From left to right: Oksana, Svetlana, Alex, Ayisha, Sevda
The Group Members
Students
BSc. Eren Großmann has joined in 2024 for his Master projects and is soon starting his Master thesis on novel MOF-glass formers.
PhD Candidates
Svetlana Miliutina
Svetlana Miliutina earned her B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Ufa State Petroleum Technical University. She initially pursued an M.Sc. in the same field at Liaoning Shihua University in China; however, after two semesters, her studies were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This led her to restart her graduate studies in Germany at Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, where she completed her M.Sc. in Chemistry of Materials in 2024. Under the supervision of Alex, her thesis focused on using dielectric spectroscopy to decipher the relaxation and flexibility of MOF materials. Since November 2024, Svetlana has been a PhD student within the DFG Research Training Group “PhInt” (Photopolarizable Membranes and Interfaces).
Sevda Alinezhad
Sevda Alinezhad holds a B.Sc. in Applied Chemistry from Islamic Azad University (Iran) and an M.Sc. in Chemistry of Materials from Friedrich Schiller University Jena. Her research background includes work on nanocomposites as a research assistant in Prof. Schacher’s group and experience with mixed matrix membranes at Fraunhofer IKTS. In January 2025, she joined the group to contribute to an EU-funded collaborative project with Fraunhofer IKTS Hermsdorf, where her current research centers on the advancement of MOF-based mixed matrix membranes.
Ayisha Komal
Ayisha Komal completed her B.Sc. in Chemistry at the University of Narowal in 2019 and her M.Sc. at COMSATS University Islamabad in 2022. Her master’s research centered on mixed matrix membranes for biofuel separation. Since April 2023, she has been working with the Knebel Group on an EU-funded collaboration with Fraunhofer IKTS and the University of Jena’s Polymer Chemistry department. Her current research focuses on the advancement of MOF-based mixed matrix membranes.
Group Leader
Dr. Alexander Knebel
Alex studied Chemistry (B.Sc.) and Material and Nanochemistry (M.Sc.) at Leibniz University Hannover, where he earned his Dr. rer. nat. in 2018. Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Jürgen Caro at the Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry (PCI), he completed his doctoral research in a remarkable 2.5 years under the title: “Switching the gas transport of metal-organic framework thin film membranes with external stimuli”. His PhD included a six-month appointment as a Visiting Researcher in Prof. Dr. Jorge Gascon’s group at KAUST (Saudi Arabia), where he was involved in catalysis and porous liquids, laying the foundation for his postdoctoral studies. Following his doctorate, he continued at Leibniz University Hannover as a Postdoctoral Fellow before joining the group of Prof. Dr. Christof Wöll at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in 2019. Within 1 year, he was promoted to Junior Sub-Group Leader at the Institute of Functional Interfaces (IFG) in 2020. In June 2021, Alex was awarded the prestigious Carl-Zeiss Foundation “Breakthrough” Fellowship in a competitive process by an election committee, allowing him to establish his independent research group at the Otto Schott Institute of Materials Research (OSIM) at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. His group is hosted by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Lothar Wondraczek at the Chair of Glass Science.
Master Students
BSc. Kshama Hangal Keshava – Kshama recently started her Master project and wants to continue with her Master thesis in the group. She focuses on the thin film synthesis of glass-forming MOFs and alternative routes to melting.
Bachelor Students
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Visiting Researchers
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Alumni
Oksana Smirnova
Oksana defended her PhD on the 21.05.2025 with summa cum laude. She found her first employment directly after her PhD as a full time editor at Nature Sustainability.
Oksana Smirnova did her BSc in chemistry, and her MSc in nanosystems and nanomaterials at Saint Petersburg State University (Russia), where she worked with Prof. Dr. Alexey Povolotskiy in 2021. Additionally, she was employed as research engineer at Institute of Silicate Chemistry of Russian Academy of Sciences. From September 2021 she joined the group of Alex at FSU Jena. Her work on MOF-glasses was awarded by the MOF Early Career Award at the MOF2024 in Singapore.
Bahram Hosseini Monjezi
Bahram defended his PhD on 21.04.2023 in slightly under 3 years. He is the first finished doctor from the Knebel Group. Bahram continues his academic career at the KIT.
Bahram Hosseini Monjezi studied Chemistry at the Isfahan University of Technology (Iran) and received his master’s degree in 2012. After several years he returned to academia to do his PhD in the group of Alexander Knebel at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. He focuses metal–organic framework mixed matrix membranes and thin films with luminescenct properties in the DFG funded Priority Program 1928 “COORNETs”.
Samira Savani
Samira joined the membrane company “Cellfion AB” in Sweden before finishing her PhD. All the best on your journey!
Samira Savani received her bachelor in chemistry in 2016 at Tabriz University in Iran and master in chemistry in 2021 from Koc University. During her graduate studies, she worked in the Kolemen Lab in the field of organic chemistry on the synthesis of molecules relevant for cancer therapy. She was developing metal-organic and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) for gas separation membrane applications. Outside the lab, she enjoys travelling, painting and learns coding.
Alumni Group Members:
Dr. Beren Sén – After working with Alex she graduated with Prof. Dr. Christof Wöll and was was hired by Vektor Pharma TF GmbH! Congratulations.
Alumni Master Students:
BSc. Svetlana Miliutina – Svetlana works on her Master Thesis with us and investigates dielectric responses in MOF materials with Alex. During her internship she worked on the the synthesis of novel MOF-glasses together with Oksana and Alex. She is now employed in the GRK 3014 PhInt and works on optically switchable MOFs for membranes.
BSc. Deniz Yilmaz – Deniz worked during her Masters’ internship courses with us on MOF glasses and their applications.
BSc. Shivangi Dhola – Shivanghi did her two internship courses with us and now works with Lothar Wondraczek next door and in close cooperation with us on MOF-glasses.
BSc. Aparna Binu Varghese – Aparna was working with Ayisha and Alex on MOF-based mixed matrix membranes and investigated nano-scaling of MOF-particles in her internship courses. She is now at the Fraunhofer IOF pursing her Master Thesis. Good luck and all the best for you!
Alumni Bachelor Students:
Eren Grossmann – Eren finished his Bachelor with his thesis in the group. His Bachelor Thesis was on helium separating MOF membranes. He remained part of the group as a student assistant and is now Master student, continuing his work with us.He is now pursuing his master studies, working on gas transport in crystalline and amorphous MOF thin films and is very enthusiastic about the world of MOFs.
Alumni Visitors:
Dr. Orhan Sisman: He was visiting the Otto Schott Institute of Materials Research from 11/2021 for 1 year and worked jointly with Wondraczek & Knebel in the field of MOF-glass within an exchange program from Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín, FunGlass Centre.
Dr. Surjyakanta Rana: He was visiting the Otto Schott Institute of Materials Research from 03/2021 for 1 year and worked jointly with Wondraczek & Knebel on the controlled growth of metal-organic framework (MOF) on 3D printed ceramic structures by hydrothermal technique for gas separation application.