Research

Eduard Arzt is a materials researcher who investigates scaling effects on the micromechanical behaviour of metals, alloys and polymers, especially in thin-film form and on surfaces. He has contributed important conceptual foundations for high-temperature alloys, which have also led to industrial applications. At the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research in Stuttgart, where he was also Managing Director, he has since 1990 initiated the field of thin film mechanical properties in Germany; his former co-workers in this field occupy numerous university chairs worldwide. In 2007, he was appointed Professor for New Materials at Saarland University as well as Chairman and Scientific Director of the INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials in Saarbrücken. Here, he and his colleagues develop his latest topic to technical applicability: biomimetics of functional surfaces (“gecko effect”).

Image: INM - Leibniz-Institut für Neue Materialien

Career

(German)

• Seit 2007 Wissenschaftlicher Geschäftsführer des INM – Leibniz‐Institut für Neue Materialien Saarbrücken, gleichzeitig Professor für neue Materialien an der Universität des Saarlandes in Saarbrücken
• 1990-2007 Direktor am Max‐Planck‐Institut für Metallforschung, Stuttgart, gleichzeitig Professor für Metallkunde, Universität Stuttgart
• 2005 Forschungsaufenthalt, University of California, Santa Barbara und San Diego (USA)
• 1999 Forschungssemester, Massachusetts Institute of Technology und Stanford University (USA)
• 1996/97 Visiting Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (USA)
• 1989/90 Visiting Professor, Stanford University (USA)
• 1982-1989 Gruppenleiter am Max-Planck-lnstitut für Metallforschung, Stuttgart
• 1981-1982 Forschungs- und Lehrassistent, Department of Engineering, Cambridge University (Großbritannien)
• 1980 Promotion zum Dr. phil., Universität Wien
• 1974-1980 Studium der Physik und Mathematik, Universität Wien und Universität Leoben (Österreich)

Projects

• Since 2013 ERC-Advanced Grant „Switch2Stick“ - Engineering of biomimetic surfaces: Switchable micropatterns for controlled adhesion and touch

Functions

(German)

• Vorsitzender des Leibniz Network Nano der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft
• Sprecher des Leibniz Forschungsverbunds Nanosicherheit, Leibniz-Gemeinschaft
• Mitglied im Aufsichtsrat der LKR Leichtmetallkompetenzzentrum Ranshofen GmbH
• Mitglied im Scientific Advisory Board der Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung, Essen
• Mitglied im Doktoranden‐Auswahlgremium der Deutsche Telekom Stiftung, Bonn
• Mitglied des Advisory Board der ProcessNet Section Nanotechnologie, DECHEMA
• Mitglied des International Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB) des COMET K2 Center for Integrated Research in Materials, Processing and Product Engineering, Leoben

Honours and Memberships

• since 2020 International Member of the US National Academy of Engineering
• 2013 Advanced Grant of the European Research Council (ERC)
• 2013 Van Horn Distinguished Lecturer, Case Western University, Cleveland, Ohio
• 2012 Distinguished Israel Pollak Lecturer, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
• 2011 „Lee Hsun Lecture Award“ of the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
• 2005 Wissenschaftspreis des Stifterverbands für die Deutsche Wissenschaft
• Since 2003 among the world's most cited materials researchers listed by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI)
• 1997 corresponding member, Austrian Academy of Sciences
• 1996 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz-Preis der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft
• 1996 R.S. Williams Lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA)
• 1991 Max-Planck-Forschungspreis
• 1988 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis