On October 1, 2021, Dr. Claudia Backes took up the position of Head of the Department of Physical Chemistry of Nanomaterials. In her research at the interface between physics, chemistry and materials science, she focuses on the scalable production, characterization, surface modification and processing of novel so-called two-dimensional nanomaterials in solution. Due to the diversity of this still young class of materials, these materials are multi-talented for a range of potential applications in electronics, catalysis, energy storage and conversion, among others. Claudia Backes studied Molecular Nano Science at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, where she also completed her doctorate. After a three-year postdoctoral stay at Trinity College Dublin, she was able to secure funding for an Emmy Noether junior research group based at the University of Heidelberg