Ursel Bangert is the Bernal Chair in Microscopy and Imaging at the University of Limerick. 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.

Early life and education

During her undergraduate studies Bangert was a high school teacher in

Köln-Deutz The Cologne borough of Deutz (german: Köln-Deutz ; ), is a part of central Cologne, Germany, and was once an independent town. History Deutz was established under Roman Emperor Constantine I in 310 AD, when he established ''Castrum Divitia'', ...

. She completed both her undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

. 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 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 University of Surrey. 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. On 1 Oct ...

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

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

, 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 Nuclear P ...

. In particular, Bangert pioneered the use of

electron energy loss spectroscopy In electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) 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 means that they lose energy and have their pa ...

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 The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a public research university institution in Limerick, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in 1989 in accordance w ...

. 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 supplier of scientific instrumentation, reagents and consumables, and software services. Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, Thermo Fisher was formed through the merger of Thermo Electron and Fisher Sc ...

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