Interdisciplinary Training Seminar – Nice to Meet You, I Am an Ultrafast Electron Microscopist!
Date: January 30, 2025
Location: Mondi 2, Central Building & Zoom, Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
On January 30, 2025, SMART-electron-affiliated researcher Beatrice Ferrari delivered a hybrid seminar titled “Nice to Meet You, I Am an Ultrafast Electron Microscopist!” hosted by the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA). The event formed part of ISTA’s seminar series and was attended by students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty members both onsite and remotely via Zoom.
Structured as an interdisciplinary training webinar, following the Q-SORT nomenclature, the seminar was specifically designed to be accessible to scientists outside the core domain of electron microscopy—such as biologists, chemists, and materials scientists—offering an entry point into the technical and conceptual foundations of ultrafast electron microscopy and its applications.
The speaker, Beatrice Ferrari, presented a compelling combination of technical insight and personal narrative, charting her academic and research journey in the field. She described her early work in the group of Prof. Gianmaria Vanacore at the University of Milano-Bicocca (UniMiB), where she was instrumental in developing a custom femtosecond time-resolved transmission electron microscope (UTEM). This system featured a photonic-based electron modulator capable of shaping electron beams before sample interaction—an innovation with far-reaching implications for low-dose imaging, enhanced resolution, and selective excitation probing.
Ferrari also shared results from her ongoing PhD research at EPFL in Prof. Fabrizio Carbone’s group, where she uses time-resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) to investigate phonon dynamics in 30° twisted bilayer graphene. Her work focuses on the material’s response to optical excitation of charge carriers and contributes to the broader understanding of quasicrystalline electronic behavior.
In addition to its scientific content, the seminar provided a space for Ferrari to introduce herself to the ISTA community, as she is currently considering a postdoctoral opportunity at the institute. The talk encouraged cross-disciplinary dialogue, blending methodological discussion with personal experience, and fostering a collegial atmosphere for knowledge exchange.
This event supports SMART-electron’s broader mission to promote interdisciplinary engagement, advanced scientific training, and visibility for early-career researchers across Europe’s research landscape.
