Get connected!

The most influential steps for our careers

Daniela Rupp, Assistant Professor: First, visiting different research groups and doing small internships to find my diploma project. Second, I was lucky to be there when, for the first time ever, free-flying nanoparticles were imaged in single X-ray bursts in Hamburg in 2007. I got hooked. And third, when I was asked to apply to ETH Zurich, the fact that it was an open topic search let me think about what I could do and would like to do instead of worrying about not fitting in.

Katharina Kolatzki, doctoral student: The most influential step was meeting my supervisor. Her excitement about the science we do is contagious. The second most important point of my career so far has been the start of my doctorate at ETH Zurich; it is great to work in such a privileged and supportive scientific environment.

Elsa Abreu, Senior Research Assistant and team leader: The experience of moving abroad (Sweden, the USA, Switzerland) was wonderful for personal and professional development. And the choice of the group where I did my PhD (I had a good feeling about it at the start but of course was lucky that it was confirmed!) brought me into this field of science and into collaboration with a great mentor.

Larissa Boie, doctoral student: Starting a Bachelor's in Physics and being confident enough to apply to a university where I didn't know anybody who could tell me a bit about the environment, trusting in my skills.

Our research and impact of our work

Larissa Boie: I am developing an experiment where we can use conventional infrared laser light to transform it into light of a much longer wavelength. We use specific non-linear processes in crystalline materials to get variable and controllable light in the micrometre wavelength range. With my research, I am able to complement the current light sources by making a new wavelength range accessible to study properties in complex materials. This new source is very useful to understand how an atomic lattice behaves when a lot of energy is deposited into the lattice very quickly.  

Daniela Rupp: We investigate short-lived nanostructures and ultrafast changes of their electronic and structural properties under laser excitation. Single particle diffraction combines extreme spatial and temporal resolution. The diffraction images contain information on the electron distribution in the nanoparticle, therefore not only the particle's shape, but also laser-induced changes in the structure and even in the electronic properties can be followed using pump-probe methods. The new SwissFEL Maloja endstation of the Paul Scherrer Institute produces intense attopulses in the soft X-ray region and will push our research to a new level – into the world of electron dynamics.

Katharina Kolatzki: I investigate superfluid helium droplets and their interaction with intense and short X-ray pulses. With this work, we want to gain better insights into the dynamics of atomic and molecular clusters when they are irradiated with intense light, eventually paving the way to directly imaging them in free flight.  

Elsa Abreu: I use ultrafast spectroscopy tools to study the dynamics of quantum materials. We excite the sample with a short laser pulse and probe it with a second laser pulse, delayed in time, to make a “short movie” of the response of the system. Quantum materials display a variety of unique properties such as charge and magnetic order, superconductivity, insulator-to-metal transitions. The combination of ultrafast spectroscopy and condensed matter has led to many developments in photon science, such as extending the range where ultrashort pulses are available into the terahertz and X-ray frequency ranges.

Our role models

Elsa Abreu: Three people with the following qualities: integrity in the technical and personal aspects of scientific work, great competence allied with a very healthy balance of confidence and humility, openness for discussion, dialogue and exchange, kindness and empathy, curiosity.

Larissa Boie: In principle, any other women who has to overcome negative stereotypes in their work environment. A specific role model is my former Master thesis supervisor, who is now a Postdoc at the synchrotron in Trieste. She is very honest about telling me what doubts she has in her career, she encourages me and supports me when I need advice. She looks ahead with positivity and shows me different perspectives.

Katharina Kolatzki: My supervisor because of her endless motivation to do new experiments, her leadership, her curiosity. And – very stereotypically – my mum, who always told me that I could do whatever I'd set my mind to.

Daniela Rupp: I do not have one role model but many people in my life have left little voices in my head that guide my decisions. I look up to motivated people with high ethical standards and values who are often successful but still down to earth and not arrogant or just fame-driven

Our mottos

Care about the team and have trust in the process – in the end something always works out. Trust yourself and your skills, but also trust and listen to your boundaries! And while everyone seems to be constantly struggling with not being good enough, not being productive enough and not being efficient enough… it is important to cope with this feeling so that it doesn't become overbearing but also make sure not to lose it altogether, because it's a great driving force! Organise or join networks, exchange ideas across all hierarchical levels and use the strength that results from this for joint projects.