The Department of Physics puts special emphasis on the fields of molecular biophysics and energy research. An interdisciplinary working group of physicists, chemists, and biologists studies biomimetic systems for the dioxide-neutral neutral production of fuel using sources of renewable energy. Another group of scientists looks at the basic functions of organic solar cells and the elimination of defects in thin-layer silicon solar cells. In a book on the topic of artificial photosynthesis, Dau and colleagues from AG Dau present various research topics in the context of the energy transition, also explaining the basics and visions behind the technology.

The dedicated working group on sustainability is also dealing specifically with the measures that need to be taken after the declaration of a climate emergency at the FU Berlin and how teaching, research and administration can work together to understand sustainability not only as a challenge, but also as an opportunity - for example, for new fields of activity for physicists. Among other things, they have developed Scientific CO2nduct, a guide that can be used to individually calculate the CO2 emissions of scientific publications.