Presentation convinces jury of the European Research Council

The research proposal by Professor Dr Markus Retsch – Lichtenberg Junior Professor of Polymer Systems at the University of Bayreuth – was successful! In June, the scientist presented his research project ‘VISIRday’ to the European Research Council (ERC) in Brussels. To convince the jury, Markus Retsch asked me to design the graphics for his presentation.

Learning from ants

His idea: a sophisticated passive cooling system that enables surfaces in buildings or textiles to cool down without an external energy supply by radiating heat into space. This would make air conditioning systems superfluous and greatly reduce energy consumption in industrialised countries. The model for this was the Saharan silver ant, whose fur is so skilfully structured that it effectively scatters back the sunlight. Thanks to its ‘special hairstyle’, the ant keeps a cool head (and body) even at very high outside temperatures.

1.5 million euros in funding

With the ERC Starting Grant, Markus Retsch has been awarded one of the most important European research prizes for top young researchers. With the funding of around 1.5 million euros, he and his research team can now drive forward a pioneering, climate-friendly cooling technology that could help save a lot of energy power plants.