Marc Avila is the director of ZARM and the CEO of the ZARM Drop Tower Operations and Service Company. He also leads the fluid mechanics research group at the University of Bremen. For the past three years, he has worked with intense dedication towards the vision of establishing a cluster of excellence for space research and technology at the University of Bremen. He is the spokesperson of the Humans on Mars Initiative, which laid the foundation for the current Cluster of Excellence application “The Martian Mindset: A Scarcity-Driven Engineering Paradigm.” The first hurdle has already been cleared and the team has submitted a full proposal to the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Katharina Brinkert has been leading the new human space exploration technologies research group since August 2024. She brings outstanding expertise in space exploration, microgravity, and photoelectrochemistry to this position. Katharina Brinkert has been associated with ZARM for a long time and has carried out experiments at the drop tower since 2016. In addition to her professorship at the University of Warwick, she has been working part-time with her photoelectrocatalysis research team at ZARM since October 2021.

Strengthening Space Research and Contributing to the Cluster of Excellence Proposal

The substantive and structural gain through the appointment of Katharina Brinkert is an important step for ZARM. The focus on astronautic space missions is further reinforced by her expertise in human space exploration technologies research. This also benefits the ongoing application for the “Martian Mindset” Cluster of Excellence, which has the goal of researching and developing innovative and sustainable technologies for future Mars missions. Here, Katharina Brinkert's work on artificial photosynthesis systems for the production of oxygen and other chemicals under space conditions will play an important role.

“With the appointment of Katharina Brinkert and the creation of the new research group, ZARM has a broader strategic base. Her globally recognized expertise and international experience, especially in the field of electrochemistry and microgravity research, are invaluable for future research activities at ZARM,” emphasizes Professor Avila.

Short Biography of Katharina Brinkert

Since August 1, 2024, Katharina Brinkert has been the director of ZARM and professor of human space exploration technologies at the University of Bremen. She is investigating artificial photosynthesis systems for the sustainable production of oxygen, fuels, and other chemicals in space environments and on Earth. For her pioneering work in this field, she was awarded the Zeldovich Medal in 2021. She was previously a Leopoldina Postdoctoral Fellow at the California Institute of Technology and a research fellow at ESA's European Space and Technology Center (ESTEC). Before joining ZARM, she held positions as assistant and associate professor, respectively, at the University of Warwick.

Birgit Kinkeldey

Contact:

Birgit Kinkeldey
Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM)
University of Bremen
Email: birgit.kinkeldey@zarm.uni-bremen.de
Phone: +49 421 218-57755