Dr. Barbara Lechner

Professor

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Biography

Barbara J. Lechner is a leading researcher in functional nanomaterials, focusing on their dynamic restructuring under realistic conditions, including modeling catalysts in reactive gas atmospheres. Employing scanning tunneling microscopy, she aims to study materials with high temporal and spatial resolution. Her work includes investigating the structural characteristics of metal particles supported on oxides and the changes in their functional properties under various conditions. Lechner earned her M.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Innsbruck, Austria in 2008, followed by a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Cambridge, UK. She completed her postdoctoral studies at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, where she worked with Prof. Miquel Salmeron. In October 2020, she was appointed as the Rudolf Mößbauer Professor at the Technical University of Munich, where she leads a research group dedicated to functional nanomaterials. Her achievements include several prestigious awards, such as the ERC Starting Grant in 2019 and the Dozentenpreis des Fonds der Chemischen Industrie in 2023, highlighting her contributions to the field of chemistry and materials science.

Research Interests

Experience

Professor

2020-10-01 — Present

Technical University of Munich • Munich, Germany

Leading the research group focused on functional nanomaterials.

Postdoctoral Researcher

2016-01-01 — 2020-09-30

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory • Berkeley, CA, USA

Research in collaboration with Prof. Miquel Salmeron on nanomaterials.

Awards

#1

Dozentenpreis des Fonds der Chemischen Industrie

#1

ERC Starting Grant

#1

Scholarship, Young Academy, Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities

#1

Marie Skłodowska Curie Scholarship

#1

Max Auwärter Prize