the other quantity is varied The Selene setup allows a variation of both parameters at the same time The wavelength is determined by time-of-flight and the scattering angle with a position sensitive detector This experimental arrangement improves the intensity at the sample significantly so that the reflected intensity can be measured continuously and binned down to 1 min resolution Annealing was performed in a specially designed rapid thermal annealing setup (AO 500 extremely fast heating rates are possible which allow one to reach temperatures up to 500 °C in less than 30 s For the in-situ NR experiments the annealing setup was optimized for use in the neutron beam by separating the heating chamber from the control unit and equipping it with two sapphire windows for entrance and exit of the neutron beam The temperature of the sample was recorded during the NR measurement by a RT100 thermocouple located at the sample position and controlled by a PID controller Grazing-Incidence X-ray Diffractometry (XRD) for structural characterization of the samples before and after annealing was carried out using a Panalytical Empyrean diffractometer (CuKα incidence angle α  = 1°) at the Institut für Nichtmetallische Werkstoffe Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction patterns of [73Ge (14 nm)/natGe (14 nm)] × 10 multilayers at different temperatures The patterns are shifted in intensity along the ordinate for clarity r = 28 nm is the 73Ge/natGe bilayer thickness and Dav is a time averaged diffusivity as given by This low error limits in D will also lead to a reduced error in the activation energy of diffusion (see below) The time dependence of the instantaneous D is described by a first order reaction as It can be transformed into eq. (3) by inserting eq. (4) into eq. (2) A significantly improved fit of the experimental data assuming a time-dependent diffusivity was found for all temperatures under investigation in the temperature range between 370 and 412 °C This has the consequence that a decrease of diffusivities is observed This annihilation process occurs on a time scale of the relaxation time τ thermal equilibrium diffusion takes place intrinsic to the metastable amorphous structure The overall thickness of the Ge multilayer as determined from the Bragg peak position varies non-systematically (statistically) during annealing by a maximum value of about 0.5% This is not supporting the assumption of a large densification of the amorphous structure this effect can definitely contribute to the decrease of diffusivities observed a further advantage of in-situ experiments over ex-situ experiments becomes clear Time-dependent diffusivities with very short relaxation times of several minutes as found here cannot be identified properly by an ex-situ experiment often the effect of relaxation is averaged out and effective diffusivities are determined Only the quasi-continuous recording of several hundred of reflectivity patterns and hence Bragg peak intensities as a function of time allows to exactly detect the time-dependence of diffusivities on the given time scale Note also that in-situ experiments lead to a substantial reduction of experimental time several hundred reflectivity patterns are recorded each corresponding to an instantaneous diffusivity in a single experiment lasting some hours This is not possible by ex-situ experiments where each diffusivity has to be measured separately The consequences are a significant reduction of error limits and a proper identification of time-dependent diffusivities as mentioned The diffusivities in metastable equilibrium D = De obtained at various temperatures are plotted in Fig. 4 as a function of inverse temperature. The diffusivities obey the Arrhenius law Also shown is the diffusivity for a sample pre-annealed at 425 °C for 5 min (blue open circle) This clearly shows that pre-annealing at higher temperatures eliminates structural relaxation effects we presented in-situ self-diffusion experiments in solids based on Focussing Neutron Reflectometry Amorphous germanium was used as a model system Diffusivities were measured quasi-continuously during isothermal annealing at different temperatures This new approach has the advantage of a significant reduction of error limits of diffusivities while at the same time a substantial reduction of the necessary experimental time is achieved The method also allows identification and continuous measurement of time-dependent diffusivities which is not possible during ex-situ studies The self-diffusivities in amorphous germanium follow the Arrhenius law between 375 and 412 °C with an activation energy of Q = (2.11 ± 0.12) eV with absolute values five orders of magnitude higher than in germanium single crystals at 400 °C Phase Transformations in Materials (Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co Self-Diffusion in Amorphous Silicon by Local Bond Rearrangements Contributions of vacancies and self-interstitials to self-diffusion in silicon under thermal equilibrium and nonequilibrium conditions Application of the Nuclear Reaction Analysis Online Technique to Study the Diffusion of Deuterium in Metals Self-diffusion in intrinsic germanium and effects of doping on self-diffusion in germanium Nitrogen self-diffusion in silicon nitride thin films probed with isotope heterostructures Similarity between the Properties of Native Point Defects Silicon self-diffusion in isotope heterostructures Self-and foreign-atom diffusion in semiconductor isotope heterostructures Self-diffusion in crystalline silicon: A single diffusion activation enthalpy down to 755 °C Structural relaxation and self-diffusion in covalent amorphous solids Nitrogen diffusion in amorphous silicon nitride isotope multilayers probed by neutron reflectometry How to measure atomic diffusion processes in the sub-nanometer range Self-diffusion in germanium isotope multilayers at low temperatures Grain Boundary Self-diffusion in Fe Films with a Stable Nanostructure The study of self-diffusion in crystalline and amorphous multilayer samples by neutron reflectometry Iron self-diffusion in amorphous FeZr/57FeZr multilayers measured by neutron reflectometry Atomic transport in metastable compounds: Case study of self-diffusion in Si−C−N films using neutron reflectometry Implementation and experience on the TOF-reflectometer Amor Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators Focusing specular neutron reflectometry for small samples The physics and applications of amorphous semiconductors (Acad Physics of amorphous semiconductors (World Scientific [u.a.] Alloy negative electrodes for Li-ion batteries Technology and Applications of Amorphous Silicon (Springer Short range atomic migration in amorphous silicon Atomic transport during solid-phase epitaxial recrystallization of amorphous germanium Tetrahedrally Coordinated Random-Network Structure On the crystallization of amorphous germanium films The crystallization of amorphous germanium films Annealing and crystallization of amorphous germanium thin films Structural Relaxation and De-Relaxation Phenomena in Amorphous Ge Films upon Irradiation with Short and Ultrashort Laser Pulses Structural relaxation and crystallization of amorphous Ge films Structural relaxation and defect annihilation in pure amorphous silicon Structural relaxation in ion-damaged amorphous germanium Defect production and annealing in ion-implanted amorphous silicon Calorimetric evidence for structural relaxation in amorphous silicon An intrinsic stress scaling law for polycrystalline thin films prepared by ion beam sputtering Preparation of Sn-doped In2O3 (ITO) films at low deposition temperatures by ion-beam sputtering An X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study of the HF etching of native oxides on Ge(111) and Ge(100) surfaces A study of contaminant overlayer on Ge(l00) surface using kinetic resolved XPS Secondary ion mass spectrometry: a practical handbook for depth profiling and bulk impurity analysis (Wiley Crystallization kinetics of amorphous germanium In situ x-ray diffraction study of metal induced crystallization of amorphous germanium Single crystalline SiGe layers on Si by solid phase epitaxy Epitaxial growth of germanium thin films on crystal silicon substrates by solid phase crystallization and noble gases on the crystallization of amorphous Si layers Self-diffusion and defect annihilation in nanocrystalline Fe films probed by neutron reflectometry Migration and annihilation of non-equilibrium point defects in sputter deposited nanocrystalline alpha-Fe films Correlation between self-diffusion in Si and the migration mechanisms of vacancies and self-interstitials: An atomistic study Study of effective Debye temperature for germanium On the solubility and diffusivity of the intrinsic point defects in germanium Elucidating the atomistic mechanisms driving self-diffusion of amorphous Si during annealing Mechanism of boron diffusion in amorphous silicon Intrinsic and dopant-enhanced solid-phase epitaxy in amorphous germanium In Kuech T Handbook of Crystal Growth: Thin Films and Epitaxy Download references This work is based upon experiments performed at the Swiss spallation neutron source SINQ The research project has been supported by the German Research Foundation under the contract Schm1569/29-1 Dörrer (TU Clausthal) for doing the SIMS analysis We acknowledge support by Open Access Publishing Fund of Clausthal University of Technology Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging Institute for Applied Materials (IAM) and Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility (KNMF) analysed data and wrote parts of the manuscript did the technical supply and supervision of NR experiments and wrote the program for NR data extraction and analysis supplied the XRD equipment and supported XRD data analysis performed and analysed the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-35915-1 This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page See the Program here: Information and Exchange - Classical Topics - Digitalization - Machine Learning - Foundry Night which showed us that high flexibility and innovations are essential for our economic success the first top events in 2023 are now coming up The 4th Molding Materials Forum 2023 at Clausthal University of Technology will once again offer a platform for information and exchange on diverse areas of mold and core production The focus will be on classic topics as well as digitalization or the use of machine learning for process design An attractive program of lectures and large exhibitor areas will provide the opportunity to find out about new trends and developments and to discuss them in more detail in personal meetings The Foundry Meeting in the historic Glückauf Hall rounds off the event Together with the entire organization team Babette Tonn at the Clausthal University of Technology looks forward to welcoming you to Clausthal-Zellerfeld and experiencing an exciting Molding Materials Forum together with you See here the current event program as of January 2023:  You may not be able to find the page you were after because of: You might find one of the following links useful: Discover how ATLANT 3D's DALP technology revolutionizes thin-film deposition enabling rapid prototyping and advanced material applications in nanofabrication Precise Nano Corporation is transforming nanogold production with innovative methods that ensure purity Ramakrishna shares his insights into his ongoing electrospinning work and highlights nanofibers' transformative potential in addressing critical challenges InProcess' FIDES is the perfect tool for nanoparticle size characterization for turbid sample analysis The Leica EM VCT500 Vacuum Cryo Transfer System can transfer samples under cryogenic conditions or at room temperature The CT-2 is an ultra-thin vibration isolation platform with superior stability and easy setup you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from AZoNetwork.com please log into your AZoProfile account first Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content A few things you need to know before we start Read the full Terms & Conditions a power electronics provider for the marine industry has won a contract to deliver the single drives for shaft… Fast-growing energy demand is driving the need for technical support and guidance in new locations Belgium-based offshore installation services company DEME has completed the acquisition Havfram Jan De Nul has kicked off the installation campaign of the monopile foundations for RWE’s Thor offshore wind farm we excel in creating stunning illuminated yacht names and logos and cutting-edge LED and fiber optic solutions Maritime Reporter E-News is the maritime industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service delivered to your Email five times per week Now is the ideal time for hiking across Europe – and these glorious trails are all reachable without flying Spooky strolling amid atmospheric mountainsDistance 58 milesSuggested number of days Five or six where better to hike than a land of wicked witches and creepy fairytales The Harz Mountains have long been associated with German folklore and the region is hugely atmospheric in autumn when smoke starts twirling from the chimneys of half-timbered houses The moderate-grade Harzer-Hexen-Stieg (Harz Witches Trail) runs along forest tracks through Harz national park and can be walked throughout October The Waldstätterweg trail has views over Lake Lucerne Photograph: Caroline Pirskanen/Caroline Pirskanen | Luzern TourismusWhy Still-accessible mountains and marvellous mistsDistance 71 milesSuggested number of days Three to seven Switzerland is arguably the world’s best place to hike Mountain huts close in September and snow can block trails it’s best to plan day walks and head out only if the weather allows For a multi-day adventure, Switzerland Tourism’s Chloé Schenkel recommends the Waldstätterweg trail “It’s one of the safest when it comes to snow conditions,” says Chloé “and the views and the colours of the trees are breathtaking at the end of October.” This moderate seven-stage route traces the shore of Lake Lucerne from the village of Brunnen to the meadow at Rütli with the dazzling blue water a constant companion elegant promenades and trails through chestnut woods to link lakeside settlements with the exception of the 1,100 metres Bürgenstock cliff path The Risleten Schlucht waterfall on the Waldstätterweg. Photograph: Armin Ben Wurmser & Tina GerberThe Waldstätterweg has plentiful accommodation, such as the lakeside Hotel Nidwaldnerhof (doubles from €175 B&B) in Beckenried Parasol mushrooms (Macrolepiota procera) in Los Alcornocales park. Photograph: Nature Picture Library/AlamyWhy? A newer mountain route that’s warm into winterDistance 68 milesSuggested number of days Six Autumn isn’t just a good time to walk in Andalucía; it’s arguably the best. The weather stays warm long after winter starts to bite further north. It’s cheaper and less crowded, too. Read moreThe circular GR141 runs in a loop to the south of Ronda riverside trails and forests of chestnuts and ancient cork oaks Along the route are dramatic El Colmenar gorge whose canutos (deep ravines) shelter unique plants The view towards Lagkadia in the central PeloponneseWhy Late autumn colour and excellent quiet trailsDistance 47 milesSuggested number of days Four to seven The Menalon Trail is officially excellent It was the first in Greece to be awarded “leading quality” status by the European Ramblers Association a designation that ensures the route’s high standard and positive impact on local communities Temperatures are pleasant and autumn colours are glorious well into November in the central Peloponnese extending the window for long-distance walkers The trail curves like a question mark in the western shadow of 1,981-metre Menalon old stone settlements and steep-sided valleys cloaked in woods that glow come autumn It also passes tavernas offering filling goat stews You might even catch the Arcadian grape harvest in progress: it can extend into November trikolonioncountry.gr) and a folklore museum showcasing the village’s jewellery-making heritage The path’s official website describes the walk in a northward direction, but On Foot Holidays’ self-guided Arcadia trip runs the opposite way “This makes the most spectacular walk along the Lousios Gorge the grand finale rather than the start,” says On Foot’s Heather Bamber which lists accommodation and sells the official trail map San Gimignano but with wineDistance 68 milesSuggested number of days Seven Prices tend to drop considerably in November Cabo de São Vicente Dramatic coast walking in balmy weatherDistance 466 miles totalSuggested number of days At least four Weaving around the overlooked south-west Alentejo and Vicentine Coast natural park, the Rota Vicentina isn’t just a network of wonderful walking trails, it’s a community triumph created a decade ago by local businesses seeking to attract sustainable tourism year-round The complete Rota Vicentina comprises 24 circular day hikes and two 13-stage trails: the 141-mile coastal Fishermen’s Trail and the 163-mile Historical Way which heads into the mountains and forests The walking is generally easy and well waymarked The biggest challenge is choosing which section of which route to do to busy Lagos on the Algarve’s south coast it’s possible to walk 75 miles from the fishing village of Zambujeira to craggy Cabo de São Vicente mainland Europe’s most southwesterly point Rocha Negra near Lagos Photograph: Samuel Foster/AlamyIn autumn there are dolphins to spot offshore and thousands of birds migrating along the eastern Atlantic flyway The walking is via dunes and herb-infused heathland the ruined Ribat of Arrifana (an Islamic fortress) and charming villages such as Rogil and Bordeira Dr. Jürgen Großmann: "Who really read the Paris Climate Agreement? The Clausthal professors Heinz Palkowski, Karl-Heinz Spitzer, Harald Schmidt and Babette Tonn had invited to the metallurgical colloquium at the TU Clausthal. Under the motto "Business and Science in Dialogue", former and current Clausthalers as well as experts from various disciplines were able to exchange views on the urgent topics of the time. The topics and strategies in thermochemistry, micro kinetics, metallurgical process engineering, foundry technology and material transformation are, of course, shaped by the current challenges, in particular from the Paris Climate Agreement. Dr. Matthias Weinberg (2nd from left) was able to impressively point out the path of Thyssenkrupp Steel's steel production towards climate neutrality and Jürgen Großmann (2nd from the right), Georgsmarienhütte Holding GmbH, recognized the noticeable challenges with utmost sensitivity. Industry, like politics, urgently needs to recognize the signs. In Germany, everyone is talking about the climate, but hardly anyone actually knows the contents of the Paris Agreement. For his services to the foundry industry and foundry chemistry, Dr. Ing. Wilhelm Kuhlgatz (Hüttenes-Albertus Werke) of the Association of Friends and Sponsors of the TU Clausthal, was honored for his merits and received a honorary "Barbara". Jennifer Maki has been appointed executive director of Vale's Base Metals division after its previous executive director, Peter Poppinga, was named executive director of Ferrous Minerals for the company. Maki has worked for Vale since 1993, and since January has been the chief financial and administrative officer for Base Metals. She also participated in the management of Base Metals businesses outside Canada. Maki has an undergraduate degree in business from Queen's University and a postgraduate diploma from the Institute of Chartered Accountants. After working at PricewaterhouseCoopers for 10 years, Maki joined Vale as assistant controller, holding several positions including vice-president, treasurer and chief financial officer. She has been a member of the board of commissioners of PT Vale Indonesia Tbk (PTVI) since 2007 and recently became its president commissioner. As executive director of Vale's Base Metals division, she will be responsible for the company's operations in Sudbury. In a news release, Vale said Maki has made major contributions to the business, taking "firm action" in cost management and control, in the implementation of funding strategies, in negotiating joint venture agreements in base metals and in the co-ordination of work to resolve issues related to pension funds of Base Metals group companies."‹ Poppinga studied geology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and has an undergraduate degree in applied geology from the University of Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany. With more than 20 years' experience in iron ore, Poppinga began his career in 1984 at Samitri, an iron and manganese mining company, where he held leadership positions in mine planning, iron ore production, and sales and marketing. He also held shared responsibility for sales of pellet production at Samarco and was involved in the development of the Chinese iron ore market. He joined Vale in 1999 in the Iron Ore Commercial area, where he held several positions in the company's foreign sales offices, including sales director in New York and Belgium, and chief executive officer of Vale International in Switzerland. In 2007, after Brazil-based Vale purchased Inco, Poppinga held several corporate positions in Toronto. In 2009, he returned to operations as chief operating officer of Base Metals Operations, Asia & Pacific, based in Australia. In 2011, he was appointed executive director of Base Metals and IT, leading 16 operating sites around the world and driving major transformations and asset base optimization that turned the business around and delivered improved results. He is replacing Jose Carlos, whom Vale said left the company to take on new challenges in his career. transmission or republication strictly prohibited This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Information leaks pierce privacy · Canada 'keen on' China partnership · PLA beefs up military training system · Tight air control rules impede private flights · New policies to boost cross-Straits ties · Airport adopts new security rule on liquid · Science post to light the way · Rebels release Chinese hostages · Golden-week holiday spells nightmare which recently moved up to the blue-chip board of the London stock market accounts for four percent of Kazakhstan’s GDP and is one of the world’s biggest producers of the raw materials that go into steel – a material close to the chief executive’s heart “My grandfather and father were both steelmakers and so I became a steelmaker,” he told us in response to emailed questions “All of my personal targets early on were bound up with that industry I grew up in the shadow of a steelmill in Germany.” began his career as an academic at the Technical University of Clausthal-Zellerfeld in the 1970s before joining steelmaker Ispat International known for audacious mergers and acquisitions that have put his firm at the top of the global steelmaking tree for his ability to make decisions on the basis of the big picture and without getting lost in the detail,” Sittard says unlike those who worry too much about covering their backs.” Mittal’s family background is in steel He was the reason I worked for Mittal,” Sittard says Sittard joined the firm now known as ENRC in 2001 The company began life as a group of assets bought by company founders Patokh Chodiev Alijan Ibragimov and Alexander Machkevitch during Kazakhstan’s wave of privatisations in the mid-1990s had a market capitalisation of around $23bn The three founders each retain stakes of 14.6 percent while Sittard’s own shareholding is less than three percent Shares in the company have risen 80 percent since the company floated in London last December dramatically outperforming the all-share index Part of ENRC’s success lies in the proximity of Kazakhstan but while Kazakhstan is happy to supply the building blocks of a new China “It is not Kazkhstan’s ambition to become like China It is their (Kazakhstan’s) aspiration to be a modern state modelled on a western country The country has achieved a vast amount in its 10-15 years of independence and is fast embracing modernity.” Being at the starting point of a process of industrial growth is what excites Sittard about the raw materials business “No industry can grow without the use of natural resources,” he said “This sets the natural resource industry at the beginning of a chain of value creation and makes it a great place to create as much value as possible.” China or any of the other metal-producing or consuming parts of the world Sittard can be found on the ski slopes or the coast “I have skied every year but one of the 55 since I first started I ski in Austria where I have a house near where my wife grew up An outdoor sportsman as well as a mining executive he is keenly aware that extractive industries take a particularly heavy toll on the natural world “I am also very conscious of the environmental impact of the work I do and am motivated to minimise the negative impact mining has had a substantial negative impact on the environment but it will continue to be a big challenge for everyone in the industry.” The Supervisory Board of OMV Petrom appointed Christopher Veit as the new Executive Board Member of OMV Petrom responsible for Upstream In line with OMV Petrom’s articles of association the appointment is for the remaining term of the mandate granted to Peter Zeilinger Chris Veit accepted his appointment and will assume the mandate as of October 1 Prior to the Supervisory Board meeting today Peter Zeilinger waived his mandate as the Executive Board Member responsible for Upstream His waiver shall become effective on September 30 The Supervisory Board would like to thank Peter Zeilinger for his contribution and his commitment to the success of the company the Supervisory Board welcomes Chris Veit as the new Executive Board Member responsible for Upstream Peter Zeilinger holds a Masters degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Technical University of Clausthal-Zellerfeld in Germany In more than 27 years with the OMV Group he held various technical and management positions in Austria From 2011 to 2016 he led the Australasia region of OMV in Wellington as Managing Director for OMV New Zealand Ltd and Director of OMV Australia PTY Peter Zeilinger spent almost 9 years with OMV Petrom in the position of Director Domestic Assets and from April 2016 as Executive Board member responsible for Upstream During his tenure as member of the Board in OMV Petrom the Upstream division implemented a number of strategic changes including regional growth in the Black Sea divestments of marginal fields as well as modernization and simplification of the production network Peter Zeilinger is taking over the role as Senior Vice President Exploration Production & Development in the Head office Vienna Chris Veit holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters degree of Petroleum Engineering of the Mining University at Leoben He started his career with Schlumberger as wireline engineer and joined 1986 OMV Austria Exploration & Production GmbH in Gaenserndorf as a Production Engineer He has held various technical positions and subsequently management positions in Libya Pakistan and as well as in Austria such as the Senior Vice President and Managing Director of OMV Austria Exploration & Production GmbH he took over the role as Senior Vice President for Exploration Development and Production to develop and contribute to the evaluation and reorganization of whole OMV Upstream organization Chris Veit currently represents OMV in several supervisory boards of its subsidiaries and is member of the advisory board of the Department Petroleum Engineering at Mining University Leoben OMV Petrom is the largest energy company in South-Eastern Europe with an annual Group hydrocarbon production of 55.4 million boe in 2019 The Group has a refining capacity of 4.5 million tons annually and operates an 860 MW high efficiency power plant The Group is present on the oil products retail market in Romania and neighboring countries through 802 filling stations one of the largest listed industrial companies in Austria and 18.352% is the free float on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange OMV Petrom is the largest contributor to the state budget with contributions of 30.4 billion euro in taxes and dividends paid between 2005 and 2019 OMV Petrom has included corporate responsibility principles into its business strategy the company has allocated approximately 66 million euro to develop communities in Romania OMV Petrom announced its support for the recommendations issued by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) regarding risks and opportunities on climate change The Nobel Prize is the most prestigious award that can be given to experts in the fields of Chemistry he left no heirs and most of his fortune was placed into a trust to be used for prizes for those who have excelled in their field According to the website of The Nobel Prize only 590 Nobel Prizes have been awarded since 1901 it’s not an easy thing to win the Nobel Prize but usually only one (or one team) can win Some candidates are nominated more than once Arnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld came up for consideration 84 times but never won Sommerfeld was born in 1868 in East Prussia and received his Ph.D in mathematics and physical sciences from the University of Königsberg in 1891 He apparently had a few rowdy college years resulting in a permanent fencing scar on his face from inebriated duels and remained in the military reserves for the next eight years he gained his teaching license for high-level mathematics Sommerfeld’s talents became well known as he advanced to the chair of the mathematics department at the Bergakademie in Clausthal-Zellerfeld He also became the editor of the Enzyklopädie der mathematischen Wissenschaften Sommerfeld later accepted the chair of Applied Mechanics at the Königliche Technische Hochschule Aachen Germany where he formed his theory of hydrodynamics Sommerfeld was the director of the Theoretical Physics Institute at the University of Munich His students at both of those universities included many names well-known in scientific circles It was at the Königliche that he taught Peter Debye won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to the study of molecular structure Heisenberg won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1932 for the creation of quantum mechanics Other students from Munich include Wolfgang Pauli who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1945 for his discovery of the “Pauli exclusion principle” the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics for his theory of stellar nucleosynthesis in 1967 Because of the caliber of the scientists that could claim Sommerfeld as their mentor “What I especially admire about you is that you have pounded out of the soil such a large number of young talents.” Related Video: Inside how Money is Actually Made Mathematician Morris Kline stated of Sommerfeld that he was an inspiring teacher at the vanguard of relativity and that he educated the greatest physicists in the first 30 years of the twentieth century and Nobel Prize winner Max Born noted that Sommerfield took undisciplined but creative minds and helped them realize what they didn’t know as well as fostering the skills and discipline necessary to perform fruitful research these men were impressed not only with Sommerfeld’s education and knowledge but his teaching abilities as well many promising scientists in Europe fled Germany Sommerfeld watched sadly as Germany lost brilliant minds and decided that he must remain and continue teaching Adolf Hitler appointed his own people who were barely qualified and Sommerfeld was replaced as Professor of Theoretical Physics by Wilhelm Müller who was an an aerodynamicist and wholly unqualified to hold the post Sommerfeld continued his work in quantum theory he co-discovered the Sommerfeld-Wilson quantization rules with Englishman William Wilson worked with electromagnetism and hydrodynamics and advanced the information of X-ray wave theory and his theory of electrons in metals was valuable in the study of thermoelectricity and metallic conduction Sommerfeld’s nominations for the Nobel Prize can be found listed in the Nomination Archive of the Nobel Prize website His name was put forward to receive the award for Physics in 1917 Sommerfeld was hit by a truck as he crossed the street — an accident attributed to his diminished hearing in his elder years Read another story from us: The Genius of Marie Curie was Formed at an Underground Illegal University Although he never won the Nobel Prize himself one could say that he won many times through those he educated and inspired Ian Harvey is one of the authors writing for The Vintage News Join 1000s of subscribers and receive the best Vintage News in your mailbox for FREE