In 2008 he celebrated his doctoral degree at the private university in Bremen, today he is a professor at the National Institute of Technology Karnataka in India: Sib Sankar Mal. This June and July, he will be back at Constructor University as part of his Humboldt Fellowship membership, conducting research together with his former PhD supervisor, Professor Ulrich Kortz.
When asked what has changed since his last stay in Bremen, Sib Sankar Mal, known as Sibu, quickly had an answer: "Nothing - except for the people." He even recognizes his handwriting on the pane between the lab and the office: "In 2005, we wrote important words and phrases here in our native languages and taught them to each other. It's nice to see that this tradition has continued."
The contact to Bremen has never been broken: over the years, Sibu and Prof. Kortz have published 32 joint publications and so it was natural that Kortz offered him a place for his Humboldt stay. Sibu became a Humboldtian in 2011 when he went to the University of Hamburg as a postdoc; he took up another research stay in Germany in Dresden in 2017.
As a PhD student, Sibu, now Professor of Chemistry, worked on polyoxometalate chemistry (anionic metal-oxo clusters, synthesis, structure and physicochemical properties), and during his time as a postdoc in Hamburg, he worked on the design, synthesis and characterization of new redox-active ionic liquids containing complex ions of transition metals. Although he now primarily teaches at NITK, research continues to be an important part of his work. "Research never ends and is full of surprises, which is what I like about it," Sibu said.
Together with Uli Kortz, he is currently working on a new project to convert plastics into renewable energy using polyoxometalate-based smart catalysis. "It is great to see Sibu working in our labs again. His expertise makes a valuable contribution to the advancement of our field and I look forward to more joint projects and papers with him," said Kortz.
About Constructor University:
An international community, vibrant and diverse. Offering academic excellence, ensuring the highest standards in research and teaching. Empowering students to solve the world's pressing challenges through knowledge and science: Constructor University is a top-ranked, English-speaking, private university. Founded in 2001, it provides a wide range of 25+ academic programs and PhD. The Constructor ecosystem comprises the University, located in Bremen, Germany, and an institute in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.
Over 1.800 students from more than 110 nations on campus benefit from a unique interdisciplinary, foundational theoretical and practical education. Enriched with a buzzing entrepreneurial culture that prepares young professionals to thrive in the job market. With 6.000+ alumni worldwide, our community keeps growing – with our highest cohort ever registered in 2022.
The research-centric faculty projects are funded by the German Research Foundation and the European Union's Framework Program for Research and Innovation as well as by globally leading companies.
The Constructor ecosystem benefits from partnerships with high-ranked universities such as Carnegie Mellon, the University of Geneva or the National University of Singapore School of Computing, and technology companies such as Anisoprint, JetBrains and ChemDiv.
Constructor is a global institution dedicated to addressing the main challenges of the world through science, education, and technology. Apart from the University in Bremen and an Institute in Schaffhausen (Switzerland), the ecosystem relies on several for-profit entities that provide technology infrastructures and solutions, life-long education programs, consulting services, and funding.