The lecture aims to establish a link between the fundamentals of solidstate physics and specialized lectures on actual research topics. Thefollowing topics will be covered:

• Structure of bulk solids and low-dimensional systems
• Quasi-particles in 3-, 2-, and 1-dimensional solids
• Physical properties of solids: Electronic structure, optical properties, phonons, electrical transport

The course program will cover the basics of each topic but likewisediscuss current methods and problems of solid state physics. Therelevant experimental techniques (diffraction and imaging techniques,spectroscopic techniques, light scattering, absorption, and emission,electrical transport) will be introduced and discussed using examplesfrom actual research.