Researchers working with particles and materials made from them have the opportunity to engage in intensive exchange at the annual Particle-Based Materials Conference PBM. This year, the conference was once again held in Erlangen and was organized by the Chair of Interfaces and Particle Technology (Prof. Nicolas Vogel), the Chair of Modeling of Self-Organization Processes (Prof. Michael Engel), and, from our Department, the Chair of Particle-Based Materials Chemistry (Prof. Karl Mandel). This year’s event was held under the motto “Particle design” – in line with the ongoing SFB 1411, “Design of Particulate Products,” at FAU, which also provided support for the event.

Over two days, many exciting presentations showed that the community is currently focusing strongly on using nanoparticles, whose synthesis has been established and optimized by the scientific community worldwide in recent decades, as building blocks to create more complex, multifunctional structures. A striking number of researchers are working on supraparticles, complex particles synthesized from nano components. Our FAU is particularly active in this field and has a density of researchers working on this topic that is probably unique in this form – in our Department, Prof. Mandel’s chair is dedicated to this topic.

In addition to the scientific program, participants had plenty of time for personal exchanges and networking. Overall, the event was considered a complete success.

The PBM has now been held for the ninth time. Next year, the series will celebrate its tenth anniversary! The PBM 2026 will be hosted in Duisburg-Essen and is expected to take place in late September/early October 2026.

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