Patricia Abellan
Patricia Abellan – e-Bridge Project
Biography
Patricia Abellan is a staff research scientist at SuperSTEM Laboratory (Daresbury, UK) and a SuperSTEM research fellow at the University of Leeds (since 2015). She received her BSc in Physics from the Aalborg University (Denmark) and her Ph.D. in Materials Sciences from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Spain, in 2011. She has held postdoctoral positions at the University of California – Davis and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA. Her research focuses on the study of defects at interfaces on functional materials and their relationship with properties using electron microscopy and on the use of the effect of the electron beam in solid and liquid media to investigate nanomaterials properties (excited electronic states of molecules, molecule-metal interactions or the growth and degradation dynamics of nanostructures by ionizing species). In 2013 she received the Best Ph.D. Thesis Award from the Microscopy Society of Spain and her work has led to research highlights from PNNL’s Physical Science Division, DOE’s Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR) and Nature News. She is a member of the Spanish microscopy society, European Microscopy Society, Microscopy society of America, Royal Chemical Society, and has served as managing guest editor of a special issue in liquid-phase EM in Micron (2018), as expert evaluator for the European Commission (since 2017) and Department of Energy (USA, 2019) and external review committee member of CINT at Sandia National Laboratories (since 2018). She has also served as program chair in the radiation beam-damage pre-meeting congress at M&M (2017) and most recently she is co-organizer of the EEL spectroscopy symposium (M&M2019) and of the Nanoparticles symposium (E-MRS2019 fall meeting). She has published over 40 journal articles and book chapters (h index of 19 – Google Scholar), is the co-inventor in a patent application and has given 40 oral presentations, from which 20 were invited presentations at international conferences (10) and academic institutions (10) on the application and development of TEM methods.
E-BRIDGE: Scrutinizing functional and hybrid materials interfaces at the (sub)nanoscale – Bridging the gap between structure and properties using advanced electron microscopy
The properties of materials critically depend on the structure and chemistry at specific locations such as interfaces and defective areas. Modern transmission electron microscopes can reveal the structure and chemical composition of materials at the atomic-scale and improve our understanding of nanomaterials properties. The goal of the e– ̶ BRIDGE project is to develop innovative electron microscopy methods for the elucidation of the structure-property relationships in complex, novel and advanced functional materials of interest to the scientific and industrial community in the Nantes area. To realize this goal, Patricia Abellan will join the IMN (Institute of Materials Jean Rouxel), in Nantes, to head a new interdisciplinary team focused on the development and application of “advanced electron microscopy”. P. Abellan’s expertise in radiation chemistry, method development and the application of electron microscopy to a wide range of research into the properties, structure and dynamics of materials will reinforce IMN excellence in the understanding of interface properties at the nanoscale. The scientific program includes the optimization of Interfaces and structures of innovative bone substitutes, in collaboration with INSERM, the optimization of polymeric membranes for biomolecules separation and isolation (recovery of lipids and proteins from microalgae), via a collaboration with GEPEA, and the optimization of interfaces for enhanced biological imaging. Another key objective is to train and coordinate a team of graduate students and postdocs, which will represent the next generation of scientists performing the highest quality research on electron microscopy techniques and will constitute a strong support to the scientific activities of the University of Nantes and other partner institutions in the Pays de la Loire Region.
Overall, this effort aims at positioning Nantes as a major national and international interdisciplinary centre for fine electron microscopy-based research. The e– ̶ BRIDGE project is thus expected to attrack leadership to the region, to develop expertise and to enhance and complement existing competences The development of high level interdisciplinary research in the local community has been an important axis for the Pays de la Loire region which, through the 2015-2020 CPER (Contrat de Plan Etat Région) has funded over 6 M€ worth of electron microscopy equipment; this project will also strengthen the efforts at uniting such competences in cutting-edge electron microscopy newly acquired in the region. Indeed, the equipment will be used by diverse research groups and Institutes in a Research Federation named CIMEN (Centre Interdisciplinaire de Microscopie Electronique de Nantes), and the e– ̶ BRIDGE project targets challenges in materials characterization that represent a clear synergy between P. Abellan expertise and existing expertise within the partner research teams in Nantes (CNRS, University of Nantes, INRA, INSERM… all part of the CIMEN Research Federation). This project, thus, exploits existing partnerships between the University of Nantes and IMN with partner institutions such as INSERM and INRA, as well as develops new ones. A newly developed collaboration between IMN and GEPEA (Process Engineering for Environment and Food) is at the base of one of the first research challenges that will be tackled.
Dispositif NExT Junior Talent
Montant : Salaire + 270 000 €
Soutien financier : Piloté par NExT à travers une aide de l’Etat gérée par l’Agence Nationale de la Recherche au titre du Programme d’investissements d’Avenir (portant la référence ANR-16-IDEX-0007), le projet bénéficie d’un soutien financier de la Région Pays de la Loire et de Nantes Métropole.
