Member of SCNAT

The Swiss Society for Crystallography (SSCr) and its section of crystal growth and material research are used as a common forum for crystallographers, chemists, solid-state physicists and mineralogists, in which the scientific and interdisciplinary ideas can be exchanged.more

Image: SGK-SSCRmore

Board

  • SGK_board_Antonio
  • dubravka sisak jung
  • SGK_board_Enrico
  • SGK_board_Olha
  • SGK_board_Paula
  • Pascal Schouwink hi-res
  • SGK_board_Simon
  • SGK_board_AntonioImage: SGK1/7
  • dubravka sisak jung2/7
  • SGK_board_EnricoImage: SGK3/7
  • SGK_board_OlhaImage: SGK4/7
  • SGK_board_Paula5/7
  • Pascal Schouwink hi-res6/7
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The board of the Swiss Crystallographic Society is a group of scientists, researchers and business professionals, with strong involvement in Swiss and international research. Our aim is to steer the society so that it is useful and supportive to communities interested in materials and life sciences. The current board members include: Antonio Cervelliono, Dubravka Sisak Jung, Enrico Giannini, Olha Sereda, Paula Abdala, Pascal Schouwink, and Simon Grabowsky.

Meet them in the sections below!

Pascal Schouwink hi-res

President

Dr. Pascal Schouwink
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL
Institut des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimiques
Rue de l’Industrie 17
Case postale 440
CH-1951 Sion
Phone: +41 21 695 82 80
e-Mail:
website

Pascal studied Geosciences in Heidelberg, Germany, with a focus on mineral physics and got interested in crystallography during his diploma thesis and part of his PhD while doing experimental investigations on structural alterations induced by heavy ion damage to phosphates and perovskites at extreme conditions, using, amongst others, single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction. During a relocation of the lab that was hosting him as doctoral student to Vienna he decided to change topic and materials and moved to the University of Geneva to start a PhD in the group of Radovan Cerny at the laboratory of Crystallography, which got him into very close contact with powder diffraction and in-situ studies, at the time on quite challenging materials prone to structural disorder, which served as platform to develop hydrogen storage systems and all-solid batteries. During these years, and a later bridging postdoc, he developed a passion for X-ray scattering, neutron scattering and their applications to materials chemistry in general. He then joined the Institute des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimique (ISIC) at the EPFL as a facility manager, first at the freshly inaugurated EPFL Valais antenna (2015), later on developing the labs across both ISIC sites and finally merging them to a departmental facility. Pascal considers himself very fortunate to be working at a sweet spot between facility management, experimental work and interdisciplinary collaborations built around very diverse research projects that make use of X-ray scattering and crystallography. This makes him go to the lab happily and with anticipation on the very most of days of the year. In 2021 Pascal took over the presidency of the SSCr. Motivation is high.

SGK_board_Simon

Vice President

PD Dr. Simon Grabowsky
University of Bern
Departement für Chemie, Biochemie und Pharmazie
Freiestrasse 3
CH - 3012 Bern
Phone: +41 31 684 42 81
e-mail:
website

Simon Grabowsky studied chemistry at Free University of Berlin and received his doctoral degree from the same institution in 2011 before he went to the University of Western Australia (UWA) in Perth for a postdoctoral stay with Professors Mark Spackman and Dylan Jayatilaka. Simon became Assistant Professor at UWA in early 2014, but left later in the same year in order to take on an Emmy Noether fellowship of the German Research Foundation (DFG) which allowed him to be head of a research group at the University of Bremen, Germany. In 2015, he became an Extraordinary Professor, and in 2019 he passed his habilitation in physical chemistry at the University of Bremen. Since August 2019, Simon is a private docent and permanent research group leader in chemistry at the University of Bern as successor of Professor Piero Macchi. He was elected vice-President of the Swiss Society for Crystallography in 2021.

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Image: SGK

Dr. Antonio Cervellino

WLGA/229
Swiss Light Source
Paul Scherrer Institute
Forschungsstrasse 111
CH-5232 Villigen
Switzerland
Phone: +41 56 310 4611
e-mail:
website

Antonio Cervellino achieved his master in Physics at the University of Padova and then completed his PhD at the Laboratory for Crystallography of ETHZ in 2001 with a thesis on quasicrystal structure solution. For three years afterwards he worked as senior staff at the Crystallography Institute of the Italian Research Council in Bari (Italy) with Prof. Carmelo Giacovazzo. Then he worked for 3 years at the DMC powder diffraction instrument of the SINQ neutron spallation source at the PSI in Villigen, to finally settle in 2008 as beamline scientist at the Materials Science powder diffraction beamline at the Swiss Light Source, again in the PSI . His activity since the early 2000s centers on finding efficient ways of using the Debye scattering equation to evaluate scattering pattern of small to medium (up to about108 atoms) nanocrystals or nanoparticles and to compare calculations with data in order to determine parameters of the model structure (usually having a crystalline scaffold with different kinds of defects or aberrations) with experimental data.

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Image: SGK

Treasurer

Dr. Enrico Giannini
Department of Quantum Matter Physics
Université de Genève
24, Quai Ernest Ansermet
CH-1211 Genève 4

Phone: + 41 22 379 6076
e-mail:

Enrico Giannini received the PhD in Science, mention Physics, in 2001 at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, for his work on the phase formation and texture development in Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10 superconducting wires. After a successful research work on the crystal growth of superconducting cuprate materials, in 2005 he was appointed to the position of “Maître d’Enseignement et de Recherche” (Senior Lecturer) at the Department of Quantum Matter Physics, where he assumed the leadership of the laboratory for crystal growth and materials processing. Over the years, his scientific interests and achievements have covered a broad variety of materials, ranging from superconducting cuprates to Fe-based chalcogenides and pnictides, from topological insulators to 2D van der Waals semiconductors and magnetic materials. Mastering a variety of crystal growth techniques, he aims at improving the crystal quality of new materials that offer novel electronic properties. Since 2016 he is Swiss delegate and councilor at the International Organization for Crystal Growth.

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Secretary and Newsletter responsible

Dr. Paula Abdala
ETH Zürich
Inst. f. Energie-​u.Verfahrenstech.
LEE P 204
Leonhardstrasse 21
CH-8093 Zürich
Phone: +41 44 633 8704
e-mail:
website

About Paula

Paula Abdala received her Ph.D. in Science and Technology; mention Materials in 2010 at Universidad General San Martin, Buenos Aires, Argentina for her work on nanostructured and fine-grained ZrO2-Sc2O3 materials for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells. Afterward, she moved to Grenoble, France, to work as a post-doctoral researcher on X-ray absorption and total scattering techniques at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. In 2014, she joined the Laboratory of Energy Science and Engineering (LESE) at the Institute of Energy Technology, ETH Zürich where she works as a senior scientist. The focus of her research is the understanding of the interplay between structure and function in materials for sustainable applications, such as heterogeneous catalysts and CO2-sorbents. She applies advanced characterization techniques, such as synchrotron X-rays-based operando methods to reveal the structure of the materials at working conditions and at different length and time scales. The ultimate goal of her research is to provide a basis for the rational design of new efficient materials. (Link: https://lese.mavt.ethz.ch/the-group/person-detail.html?persid=212070)

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Dr. Olha Sereda
Section Head
Additive Manufacturing and Component Reliability
CSEM SA
Jaquet-Droz 1
CH 2002 Neuchâtel
Phone: +41 32 720 5437/5551
e-mail:

Dr. Olha Sereda (PhD in Physical Chemistry) is currently working at Swiss Research and Technology Organization (RTO), CSEM SA, which is the foremost national player in the field of technology transfer. As a Group Leader of the group “Additive Manufacturing & Component Reliability”, her group applies X-ray diffraction technique to address the needs of science-innovation projects in multidisciplinary domains via collaborations with both: academic and industrial partners. Her team uses X-ray diffraction to investigate the properties of crystalline materials providing insight into the behaviour of materials, enabling the understanding of structure-function relationships. By this, CSEM helps Suisse industry to develop a new product or adapt their existing ones to remain competitive on the market. Olha’s technical expertise covers Advanced manufacturing (including 3D printing technologies), Material characterization and surface analysis, Material Science, reliability evaluation of microsystems, microelectronics and sensors, coating technologies.

dubravka sisak jung

Dr. Dubravka Sisak Jung, Webmaster and outreach

Scientific liaison
DECTRIS LTD
Taefernweg 1
5405 Baden-Daettwil
Switzerland
Phone: +41 56 500 21 00
e-mail:

Dubravka Sisak Jung studied chemistry at the University of Zagreb, Croatia. Shortly after, she took a position as a researcher in solid-state matter at the pharmaceutical company PLIVA in Croatia. In this position, she worked as a crystallographer, where she discovered her passion for structure determination from powder X-ray diffraction data. Her passion for structural science took her to Switzerland, where she obtained a PhD on this topic at the ETH Zurich (Laboratory for crystallography, Lynne McCusker & Christian Baerlocher). After her PhD, she joined DECTRIS, a PSI spin off company that develops and produces X-ray and electron detectors for material characterisation. As a scientific liaison, Dubravka has several responsibilities: advising researchers and industry partners on technology and scientific questions, outreach to scientific communities in form of teaching and supporting scientific platforms, and examining new opportunities in science and technology. Dubravka's day-to-day work includes collaborations with large-scale facilities, industries, spin off and start ups. She is also active in academic research, and so far she published 28 publications, ranging from physics, chemistry, technology and mathematics.

Auditeurs:
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Spingler (University of Zurich)

Prof. Dr. Antonia Neels (EMPA)