Perovskite solar cells are a flexible and sustainable alternative to conventional silicon-based solar cells. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) are part of an international team that was able to find – within only a few weeks – new organic molecules that increase the efficiency of perovskite solar cells. The team used a clever combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and automated high-throughput synthesis. Their strategy can also be applied to other areas of materials research, such as the search for new battery materials. The researchers report their findings in Science (DOI: 10.1126/science.ads0901).

Professor Simon Stellmer from the University of Bonn receives a ‘Proof of Concept Grant’ from the European Research Council (ERC) for his project „GyroRevolutionPlus“. With the funding of €150,000 for up to 18 months, the physicist will continue to prepare his research results from previous ERC projects for commercial application. This is the second time that Professor Stellmer has been successful in this funding program after having received a grant for his previous project ‘GyroRevolution’ in 2023. The precision instruments he and his team are developing can be used to improve natural disaster early warning systems.

In a paper published in Science Bulletin, a Chinese team of scientists reported a comprehensive proteogenomic analysis of 101 Chinese AML patients, including proteomic and phosphoproteomic analyses and an in vitro drug sensitivity analysis in addition to whole exome and transcriptome sequencing. They integrated multi-omic data to predict and validate patient prognosis and drug sensitivity. They revealed three subtypes based on proteome, where S-II and S-III characterized mainly by metabolism and could benefit from Allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, but S-I enriched in tumour proliferation could not. Further correlation analysis of 77 drugs sensitivity with proteomic and phosphoproteomic data uncovered the therapeutic strategies of cytarabine-disulfiram and PI3K inhibitor-PDK inhibitor combinations.  Overall, the research provide a resource for understanding the molecular alterations in AML and developing potential therapeutic strategies.