Elisabeth Gruber

Dr. Elisabeth Gruber is a Principal Investigator at the Department of Ion Physics and Applied Physics, University of Innsbruck, Austria, since 2024. Previously, she held a Principal Investigator position under the FWF-Hertha-Firnberg program (2020-2023) and conducted post-doctoral research at Aarhus University (2017-2020) and TU Wien (2013-2017). Her work spans molecular, atomic, and surface physics with interdisciplinary links to astrophysics and biophysics.

• Ph.D. Technical Physics (with distinction), TU Wien (2017)
• M.Sc. Technical Physics (with distinction), TU Wien (2012)
• B.Sc. Technical Physics (with distinction), TU Wien (2009)

Her research interests include:

• Molecular Physics: Optical spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, photophysics of (bio)molecules, molecular relaxation processes
• Astrophysics: Diffuse interstellar bands, molecular dynamics in space-like environments
• Biophysics: Charge exchange, energy loss processes, ion-surface interactions
• Cold Physics: Cluster formation, helium nanodroplets, superfluid systems
• Surface Physics: Surface nanostructuring, 2D materials, high-resolution imaging (AFM, TEM, STEM)

Her publications and grants reflect expertise in ion physics, molecular spectroscopy, and 2D material interactions. Recent articles focus on diffuse interstellar bands (2025), fullerene dimerization (2024), and retinal photoisomerization (2019-2022), combining experimental and computational methods.

Scientific honors include:

• 2025 EPS Young Scientist Prize
• 2025 FWF-ASTRA Award
• 2024 FWF-Elise-Richter Grant
• 2020 FWF-Hertha-Firnberg Grant
• 2017 Hannspeter-Winter and Loschmidt-Prizes

She has supervised 9 Bachelor’s, 7 Master’s, and 3 Ph.D. students since 2012 and led projects at institutions like European XFEL, HZDR, and TU Wien. Outreach activities include public panel discussions on graphene and invited talks on molecular physics.