“Materials can revolutionise industries”
Innovative research and practice-based teaching in Germany: three students explain why they chose a degree in materials science.
Clara Krug ,
11.03.2025 
Practice-based research in the lab
“New materials can revolutionise entire industries - for example by providing more sustainable solutions and innovations in the area of lightweight construction. I’m particularly fascinated by shape-memory polymers, or SMPs for short. These are smart synthetic materials that can return to their original shape after having been deformed by external triggers such as heat. Thanks to their ability to adapt their shape, their self-healing properties and their programmability, they are suitable for a number of applications in technology and engineering. What I particularly value at Aalen University is the practice-oriented research in the lab - scientific findings are turned into genuine innovations here.”
Zahra Armand is doing a research master’s degree inAdvanced Materials and Manufacturingat Aalen University. She is specialising in lightweight construction.
Discover a broad spectrum of research
“Materials science is an incredibly wide-ranging discipline, offering countless opportunities to improve existing materials or develop entirely new ones. I’m interested above all in the future of synthetics: how can we make them biodegradable without sacrificing their many benefits? I knew early on that I wanted to study science- but that my degree course should be as practice-based as possible. That’s why I chose RWTH Aachen University. I can learn about a broad spectrum of research here and later specialise in metals, glass, biomaterials, electronic materials or whatever.”
Sina Burmann is studying materials science at RWTH Aachen University.
Advancing science and technology
“Some materials have properties that are not to be found in nature - such as superconductive ceramics that conduct electricity with zero losses. Other materials draw on phenomena from the animal or plant world to solve problems in our daily lives. Innovations such as these bring about crucial advances in science and technology. I work at a world-renowned magnetism lab, where my research involves looking for materials with properties that can be used for new technologies. I find it particularly exciting to study effects that until recently were considered impossible - and to do so using materials that are cheap and available everywhere.”
Omar Ledesma is doing a PhD at the Max Planck Graduate Center run by Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and the Max Planck Society. His research project combines physics, materials science and electrical engineering.
German universities offer a wide range of courses in materials science: the Higher Education Compass website operated by the German Rectors’ Conference lists around 250 different degree programmes. The discipline serves as a bridge between the natural sciences and engineering. Its objective is to develop materials for specific applications - to make vehicles lighter and safer, for example.
Further information can be found at Studying materials science in Germany - Higher Education Compass
