AMOLF welcomes Wiebke Albrecht

On May 1st, Wiebke Albrecht will start at AMOLF as tenure track group leader. Her research group Hybrid Nanosystems will be embedded in the Designer Matter research theme at AMOLF. With her group, Albrecht will investigate the interaction between different components in complex hybrid nanosystems, such as metal-semiconductor nanostructures. By combining advanced electron microscopy and single particle optical spectroscopy on the same nanoparticle, she will be able to unravel the interplay of morphology and underlying charge and energy transfer processes. The ultimate goal is to develop new concepts of hybrid architectures, responsive to external stimuli, with properties specifically tailored for applications in solar energy harvesting and quantum information processing.

During her PhD at the Soft Condensed Matter group headed by Prof. Alfons van Blaaderen at Utrecht University, Albrecht worked on laser modification and plasmonic properties of anisotropic metal nanoparticles. Afterwards, she moved to the Electron Microscopy for Material Science group at the University of Antwerp and worked on in situ nanoparticle transformations studied in 3D by electron tomography. With a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship, which she partially conducted at the Single-Molecule Optics group of Prof. Michel Orrit at Leiden University, she could combine her interest in advanced electron microscopy and single particle optical spectroscopy.

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Collaboration

Successful outcomes of international EBEAM program led by AMOLF

The EU Pathfinder project Electron Beams Enhancing Analytical Microscopy (EBEAM) that was recently completed has received a highly positive review of the European Innovation Council (EIC). EBEAM brought together eight European research institutions and companies, including AMOLF, that develop new concepts and instruments combining spectroscopic analysis with electron microscopy.

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Research highlights

Everything you need to know about organoids

Organoids are instrumental in improving our understanding of processes that are otherwise hidden inside the body. For instance, these small 3D organs can be used to test medicines on tissue grown from a patient’s own cells. AMOLF researchers carry out unique and complex experiments to follow organoids in time. In order to enable other researchers to benefit from their experiences, they now publish their methods in the prestigious journal Nature Protocols.

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Events and outreach

Minister Rianne Letschert wears hat and shoulder ornament inspired by Wim Noorduin’s research

This year at the opening of the parliamentary year (Prinsjesdag) Minister of Education, Culture and Science Rianne Letschert wears a spectacular hat and shoulder ornament. Both of them are inspired by the microscopic structures studied by group leader Wim Noorduin (AMOLF/UvA), which look remarkably like tiny flowers under a microscope. Artist and designer Malou Beemer translated these shapes, normally invisible to the naked eye, into wearable art.

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Nachi Stern, Group Leader Learning Machines at AMOLF

People and recognition

Nachi Stern awarded ERC Starting Grant to explore how matter learns

Why do brains learn, but rocks do not? Could a material one day adapt to its environment the way a living organism does? AMOLF group leader Dr. Nachi Stern has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant to investigate the physical laws of learning, in a project called, “Physical Learning in Dynamical Systems.”

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