Knut Urban
Encyclopedia
Knut W. Urban is a German physicist. He has been the Director of the Institute of Microstructure Research at Forschungszentrum Jülich since 1987.
Knut Urban's research focuses on the field of aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy
(both regarding the further development of instruments and the control software), the examination of structural defects in oxides and the physical properties of complex metallic alloys. He also works on Josephson effect
s in high-temperature superconductors and the application of these effects in SQUID
systems and magnetometers as well as on the application of Hilbert transform spectroscopy in examining the excitation of solids, liquids and gases on the gigahertz and terahertz scale.
Besides his activities at Forschungszentrum Jülich he is also professor for experimental physics
at RWTH Aachen University
.
and was awarded a PhD in 1972 for his dissertation on the study of the damage caused by the electron beams in a high-voltage electron microscope at low temperatures. He subsequently conducted research at the Max Planck Institute of Metals Research
in Stuttgart until 1986. Amongst other tasks, he was involved in the installation of a 1.2-MV high-voltage microscope laboratory as well as in studies on the anisotropy of atomic displacement energy in crystals and on radiation-induced diffusion. In 1986 he was appointed professor of general material properties by the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. In 1987 Urban was appointed to the chair of experimental physics at RWTH Aachen University and simultaneously became the director of the Institute of Microstructure Research at Forschungszentrum Jülich. From 1996 to 1997 he was a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Materials Processing of Tohoku University
in Sendai (Japan). Kurt Urban was appointed one of two directors of the Ernst Ruska Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons (ER-C) when it was founded in 2004 as a common competence platform of Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University as well as a national centre for users of high-resolution transmission electron microscopes.
From 2004 to 2006 he was president of the German Physical Society (DPG)
which is the world's largest organisation of physicists. He is a member of several advisory bodies, boards of trustees and senate committees of scientific institutions.
Knut Urban is married and has three daughters.
Knut Urban's research focuses on the field of aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy
Transmission electron microscopy
Transmission electron microscopy is a microscopy technique whereby a beam of electrons is transmitted through an ultra thin specimen, interacting with the specimen as it passes through...
(both regarding the further development of instruments and the control software), the examination of structural defects in oxides and the physical properties of complex metallic alloys. He also works on Josephson effect
Josephson effect
The Josephson effect is the phenomenon of supercurrent across two superconductors coupled by a weak link...
s in high-temperature superconductors and the application of these effects in SQUID
SQUID
A SQUID is a very sensitive magnetometer used to measure extremely weak magnetic fields, based on superconducting loops containing Josephson junctions....
systems and magnetometers as well as on the application of Hilbert transform spectroscopy in examining the excitation of solids, liquids and gases on the gigahertz and terahertz scale.
Besides his activities at Forschungszentrum Jülich he is also professor for experimental physics
Experimental physics
Within the field of physics, experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines concerned with the observation of physical phenomena in order to gather data about the universe...
at RWTH Aachen University
RWTH Aachen
RWTH Aachen University is a research university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany with roughly 33,000 students enrolled in 101 study programs....
.
Biography
Urban studied physics at the University of StuttgartUniversity of Stuttgart
The University of Stuttgart is a university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized in 10 faculties....
and was awarded a PhD in 1972 for his dissertation on the study of the damage caused by the electron beams in a high-voltage electron microscope at low temperatures. He subsequently conducted research at the Max Planck Institute of Metals Research
Max Planck Institute for Metals Research
The Max Planck Institute for Metals Research is a research institute of the Max Planck Society located in Stuttgart. The institute was founded 1921 as Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Metal Research in Berlin and closed 1932. 1934 it was reopened in Stuttgart and incorporated into the Max Planck...
in Stuttgart until 1986. Amongst other tasks, he was involved in the installation of a 1.2-MV high-voltage microscope laboratory as well as in studies on the anisotropy of atomic displacement energy in crystals and on radiation-induced diffusion. In 1986 he was appointed professor of general material properties by the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. In 1987 Urban was appointed to the chair of experimental physics at RWTH Aachen University and simultaneously became the director of the Institute of Microstructure Research at Forschungszentrum Jülich. From 1996 to 1997 he was a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Materials Processing of Tohoku University
Tohoku University
, abbreviated to , located in the city of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture in the Tōhoku Region, Japan, is a Japanese national university. It is the third oldest Imperial University in Japan and is a member of the National Seven Universities...
in Sendai (Japan). Kurt Urban was appointed one of two directors of the Ernst Ruska Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons (ER-C) when it was founded in 2004 as a common competence platform of Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University as well as a national centre for users of high-resolution transmission electron microscopes.
From 2004 to 2006 he was president of the German Physical Society (DPG)
Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft
The Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft is the world's largest organization of physicists. The DPG's worldwide membership is cited as 60,000, as of 2011...
which is the world's largest organisation of physicists. He is a member of several advisory bodies, boards of trustees and senate committees of scientific institutions.
Knut Urban is married and has three daughters.
Awards and honours
- Acta-Metallurgica Award, 1986
- Carl Wagner Prize, 1986
- Japan Society for the Promotion of ScienceJapan Society for the Promotion of ScienceThe is an independent administrative institution in Japan, established for the purpose of contributing to the advancement of science in all fields of the natural and social sciences and the humanities.-History:...
Research Award, 1996 - Heyn votive medal granted by the German Society for Materials Science (DGM), 1999
- Medal for Natural Scientific Publishing awarded by the German Physical Society (DPG)Deutsche Physikalische GesellschaftThe Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft is the world's largest organization of physicists. The DPG's worldwide membership is cited as 60,000, as of 2011...
, 2000 - Honorary Member of the Materials Research Society of India, 2000
- Appointed lifetime professorship at Wuhan UniversityWuhan UniversityWuhan University is a university located in Wuchang, Hubei, China. It is directly under the administration of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. It is regarded as one of the top ten universities in China, and its history dates back to 1893, making it one of China's...
(China), 2001 - Von-HippelArthur R. von HippelArthur Robert von Hippel was a German American materials scientist and physicist. Von Hippel was a pioneer in the study of dielectrics, ferromagnetic and ferroelectric materials, and semiconductors and was a codeveloper of radar during World War II.-Early life:Von Hippel was born in Rostock,...
Award granted by the Materials Research Society (US), 2006 - Karl Heinz Beckurts Award for Innovation granted by the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, 2006
- Honda Prize awarded by the Honda Foundation (Japan), 2008
- Wolf Prize in Physics, 2011