Diebold was born on 12 December 1961 in Kapfenberg, Austria. She spent much of her high school years reading, skiing, and agonizing over what to major in at the university. She ultimately settled on engineering physics, an area with good job prospects that was also general enough to accommodate a variety of future directions. After completing her diploma in engineering physics (TU Vienna, 1986), she became increasingly enthusiastic about experimental physics while working on her master's thesis, and ultimately completed a Doctor of Technology (Dr. techn.) in this area with Prof. Peter Varga[4] (TU Vienna, 1990).[5]
Career
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Diebold's first appointment after graduation was as a post-doctoral research associate in the group of Theodore E. Madey in the department of physics at Rutgers University (1990–1993). It was there that she was first introduced to oxide surfaces, an area that she would later come to refer to as "the love of her scientific life". [5] Her first faculty appointment followed, at Tulane University, New Orleans, USA, where she was an assistant professor (1993–1999), associate professor (1999–2001), and professor of physics (2001–2009), and also an adjunct professor of chemistry (1993–2009). During this time period, she also completed her habilitation in experimental physics (TU Vienna, 1998), held the Yahoo! Founder Chair in Science and Engineering (2006–2009), and was the associate department chair (2002–2009).
In 2005, Diebold and her group were forced to temporarily evacuate from New Orleans, which experienced massive flooding and power outages from the impact of Hurricane Katrina.[6] They were hosted by the group of Theodore E. Madey at Rutgers University during this challenging period.[7]
In 2010 she moved to the Institute of Applied Physics at TU Wien where she is currently a professor of surface science and deputy department head,[8] and retains the title of research professor at Tulane University.[9][5]. Since 2022 she also serves as Vice President of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.[10]
In 2013, Diebold was the sole recipient of Austria's highest research award across all disciplines, the Wittgenstein Award.[11] The award, which comes with substantial unrestricted research funds, is bestowed in support of the notion that scientists should be guaranteed the greatest possible freedom and flexibility in the performance of their research. It enabled Diebold's research activities to flourish without restriction. Other honors include:
2004 Fellow, American Physical Society, "For groundbreaking research on the role of defects in the interplay between bulk and surface properties of transition-metal oxides and on STM imaging of their surface structure.",[12]
2011, 2019 Advanced Grants by the European Research Council, for work on "Microscopic Processes and Phenomena at Oxide Surfaces and Interfaces" (2011), and "Water at Oxide Surfaces: a Fundamental Approach" (2019).[15]
2013 Arthur W. Anderson Award of the American Chemical Society, for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Surface Chemistry.[16]
2006 – 2007 Chemical Physics, guest editor of special issue "Doping and Functionalization of Photoactive Semiconducting Metal Oxides" with C. Di Valentin and A. Selloni [30]
2009 - 2009 Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter "guest editor of special issue on Non-thermal Processes on Surfaces, dedicated to the memory of Theodore E Madey and perspectives on surface science" with Thomas M. Orlando [32]
2016–present npj Quantum Materials, advisory editorial board member [33]
2017 – 2019 ACS Energy Letters, editorial advisory board [34]
2020 – 2021 Science, board of reviewing editors[36]
Personal life
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Diebold holds dual citizenship of both Austria and the US. She is married to Gerhard Piringer[37] with whom she has two sons, Thomas (born 1996) and Niklas (born 1999).[citation needed]
References
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^Curriculum Vitae Prof. Dr. Ulrike Diebold, Leopoldina
^"Ulrike Diebold - Professorin für Oberflächenphysik". TU Wien. Archived from the original on 27 May 2013.
^"Ulrike Diebold Homepage". Retrieved 24 August 2020.
^"Obituary Dr. Peter Varga (1946 –2018)". Retrieved 24 August 2020.
^ abcMadsen, Lynnette (February 2016). Successful Women Ceramic and Glass Scientists and Engineers:100 Inspirational Profiles. Wiley. ISBN 978-1-118-73360-8.
^Wilson, Elizabeth (21 November 2005). "Tales from Tulane: Professors Ulrike Diebold and Larry Byers are anxious to get their labs running again". Chemical & Engineering News. 83 (47): 15–16. doi:10.1021/cen-v083n047.p015.
^Feder, Toni (2005). "Science Community Rallies to Aid Students and Researchers Displaced by Hurricane Katrina". Physics Today. 58 (11): 22–23. Bibcode:2005PhT....58k..22F. doi:10.1063/1.2155745.
^ ab"Ulrike Diebold [IAP/TU Wien]". www.iap.tuwien.ac.at. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
^"Tulane University – Department of Physics and Engineering Physics – Faculty". www2.tulane.edu. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
^"New Presiding Committee of the OeAW elected". www.oeaw.ac.at. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
^"Diebold Ulrike". www.fwf.ac.at. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
^"Division of Materials Physics APS Fellowship". Retrieved 31 August 2020.
^"Fellow of the Society". AVS. Archived from the original on 1 June 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
^"AAAS Annual Report 2007" (PDF). Retrieved 31 August 2020.
^"ERC Funded Projects". European Research Council. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
^"ACS 2013 National Award Winners". Retrieved 31 August 2020.