Ursel Bangert is the Bernal Chair in Microscopy and Imaging at the University of Limerick as well as a Lecturer at the University of Manchester, of Research Fellow at Surrey University, and of PhD student at the Universität Köln. She develops advanced characterisation techniques such as

transmission electron microscopy Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a microscopy technique in which a beam of electrons is transmitted through a specimen to form an image. The specimen is most often an ultrathin section less than 100 nm thick or a suspension on a g ...

for the atomic scale imaging of novel materials. Her research outcomes include achievement of TEM imaging and electron energy loss spectroscopy on the sub-atomic scale to reveal structure and dynamics of individual atoms

Early life and education

During her undergraduate studies Bangert was a high school teacher in Köln-Deutz. She completed both her undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...

. Her doctoral research considers the thermoluminescence of natural and synthetic calcite.

Research and career

After completing her doctorate, Bangert joined the faculty at the

. She moved to the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its Royal Charter, royal charter in 1966, along with a Plate glass university, number of other institutions following recommendations ...

as a research fellow in the Department of Electrical Engineering. She was eventually made an Advanced

Science and Engineering Research Council The Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) and its predecessor the Science Research Council (SRC) were the UK agencies in charge of publicly funded scientific and engineering research activities, including astronomy, biotechnology and bi ...

(SERC) Fellow and lecturer at the

. In 1993 she joined

University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for Research univer ...

as a lecturer in pure and applied physics. She was eventually appointed to the faculty at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, where she explored novel electron microscopies with ultrahigh spatial resolution. Bangert was responsible for the electron-optical facilities at Manchester, Liverpool and

Daresbury Laboratory Daresbury Laboratory is a scientific research laboratory based at Sci-Tech Daresbury campus near Daresbury in Halton, Cheshire, England. The laboratory began operations in 1962 and was officially opened on 16 June 1967 as the Daresbury Nuclea ...

. In particular, Bangert pioneered the use of

electron energy loss spectroscopy Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) is a form of electron microscopy in which a material is exposed to a beam of electrons with a known, narrow range of kinetic energies. Some of the electrons will undergo inelastic scattering, which mea ...

to better understand the electronic structure of wide-bandgap semiconductors, diamond and carbon nanotubes. Whilst at Manchester, Bangert studied the two-dimensional material graphene. She was the first to use high-angle annular dark-field imaging (HAADF) to understand the atomic structure of graphene. In 2014 Bangert was appointed the Bernal Chair in Microscopy and Imaging at the

University of Limerick University of Limerick (UL) () is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972, as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in Septemb ...

. At the

, Bangert established an International Centre for Ultra-High Resolution Imaging and Characterisation. She raised funding to purchase a

Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is an American life science and clinical research company. It is a global supplier of analytical instruments, clinical development solutions, specialty diagnostics, laboratory, pharmaceutical and biotechnology s ...

Titan Themis, which allows the imaging and spectroscopic characterisation of novel materials at the atomic scale.

Select publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bangert, Ursel Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Academics of the University of Limerick University of Cologne alumni Women physicists