At innoFSPEC Potsdam, our research follows the motto “From Molecules to Galaxies.” Founded in 2008 as a joint initiative of the University of Potsdam (UP) and the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), we bridge the worlds of astrophysics and physical chemistry through a shared foundation in photonics, sparking innovation and discovery across disciplines.
Our unique approach is based on the idea that using the same photonic methods to explore very different scientific questions can lead to breakthroughs that would not emerge within a single field.
A key example of this success is innoFSPEC’s world-leading transfer of integral field spectroscopy from astrophysics to imaging Raman spectroscopy of organic and inorganic samples — a development that has attracted international attention, particularly for its potential in cancer diagnostics.
In addition, photon density wave (PDW) spectroscopy has been further developed at innoFSPEC as an innovative method for optical process analysis technology (OPAT). This progress also inspired the founding of PDW Analytics in 2013, bringing our research into practical industrial applications.