Richard Wirth Workshop

A scientific workshop “FIB/TEM Short Course: Applications in Geosciences” is currently underway at the Institute of Geological Sciences of the University of Wrocław from 3-7 October, led by dr Richard Wirth, a researcher at the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences in Germany. The workshop deals with the application of transmission microscopy methods in geology, which allows the observation of geological materials at very high resolution, almost at the level of atoms. Defects in the crystal lattice, inclusions in minerals of very small size or the diversity of the crystallographic orientation of these minerals – all of these are studied using transmission microscopy. The workshop in this area consists of a theoretical part at ING UWr and a practical part that will take place at the Electron Microscopy Laboratory LW013 of the Faculty of Chemistry of the UWr. The workshop was organised by dr Jakub Ciążela and his team from the Institute of Geological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences and dr Piotr Wojtulka from ING UWr.

Dr Richard Wirth, an employee of the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, is a physicist and member of the Interface Geochemistry research group. This group investigates a variety of geological materials and develops modern methods for their imaging (TEM, cryo-SEM and others). He has authored several hundred publications in prestigious periodicals on geology, mineralogy and crystallography. He is the co-discoverer of several new minerals, including venjiite [Ti10(Si,P)7] and kangjinlaite [Ti11Si10].