Lukáš Palatinus, head of the electron crystallography laboratory at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, received the Gjønnes Medal for electron crystallography and the John Cowley Medal from the International Federation of Societies for Microscopy (IFSM). Czech crystallography has a long and strong tradition, and the Institute of Physics is one of its major centers. For decades, a team led by Václav Petříček developed crystallography here, and today Lukáš Palatinus’s team is continuing this tradition. Receiving two major international awards in a single year is a clear confirmation that Czech crystallography holds a very strong and respected position on the global stage.
Both awards reflect Lukáš Palatinus’s long-term work on developing methods for the precise analysis of crystal structures using electron diffraction. For nearly twenty years, his team has been working to improve the accuracy with which the positions of atoms in crystals can be determined.
X-ray crystallography has a history spanning more than a century, while methods of electron crystallography have only been developing intensively over the past two decades. The main significance of electron crystallography lies in the fact that it opens the way to analyzing crystals that are too small for classical X-ray crystallography.
Crystals measuring tens of micrometers can be studied using X-ray diffraction, but for crystals measuring hundreds of nanometers or smaller, electron diffraction must be used. Here, however, the situation is more complicated due to the way electrons interact with matter. A major challenge for the field, therefore, is how to determine the atomic structure as accurately as possible from an electron diffraction pattern.
The work of Lukáš Palatinus and his colleagues focuses on developing increasingly precise methods and algorithms, which they then translate into practical software. They make this software available to the global crystallography community. “I think that’s the main reason why my work is so highly regarded—we don’t just stay at the theoretical level, but we give researchers a tool they can use right away,” explains Lukáš Palatinus. The results of electron crystallography—that is, the description of the internal structure and properties of materials—are important for further research in many fields, such as drug development or the creation of new materials.
“I greatly appreciate both awards. The Gjønnes Medal is awarded by the International Union of Crystallography and is decided upon by the Commission on Electron Crystallography—that is, my immediate scientific community, most of whom are familiar with the results of our work, use them, or have even collaborated on their development,” adds Lukáš Palatinus. “I absolutely didn't expect to receive the Cowley Medal. I didn’t think I had any chance at all, and it really came as a shock. The award covers a broad range of research areas and is presented by the International Federation of Societies for Microscopy. I am really more of a crystallographer than a microscopist, so I was very surprised to receive this recognition.“
Michael Prouza, Director of the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, adds: “It is wonderful and entirely deserved that Lukáš Palatinus has received this prestigious award. His long-term work is building a kind of bridge between two fields - crystallography and microscopy. Lukáš has been remarkably successful in applying methods originally developed for electron microscopy to crystallographic problems. I am very pleased that both sides of this bridge have recognized his work in such a meaningful way.“
The John Cowley Medal is an award recognizing a lifetime of contributions to the advancement of diffraction physics and microscopy, presented by the International Federation of Societies for Microscopy (IFSM) once every four years.
The Gjønnes Medal is an award for outstanding contributions to the advancement of electron crystallography, presented by the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) once every three years.