270230 PR Research Project Laserspectroscopy or Molecular Symmetry (2023W)

Laserspectroscopy:

Non-linear and time-resolved vibrational spectroscopy is becoming increasingly important in physical chemistry as these techniques can provide detailed insight into the fundamental properties of molecular systems and are particularly relevant for the study of molecular interaction and interfaces. In our lab we work with laser-based techniques ranging from transient absorption to 2D-IR and sum-frequency-generation (SFG) spectroscopy.

Over the course of this project students will be introduced to femtosecond lasers and have the opportunity to participate in the design and set-up of a spectrometer.

Students will gather hands-on experience with fs lasers, beam alignment, linear and non-linear optics, multidimensional spectroscopy, etc.

Molecular Symmetry:

Theoretical and computational chemistry are also increasingly important fields of chemistry that can provide complementary insights into molecules and their interactions. In our group, we investigate both thermal and photo-induced chemical processes by computing electronic wave functions, potential energy surfaces, reaction barriers, spectra, and other properties. Molecular symmetry can strongly help in simplifying and organizing the results of such calculations.

In the research project, students will be introduced to different electronic structure and molecular dynamics techniques. The project will be chosen such that the investigations require/profit from a symmetry analysis of the studied molecule.

Students will gain hands-on experience in carrying out electronic structure and/or dynamics simulations, working with the Linux command line, batch queueing system, Bash scripting, or similar tools to automatize setup and analysis of the results.