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Summer projects for undergraduate students

Valuable opportunity for Bc. students is now open. You will get a chance to learn about some of the topics our group is working on, the equipment we use and make your own contribution to our current research. In addition to gaining new knowledge, skills and adequate financial reward, this experience can greatly help in future decision making about the choice of field of further study at the MSc. level.

Projects are to be realized within 2-3 weeks in July - August 2025.

A complete list of Student summer projects currently offered.

2 PhD positions open - starting 2026

Two fully-funded PhD positions will be involved in mostly experimental research of novel materials suitable for interesting surface-related phenomena, namely in heterogeneous catalysis, electrochemistry and sensing. The applicant’s research will focus mainly on so-called model studies of multicomponent materials based on reducible oxides and metallic or bimetallic nanostructures and thin films, with potential extension to more complex structures and environments.

Anticipated commencement October 2025.

More details on the PhD positions and application procedure.

Research highlight - Bimetallic nanoparticles for isopropanol electrooxidation

Our team of scientists in collaboration with colleagues from the Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, have made a significant advance in understanding future hydrogen storage technology. Their latest research reveals the active configuration of bimetallic nanostructured catalysts to generate electricity from hydrogen storage systems.

For more details, see the article at:
Origin of the Low Overpotential for Isopropanol Oxidation on Pt–Ru Electrocatalysts, Alexander Simanenko, Pankaj Kumar Samal, Robert Hübsch, Jan Škvára, Juntao Yang, Maximilian Kastenmeier, Florian Winkler, Tomáš Skála, Nataliya Tsud, Sascha Mehl, Josef Mysliveček, Olaf Brummel, Yaroslava Lykhach, Jörg Libuda, ACS Energy Letters, 2024.

Great opportunity for active students - Student Faculty Grants

For those undergraduate students who would like to participate at real-life scientific topics, gain unique experience, and also get awarded financially, Student Faculty Grants are open for application from October 15, 2024 till November 15, 2024.
These projects are intended to support the involvement of students of bachelor and master studies in various types of scientific and professional activities beyond normal study obligations. Students will work under a supervision of a faculty member working on a project related to an undergoing research in the Surface science group.
SFG represents a special form of scholarship. The principles for their provision are set out in Article 5 of the Rules for Awarding Scholarships at MFF UK. The submission dates of SFG applications are twice a year, by May 15 and by November 15.

Research highlight - Oxide nanoparticles in electrochemical environments

The cover page of the recent issue of Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics highlights research conducted by our group and and our collaborators from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. It is dealing with properties of cerium oxide nanoparticles in the alkaline electrolyte.

For more details, see the article at:
A model study of ceria–Pt electrocatalysts: stability, redox properties and hydrogen intercalation, Lukáš Fusek, Pankaj Kumar Samal, Jiří Keresteš, Ivan Khalakhan, Viktor Johánek, Yaroslava Lykhach, Jörg Libuda, Olaf Brummel, Josef Mysliveček, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2024.