Duncan Alexander

Duncan Alexander is a Researcher at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) with affiliations across multiple departments, including the School of Basic Sciences (SB), Interdisciplinary Centre for Electron Microscopy (CIME), and Electron Spectrometry and Microscopy Laboratory (LSME). He also holds roles in teaching programs such as SMX-ENS, EDMX-ENS, EDPY-ENS, and SPH-ENS, and serves on the Doctoral Program Physics committee.

Education:

• PhD in Materials Science and Metallurgy (2003), University of Cambridge (thesis: kinetics of metallurgical phase transformations, advisor: Lindsay Greer)
• Royal Society Overseas Research Fellowship (2003-2007), University of Sydney
• Postdoctoral positions: University of Cambridge (materials electrochemistry with Carsten Schwandt and Derek Fray), Arizona State University (atmospheric aerosol characterization with Peter Crozier and Jim Anderson)

Research Interests focus on advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques, enabling interdisciplinary research at EPFL. His work spans materials science, including metallurgy, phase transformations, and electrochemistry, with applications in atmospheric aerosol particle analysis. He co-launched EPFL’s first MOOC on TEM for materials science (2019).

Scientific Awards:

• Royal Society Overseas Research Fellowship

Teaching & Collaborations: He has led TEM courses at EPFL, including Electron Microscopy: Advanced Methods, Fundamentals of STEM Imaging and Spectroscopy, and Electron Matter Interactions in TEM. He contributes to PhD training through the Doctoral Program Physics committee and teaches in programs like EDMX-ENS and SPH-ENS.

Labs: Currently affiliated with LSME (SB-IPHYS) and previously with CIME (EPFL’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Electron Microscopy).