Scientists at KIT and colleagues from TU Berlin are working on a better meat texture for plant substitutes. The typical impression when chewing, the mouth feeling, is based above all on the fibre-like texture of meat,"; explains YIN member Dr. Azad Emin. The process engineer heads the KIT junior research group „Extrusion of Biopolymers". In extrusion, a dough-like mass is pressed. The researchers are now analysing the interactions between pressure, temperature, flow and shear forces in order to specifically modify the structure of plant proteins.

10 years ago they helped to launch the Young Investigator Network and today they are honorary members: YIN founder spokespersons Prof. Timo Mappes (l. ), Dr. Dominic von Terzi (m. ) and Prof. Chris Eberl (r. ). They started in 2008 as junior research group leaders and have since embarked on very different career paths. Timo Mappes is Museum Director and Professor of the History of Physics in Jena, Dominic von Terzi Manager at GE Global Research and Chris Eberl Deputy Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials. YIN connects with them to this day.

YIN has been on a success story for 10 years! Special thanks go to the friends and supporters of the YIN who have accompanied the network over long distances. We were very happy to see many familiar faces at YIN Day 2018. Highlights of the public program were a scientific keynote lecture by YIN Alumna Prof. Erin Koos, KU Leuven, and a panel discussion on "Careers in Science - Fostering Research"; with selected representatives of the major external funding agencies and university policy. Thank you very much for coming!

Friction causes wear. But how? Experiments at KIT showed that a sharp line of 100-200 nanometers in depth forms within the softer material at first contact already. Atoms shift relative to each other and some of these dislocations self-assemble into the observed line-shaped structure, explains YIN member Dr. Christian Greiner, who is corresponding author of the articlespublished in Scripta Materialia. Within the material, a kind of atomic wave occurs which propagates similar to the movements of a snake. The scientists also analyze how friction accelerates oxidization.

With a new radio antenna field, Dr. Frank Schröder will search for high-energy photons that accompany the massively charged particles of cosmic rays. The future setup will also measure signals with energies smaller by a factor of 100 as in photons originating from our galaxy. "Within three years, I expect to obtain crucial indications as to where the highest-energy particles of the Milky Way are formed", says the former YIN member who has just taken up an assistant professorship at the University of Delaware, USA. The ERC will fund his project with 1.6 million euro over five years.

Becoming professor at a university of applied sciences can be an appealing alternative career option. For three YIN alumni it has become a reality. At the YIN fireside chat in April, Prof. Romana Piat (Darmstadt), Prof. Stefanie Betz (Furtwangen), and Prof. Oliver Waldhorst (Karlsruhe) talked about getting appointed and about the differences and similarities between working at a university of applied sciences and a regular one. While industry experience is crucial for a career in applied sciences, for some it may be attained project-wise or at a research center. The teaching load can be reduced.