Prof. Dr. Lars Borchardt
Professor
mail: lars.borchardt@rub.de
phone: +49 23432 29431
Lars is the leader of the group. He is developing sustainable syntheses for organic molecules and nanostructured materials based on mechanochemistry.
Nicole Ray
Secretary
mail: nicole.ray@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
phone: +49 23432 24153
Barbara Hildebrand
Secretary
mail: Barbara.Hildebrand@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
phone: +49 23432 24142
Dr. Sven Grätz
Akademischer Rat
mail: sven.graetz@rub.de
phone: +49 23432 21096
Sven joined the group in October 2015. He is working on mechanochemical syntheses of porous carbonaceous polymers and nanographenes. Other research interest of his, are in-situ characterization techniques for mechanochemical reactions and methane hydrate formation.
Dr. Sven Fabig
Postdoc
mail: sven.fabig@rub.de
phone: +49 23432 18320
Sven joined the group in August 2021 and again in March 2025. He is working on computational chemistry in the context of mechanochemistry as well as the development of new in-situ Raman methodologies for the investigation of mechanochemical reactions.
Dr. Valentina Martinez
Postdoc
mail: valentina.martinez@rub.de
Valentina completed her PhD research on mechanochemical synthesis of porous materials at the Ruđer Bošković Institute (Croatia) and joined the group in January 2025 as an Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral fellow. She is currently engaged in research related to electro-mechanochemistry.
Dr. MAXIMILIAN Wohlgemuth
Postdoc
mail: maximilian.wohlgemuth@rub.de
phone: +49 23432 21465
Max joined the group in December 2019 and finished his PhD in April 2025. He is working on developing and evaluating new techniques for direct mechanocatalysis of small molecules and the valorization of waste materials.
Dr. Maria Carta
Postdoc
mail: maria.carta@rub.de
Maria completed her PhD research on mechanochemical kinetics at the University of Cagliari (Italy) and joined the group in March 2026 as an Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral fellow. She is working on mechanochemistry, focusing on mechanically activated organic reactions and combining experiments with theoretical modelling to investigate their fundamental mechanisms.
Tugce Dogan (M.SC.)
PhD student
Tugce joined the group in September 2022 for her master's thesis. She stayed with the group and is now continuing her work on the investigation of mechanochemical reactions with Raman spectrometry.
Harikumar Shastry (M.SC.)
PhD student
Hari joined the group in September 2022 for his master's thesis on mechanochemical condensation reactions. He stayed with the group and is now working on understandnding media-free mechanochemical reactions.
Maike Mayer (M.SC.)
PhD student
Maike joined the group in April 2021 for her bachelor thesis on mechanochemical synthesis of small molecules via direct mechanocatalysis. She has recently finished her master thesis on the mechanochemical hydrogenation reactions and started her PhD in April 2024.
JOnathan Geisler (M.Ed.)
PhD student
Jonathan joined the group in April 2021 for his bachelor thesis on the mechanochemical synthesis of microporous polymers. Now he is helping with synthesis and characterizations of porous materials and helping do develop new ways to engage teenagers with chemistry.
Pascal Dippner (M.SC.)
PhD student
Pascal started his PhD in September 2024. He is currently working on mechanochemical synthesis and functionalization methods of different carbon materials.
Malte Niewind (M.Sc.)
PhD student
Malte joined the group in April 2023. He is working on understanding reactivity in ball mills, with a focus on the impact of temperature.
Steffi Krause Hinojosa (M.SC.)
PhD student
Steffi joined the group in 2022. She is working on fundamental research, particularly on the influence of mixing on mechanochemical reactions in a multidisciplinary field