Simone Techert

Structural dynamics with ultrashort pulsed X-rays

Simone Techert is Lead Scientist in the Chemical Structural Dynamics group at DESY and Professor for Ultrafast X-ray Physics at the University of Göttingen. She develops methods for time-resolved X-ray experiments and their application and optimisation for analysis of chemical molecular processes and structure–dynamics relationships in chemical reactions, i.e. “filming” chemical reactions in real time. Her research objective is a broader understanding of energy transformation processes within the investigated complex chemical systems and how these processes influence the motion of molecules.

The group performs their experiments at highly brilliant X-ray radiation sources such as PETRA (DESY), ESRF (Grenoble, France) and APS (Argonne National Laboratory, USA). The X-ray experiments at the limits of technically feasible temporal resolution (femtoseconds) are carried out within various collaborations at the free-electron lasers FLASH (DESY) and LCLS (SLAC, USA). The results are supplemented by additional measurements at home sources (optical ultrashort-time spectroscopy as well as pulsed X-ray table-top sources).

 

Academic career

Since 2013 Lead Scientist at DESY and Professor for Ultrafast X-ray Physics at the University of Göttingen
2006-2012 Minerva Professorship, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen
Since 2008 Lecturer, International Research School of Molecular Biophysics, Göttingen Research Campus
2004 Venia legendi in Physical Chemistry, University of Göttingen
2001-2005 Emmy Noether Fellow of the German Science Foundation (DFG)
Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen
1998 Exchange Scientist, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA
1997-2000 Postdoctoral Fellow, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Grenoble, France
1995-1997 PhD (Dr. rer. nat.), Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, University of Göttingen
1994 Diploma in Chemistry (Physical Chemistry), University of Giessen
1988-1993 Study of Chemistry, University of Giessen