Scientists Meet Scientists – TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talk "Fast, Faster, Photosynthesis: Tracking ultrafast light harvesting dynamics with multidimensional spectroscopy" by Prof. Jürgen Hauer
Events, WCT |
On 21 May 2025, Prof. Jürgen Hauer(Dynamic Spectroscopy, TUM) will talk about “Fast, Faster, Photosynthesis: Tracking ultrafast light harvesting dynamics with multidimensional spectroscopy”.
Abstract: The initial steps of natural photosynthesis are remarkably efficient. Under low light conditions, nine out of ten excitations reach the reaction centre, where the absorbed light energy is converted into an electrochemical gradient. In this short lecture, I will review the spectroscopic methods of photosynthetic research and focus on time-resolved techniques. The latter are of special interest because of the extremely fast timescales observed in natural light harvesting. For instance, the energy transfer from carotenoids, an accessory pigment absorbing in the blue-green spectral region, to chlorophylls, the main building block of natural light harvesting complexes of plants, occurs with a time constant of only 20 femtoseconds, meaning 20 × 10-15 seconds. I will introduce the most widespread and most insightful techniques in time-resolved spectroscopy capable of resolving such truly ultrafast dynamics, namely transient absorption and two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy.
Related TUM Press Release: Quantum mechanics helps with photosynthesis
Date: May 21, 2025
Time: 13:00 CEST (until approx. 14:00)
Location: online
Registration: The TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee talks are held online via Zoom. To register and to receive the Zoom link, please send an email to events(at)ias.tum.de.
THE TUM-IAS WEDNESDAY COFFEE TALKS
Every Wednesday after lunch, it's all about a new topic - current research highlights at TUM, insights into the work of our Fellows from all over the world, sometimes even topics not usually found at TUM, such as history or theology.
The talks held online start every Wednesday during TUM lecture time at 13:00 CE(S)T. Everyone is welcome - TUM researchers of all levels, students, visiting scholars, and anyone interested!
Each final Wednesday of the month, a topic related to the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals will be featured as a part of the Seminar Series of European Universities on Sustainability, a new initiative of the TUM-IAS in partnership with universities across Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe.
Would you like to receive regular updates on the TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talk and the online link? Just send a short note to events(at)ias.tum.de.
An overview of upcoming and past TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talks can be found at the TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talk Overview.