Central scope of our research activities is the physical chemistry of the liquid-crystalline state of matter. Strucure-property relations of liquid-crystalline materials are investigated starting from the molecular structure via order-parameters of the liquid-crystalline phase to macroscopic properties of the materials.
Focuses of our research are:

• structures, ordering and phase transitions, 
• dynamics, electrical and optical properties as well as
• self-organization in lyotropic systems and liquid crystalline templates.

We currently work on the following research projects:

Research focus	Project		funded by
Structures, ordering and phase transitions		De Vries-materials and their application in SSFLC-displays	DAAD
		Phase sequences of antiferroelectric liquid crystals	Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
		X-ray diffraction of discotic liquid crystals
		Determination of order parameters by x-ray experiments
Dynamics, electrical and optical properties		Photoferroelectric liquid crystals	DFG
		Photonic properties of liquid crystalline systems with a helical superstructure	International Max Planck Research School
		Intercalation of alkanes in ferroelectric liquid crystals
Self-organization in lyotropic systems and LC templates		Proton conductivity in liquid-crystalline phases of amphiphilic diols	DFG
		Lyotropic liquid crystals as self-organizing templates for ordering carbon nanotubes	Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation
		Fundamentals and applications of chirality effects in lyotropic liquid crystals	DFG