100 Million euro initial third-party funding, 4,000 weekly teaching hours per semester, and 2,800 peer-reviewed articles – the 10-year statistic speaks for itself. The jubilee edition of the annual magazine YIN Insight further presents the hot topic “The what and why of young investigator programs” with interviews of six funding agencies. The scientific highlights include a recent ERC starting grant, the inauguration of the KATRIN neutrino experiment, and the excellence cluster POLiS. The YIN grants showcase exciting collabo- rations within the network.

In the project PRINTPERO, German and Greek researchers have teamed up with industrial partners to develop printed perovskite semi-conductors for building integrated photovoltaics. In ACS Applied Energy Materials, they report how a strong color perception can be achieved by inkjet-printing luminescent layers on top of the Perovskite solar cells at a relatively small (∼17%) reduction of power conversion efficiency. Gerardo Hernandez-Sosa and Ulrich Paetzold, both YIN members, added their know-how in electronic printing and photovoltaics respectively.

Five YIN members have taken on new positions as professors within the last six months. Anne Koziolek has just been announced professor for software engineering at KIT. Petra Schwer is now professor for geometry at the University Magdeburg. Bastian Rapp relocated to Freiburg University starting as professor for Process Technology. Frank Schröder has become assistant professor at the University of Delaware. And Cornelia Lee-Thedieck was welcomed as professor for cell biology at the University Hannover. Congratulations! As of now, there are 50 professors among YIN alumni (49%).

"Negotiating with Confidence", "Challenging Leadership Situations", and "Mastering Conflicts" are three new topics addressed by the YIN continuing education program 2019 - now online. Scheduled are also well-established workshops like "Leadership Excellence" or "Appointment Procedures". YIN continuing education is specially tailored for early-stage academic leaders including leadership skills, project and personnel management, as well as personal development. Small sized groups and expert consultants stand for the high quality of the program.

Dr. Frank Biedermann and Dr. Ulrich Paetzold each run a collaborative project supported by the Heidelberg Karlsruhe Strategic Partnership (HEiKA). Frank Biedermann and Prof. Thomas Kuner plan to apply artificial neurotransmitter receptors  for the monitoring of dopamine levels in neuronal tissues as well as in prefrontal cortex and basal nuclei of intact mice. Ulrich Paetzold and JProf. Yana Vaynzof aim to utilize the inkjet printing deposition method for fabrication of high yield and high performance perovskite solar cells. Since 2013, YIN members have been involved in 11 HEiKA projects.

An einer besseren Fleischtextur für pflanzliche Ersatzprodukte forschen Wissenschaftler am KIT gemeinsam mit Kollegen der TU Berlin. Der typische Eindruck beim Kauen beruhe vor allem auf der faserähnlichen Textur von Fleisch“, erklärt YIN-Mitglied Dr. Azad Emin, Leiter der KIT-Nachwuchsgruppe „Extrusion von Biopolymeren“. Bei der Extrusion wird eine teigartige Masse durch eine Düse gepresst. Die Forscher analysieren nun die Wechselwirkungen zwischen Druck, Temperatur, Strömung und Scherkräften, um so die Struktur der pflanzlichen Proteine gezielt zu verändern.