The Research Training Group 3D-NanoFab at TU Ilmenau is being funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for a second time. With the 5.5 million euros that germany's most important research funding institution has granted the Research Training Group for a second funding period, TU Ilmenau can now continue its successful research and its promotion of young scientists in the field of nanofabrication for another four and a half years. The specialists produced by the Research Training Group help to meet the ever-increasing technical challenges in production due to the increasing miniaturisation of structures to sizes down to less than 10 nanometres.
Since 2017 the interdisciplinary Research Training Group "Cutting-edge and laser-based 3D nanofabrication in extended macroscopic workspaces" (3D-NanoFab) has offered young scientists the opportunity to conduct specialized cutting-edge research and earn a doctorate at the highest level in a research and qualification program. When the Kolleg comes to an end in 2026, a total of 39 young doctoral students from all over the world will have been trained at TU Ilmenau to become experts in nanofabrication.
Within the framework of this structured research and qualification program, the young scientists will be deployed in three highly specialized research areas: the development of processes for production in the nanometer range, the control and regulation of fabrication machines for the high-precision positioning of machining tools, and the metrological validation of manufacturing results. All these research subprojects pursue one goal: tip- and laser-based 3D nanofabrication techniques in extended macroscopic working ranges.
With the help of new, self-developed techniques and processes, the scientists at TU Ilmenau are exploring innovative methods for the fabrication of two- and three-dimensional structures down to the atomic scale. High-precision nano-positioning and nano-measuring machines based on Ilmenau technologies make use of the latest nano-fabrication techniques to create a wide range of future-oriented applications in the fields of electronics, optics and sensor technology - for use, for example, in medicine, energy and environmental technology or biology.
In a laboratory environment equipped with state-of-the-art technology, internationally renowned researchers teach the doctoral students of the 3D-NanoFab research training group theoretically and methodologically sophisticated, interdisciplinary specialist knowledge. During stays abroad at research institutions all over the world, the young scientists are given the opportunity to exchange ideas with top-class international scientists throughout their doctoral studies. Language courses and soft-skill offerings such as scientific work, presentation and lecture techniques, or time management also enable them to familiarize themselves with the research fields of the Research Training Group and to successfully work on their doctoral topics.
