Current research activities:

• Influence of flow on microstructure formation in Al cast alloys
• Phase separation in inmiscible melts
• Synthesis and properties of aerogel materials

Curriculum vitae:

	2007	Visiting researcher, University of Miskolc, Hungary
	since 2002	Deputy Director, Institute of Materials Physics in Space, German Aerospace Center, Cologne
	2000-2001	Director-in-chief, Institute of Space Simulation, German Aerospace Center, Cologne
	1999	Visiting researcher, University of Iowa, USA
	since 1997	apl. Professor, RWTH Aachen
	1993	DAAD research grant, University of Miskolc, Hungary
	1990	NATO research grant, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA
	since 1988	Scientific staff, German Aerospace Center, Cologne
	1984-1987	Scientific staff, Max-Planck-Institute of Metallurgy, Stuttgart
	1979-1983	Scientific staff at the Institute of Metallurgy and Metals Physics, TU Clausthal
	1975-1979	Doctoral dissertation research, Light Alloy Research Institute, VAW Bonn
	1969-1975	Study of Physics and Mathematics, University of Münster

Diploma, awards, functions:

	Diploma in Physics, Universität Münster, 1975
	Dissertation in Natural Sciences, RWTH Aachen, 1979
	Georg-Sachs-Award of the German Metallurgical Society, 1980
	Habilitation in Metallurgy, Universität Stuttgart, 1988
	Acta Metallurgica et Materialia Outstanding Paper Award, 1991
	Senior Researcher, German Aerospace Center, 1992
	Silver Medal, University Miskolc, Hungary, 1993
	Habilitation in Metallurgy, RWTH Aachen, 1994
	apl. Professor, RWTH Aachen, 1997
	Award for Innovation, Stadt Köln, 2002
	Bayerischer Staatspreis for Innovation, 2007
	Honorary Doctor, University Miskolc, Hungary, 2008

Selection of recent publications:

• M. Reuß and L. Ratke: Subcritically dried RF-aerogels catalysed by hydrochloric acid. J. Sol-Gel Sci. Technol. 47, 74 (2008).
• S. Hoepfner, L. Ratke, and B. Milow: Synthesis and characterisation of nanofibrilar cellulose aerogels. Cellulose 15, 121 (2008).
• L. Ratke and S. Steinbach: Convective coarsening of secondary dendrite arms, in: Solidification Processing, Proceedings of the 5th Decennial International Conference on Solidification Processing, edited by H. Jones (Dept. of Engineering Materials, University of Sheffield, Great Britain, 2007), pp. 14-17.
• S. Steinbach and L. Ratke: Experimental study on interaction of fluid flow and solidification in AlSiCu alloys. Int. J. Cast Met. Res. 20, 140 (2007).
• S. Lisinski, D. Schaniel, L. Ratke, and Th. Woike: Second Harmonic Generation by Ferroelectric Microparticles in Composite Aerogels. Chem. Mater. 18, 1534 (2006).
• J. He, J. Z. Zhao, and L. Ratke: Solidification microstructure and dynamics of metastable phase transformation in undercooled liquid Cu-Fe alloys. Acta Mater. 54, 1749 (2006).
• S. Brück and L. Ratke: Mechanical properties of aerogel composites for casting purposes. J. Mater. Sci. 41, 1019 (2006).