Georg Held

Georg Held serves as Principal Beamline Scientist for the versatile soft x-ray (VERSOX) beamline (B07) at Diamond Light Source and holds a joint Professorship at the University of Reading. His work bridges synchrotron facility operations with academic research in surface science.

His research centers on heterogeneous catalysis and surface characterization, with key emphases on:

• Precise surface geometry determination via diffraction techniques (LEED, SXRD)
• Chemical analysis of model catalysts using XPS and NEXAFS spectroscopy
• Adsorption behavior of bio-relevant molecules (e.g., amino acids) and solvents on metal/oxide surfaces
• Electronic structures of surface alloys and thin oxide films

Held's 2025 publications reveal interdisciplinary innovation across nanomaterials, computational beamline modeling, metal-organic frameworks, and machine learning applications, consistently leveraging synchrotron radiation to solve surface reactivity challenges in energy and environmental contexts.

He secures major funding from EPSRC and the European Commission, including Marie Curie network grants "MONET" and "SMALL", enabling international collaborations and beamtime access at synchrotron facilities across the UK, Europe, and US.

As VERSOX beamline leader, Held directs instrumentation development (notably the CLEED program for LEED analysis) and cultivates partnerships with academic and industrial researchers in catalysis and surface science.