Prof. Dr. Bernd Rech

Scientific Management Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin

Prof. Bernd Rech has been the Scientific Director of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB) since June 2019. Two years earlier, he had already taken over the scientific management as Acting Scientific Director. He headed the Silicon Photovoltaics Institute at HZB from 2006 to 2017. Together with his team, he worked on the development of highly efficient and cost-effective thin-film solar cells and new material combinations for the production of tandem solar cells. From 2008 to 2020, he was the spokesperson for the Helmholtz Association’s Renewable Energies program. In October 2023, he was appointed Vice-President for the Helmholtz Research Field Energy.

Bernd Rech studied physics at Heidelberg University and RWTH Aachen and received his doctorate from RWTH Aachen. In 2007, he was appointed professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Technische Universität Berlin.

Bernd Rech serves on numerous committees, such as the supervisory board of the Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hameln and the board of trustees of the Baden-Württemberg Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research. He is a corresponding foreign member of the Slovenian Academy of Engineering, and in 2018 received the Apple of Inspiration, an award from the President of the Republic of Slovenia.

In 2017, he has been an elected member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech). He has been appointed as member of the Advisory Board for the 8^th Energy Research Program of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in October 2024.