Uschi Steigenberger
Ursula "Uschi" Steigenberger FInstP was a German condensed matter physicist and director of the ISIS neutron source. She was one of the founders of the Institute of Physics Juno Award.
Education
Steigenberger was born in Augsburg. She studied physics at the University of Würzburg, where she remained for her graduate studies. She earned a PhD in condensed matter physics under the supervision of Michael von Ortenburg. For her doctoral thesis she designed a stress rig, which allowed her to apply uniaxial pressure to single crystals of tellurium. After earning her PhD in 1981, Steigenberger worked in various magnet labs, including the CNRS Grenoble High Field Magnet Facility in Grenoble and Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow.Career and research
Steigenberger joined the Institut Laue–Langevin in 1982. She worked on the PRogetto dell'Steigenberger joined the ISIS neutron source in 1986. She was initially responsible for the PRISMA spectrometer, leading a collaboration between the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Italian Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. PRISMA was used for inelastic neutron scattering from single crystals. It can measure the change in scattering during the application of temperature, pressure or magnetic fields. Steigenberger was made one of the ISIS Excitations Group leaders, becoming the first woman Division Head in 1994. She attended the Oxford School on Neutron Scattering in 1991. In 1996 Steigenberger coordinated a workshop on pulsed neutron experiments. She served as director at the ISIS neutron source from 2011 to 2012. She worked with scientists from Norway to create Larmor, a high-intensity small-angle scattering instrument that uses a beam of polarised neutrons to study the movement of atoms in a material. Steigenberger served as Chair of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin. She retired from the ISIS neutron source in 2013. Her work was recognised by scientists all over the world, developing important partnerships with Japan and Italy.