Sara Bals (born 1977) is a Belgian

nanoscientist Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal ...

known for her research on electron tomography and its application in the study of

nanomaterials * Nanomaterials describe, in principle, materials of which a single unit is sized (in at least one dimension) between 1 and 100 nm (the usual definition of nanoscale). Nanomaterials research takes a materials science-based approach to n ...

such as perovskite nanocrystals. She is a professor of

electron microscopy An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of accelerated electrons as a source of illumination. As the wavelength of an electron can be up to 100,000 times shorter than that of visible light photons, electron microscopes have a ...

for materials science at the

University of Antwerp The University of Antwerp ( nl, Universiteit Antwerpen) is a major Belgian university located in the city of Antwerp. The official abbreviation is ''UA'', but ''UAntwerpen'' is more recently used. The University of Antwerp has about 20,000 stu ...

Education and career

Bals was born 25 August 1977 in Antwerp. She was educated in physics at the University of Antwerp, earning a master's degree in 1999 and completing her Ph.D. there in 2003. Her dissertation was ''Optimisation of superconducting thin films and tapes by transmission electron microscopy''. After postdoctoral research in the National Center for Electron Microscopy at

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), commonly referred to as the Berkeley Lab, is a United States national laboratory that is owned by, and conducts scientific research on behalf of, the United States Department of Energy. Located in ...

and at the University of Antwerp, she became an assistant professor at the University of Antwerp in 2007. She was promoted to associate professor in 2012 and full professor in 2018.

Recognition

Bals was elected to the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts in 2019. In 2020 she was the winner of the JEOL-EM Award for Physical/Materials Sciences and Optics, given quadrennially by the

European Microscopy Society The European Microscopy Society is an international learned society which represents the field of microscopy in Europe. It was founded in 1998 following the disbanding of the ''Committee of European Societies of Electron Microscopy'' (which was ...

. The award cited "her outstanding achievements in the field of 3D electron tomography", "combining state-of-the-art electron microscopy with advanced reconstruction algorithms".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bals, Sara 1977 births Living people Scientists from Antwerp Belgian women scientists Microscopists Nanotechnologists University of Antwerp faculty