Luise Theil Kuhn is Professor and Head of Section at DTU Energy, Technical University of Denmark. We interviewed her for the occasion of World Science Day for Peace and Development.
Where have you studied and which positions have you held before your current one?
I did my MSc in Physics and Geophysics at the Niels Bohr Institute (NBI), University of Copenhagen, finishing in 1995, and I continued with a PhD in Condensed Matter Physics, which I finished at NBI in 1999. The PhD project included a longer stay with Andrei Geim (IG Nobel prize in 2000 and Nobel laureate in 2010) at the Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen (the Netherlands).
I acquired my own funding as junior research fellow at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), and as assistant professor at NBI, and then I continued as scientist at Risø National Laboratory. After 7 years of temporary research positions, I became senior scientist at Risø National Laboratory in 2006 and I was also responsible for coordinating Risø’s educational activities with the neighboring universities (KU, RUC, and DTU). In 2008 a new materials analysis section was initiated and I got the position heading that. Meanwhile, Risø was merged with DTU and I became part of the new DTU Department for Energy Conversion and Storage. Alongside my job as head of section, I planned and was head of studies for DTU’s international BSc-programme in General Engineering 2015-2023, and since 2022, I have been professor in multiscale characterization of energy materials.
What was your motivation to pursue a career in physics and how did you choose the field you are now specializing in?
I was not very considerate about my career when I chose my studies. I simply picked the topics that had my interest, so you can say that I have always been intrinsically motivated. Natural science is my passion, particularly how nature around us “works” – that ranges from cosmology to geophysics, so I studied physics in combination with geophysics. I decided during my MSc to focus on solid-state physics because understanding materials, their structure, and their properties caught my interest. It fascinates me that the physical properties of materials are directly related to structures ranging down to the atomic scale. During the beginning of my research career, I worked with magnetic nanoparticles, understanding how the small size of the particles affects their magnetic properties and how these are very different from bulk magnets. Today I work with how material structure affects the properties of so-called functional materials applied in devices for sustainable energy conversion and storage. This means that I work with understanding the link between material structure from atomic to micrometer scale and the materials’ performance in for instance a fuel or electrolyzer cell or a battery. I apply and develop advanced microscope methods using electrons, X-rays, and neutrons to image those in 2D or 3D while they are operating, i.e. following several charge-discharge cycles of a new battery material while mapping the material changes.
World Science Day for Peace and Development is all about the importance of science in our daily lives and society. Can you share with us what your research is about and why it is important?
My research in energy materials properties is directly supporting the green transition within technologies for power-2-X and batteries. It is important to understand the significant mechanisms behind the performance and the life-time of the energy materials and devices. The imaging methods that I’m working with are enabling studies that are fundamental to this understanding.
World Science Day aims to engage the public in debates on emerging scientific issues. How do you communicate your research to the public?
I think engaging the public in the debate is extremely relevant, and one prerequisite for this is education. My biggest contribution is definitely as teacher educating our future engineers. I sometimes contribute to “Forskningens Døgn” (Danish Science Festival) and I advise DTU’s Science Show, which makes science events for the public.
Looking ahead, what are your future research plans, and which areas of your work are you most excited to explore next?
Next year, in 2025, the World’s most powerful microscope, the European Spallation Source (ESS) will open in Lund. This will allow several orders of magnitude of improvement of what material structures and processes we can image with neutrons, so it will open up for a lot of new exciting neutron imaging methods and thereby new science to be done in understanding energy materials. I for instance look forward to the ability to image energy storage processes and current distributions in batteries in real time.
As the leader of your research group, you hire young researchers for your projects. How do you approach the role of mentor and advisor? Have you had mentors of your own during your career?
As university teacher, as project supervisor for BSc, MSc, and PhD students, and as head of a research section, I try to engage in the young students’ and researchers’ careers. I engage in understanding their motivation and their dreams for their career, and I try to provide feedback and support for those and explain how the various career paths work. I share my scientific network.
I never had an officially appointed mentor, but I was so fortunate to have a dedicated teacher and supervisor in my early career stage who pushed and challenged me and supported me in understanding how to pursue a career in science. I have had some very inspirational supervisors and later colleagues who are role models for how you stay motivated in a relatively uncertain and fluctuating research environment.
Do you have any thoughts on potential strategies for helping to advance the careers of underrepresented groups in physics in general?
I think it is very important that you have a sense of belonging, and that you know what the career opportunities are and how you can pursue those. I would suggest official mentorships all the way from the day you enter into the physics education until you get a permanent position in either the private or public sector. I experience that the expectation that you need to work internationally as a postdoc before qualifying for funding and an academic position is in a number of cases the factor that breaks a career in physics. Internationalization is very important in science, but there are many ways to achieve that, and that flexibility should be built into the career path options.
What advice would you give to young people (in particular women and minorities) who would like to pursue a career in science?
Follow your dreams, identify what you are good at and what motivates you, know your allies and collaborators, don’t walk the path alone, and don’t give up.
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