Workshops by invited guests
A scientific workshop “FIB/TEM Short Course: Applications in Geosciences” was held at the Institute of Geological Sciences of the University of Wrocław from 3-7 October, 2022, led by Dr. Richard Wirth, a researcher at the Helmholtz Center Potsdam GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences in Germany. This workshop delved into the utilization of transmission microscopy methods in geology, which permits the observation of geological materials at an extremely high resolution, almost down to the atomic level. It provided insights into defects in the crystal lattice, minuscule inclusions in minerals, and the diverse crystallographic orientations of these minerals — all studied using transmission microscopy. The course comprised a theoretical segment at the Institute of Geological Sciences of the University of Wrocław and a hands-on session at the Electron Microscopy Laboratory LW013 of the Department of Chemistry of the University of Wrocław, under the guidance of Dr. Wojciech Gil. Dr. Jakub Ciążela and his team from the Institute of Geological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, in conjunction with Dr. Piotr Wojtulka from the Institute of Geological Sciences of the University of Wrocław, organized the event.
Dr. Richard Wirth, an employee of Helmholtz Center Potsdam, is a physicist and a member of the Interface Geochemistry research group. This team is dedicated to studying various geological materials and pioneering innovative imaging techniques like TEM and cryo-SEM. Dr. Wirth boasts a prolific publication record in renowned geology, mineralogy, and crystallography journals. Notably, he is the co-discoverer of several new minerals, including venjiite [Ti10(Si,P)7] and kangjinlaite [Ti11Si10].
