Adolphe Merkle Institute
The Adolphe Merkle Institute (AMI) is a research center in Fribourg, Switzerland focused on nanoscience. The institute is named after the Swiss entrepreneur Adolphe Merkle who created the foundation that partially funded the institute. History Dr. Adolphe Merkle, an entrepreneur from Fribourg, established the Adolphe Merkle Foundation in 2007 with the goal of strengthening research and teaching at the University of Fribourg. His contribution of 100 million Swiss francs constitutes one of the most important private donations to support academic research in Switzerland. In 2008, the Adolphe Merkle Institute was founded under its first director, Prof. Peter Schurtenberger, formerly a professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Fribourg and then appointed as the chair of Experimental Physics and Nanoscience at the Institute. He developed the vision of an interdisciplinary institute that focuses on soft nanomaterials and combines fundamental and application-oriented research. In 2010, Prof. Christoph Weder, who joined AMI as the chair for Polymer Chemistry and Materials in 2009, became director, serving until April 2022. The institute appointed Professors Alke Fink and Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser as co-chairs of BioNanomaterials and Michael Mayer as Professor of Biophysics. Prof. Schurtenberger left the institute to establish a new group at the University of Lund, and Ullrich Steiner was appointed as Professor of Soft Matter Physics. Steiner took over as institute director in May 2022. Since 2014, AMI is located on the University of Fribourg's Pérolles campus. The Institute is housed in two renovated buildings that were previously a private clinic and an additional modern construction. Structure AMI is an interdisciplinary research center, focused on fundamental and application-oriented research in soft nano- and materials sciences. The institute is headed by an executive director and executive board, who report to a scientific advisory board and institute council. Administrative structures are said to be kept lean and AMI employs an industry liaison and technology transfer office for partners from industry and academia, dedicated personnel for EU project proposals and a communications officer. 50% of AMI staff are doctoral students and 20% postdoctoral researchers. The emphasis on interdisciplinarity is also reflected in how the research groups are constituted. They do not adhere to the traditional distinction of fields in the natural sciences but rather have interdisciplinary topics as their research focus. The principal investigators of the research groups have full professorships at the University of Fribourg's faculty of science. They teach at the Master's level but have a decreased teaching load in order to dedicate more time towards research activities at AMI. Current Research Groups Polymer Chemistry & Materials (Prof. Christoph Weder) BioNanomaterials (Prof. Alke Fink and Prof. Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser) Biophysics (Prof. Michael Mayer) Soft Matter Physics (Prof. Ullrich Steiner) Former Research Groups Soft Nanoscience 2008-2010 (Prof. Peter Schurtenberger) Nanoparticle Self-Assembly 2012-2017 (Prof. Marco Lattuada) Macromolecular Chemistry 2013-2018 (Prof. Nico Bruns) Research Activities AMI's research revolves around soft nanomaterials, such as such as nanoparticles, colloids, polymers, nanostructures, and nanopores, and emphasizes bio-inspired materials design, stimuli-responsive materials, optical materials, energy materials, sensing, the detection of nanoparticles