New Professor at FSU Jena

Professor Gnecco was a Senior Researcher at IMDEA Nano­science, Madrid. His research group was focusing on friction pheno­mena on the atomic scale, controlled mani­pulation of nano­particles, visco­plastic defor­mation of polymers and theore­tical bases of nano­tribology. Before moving to Madrid he spent several years at the University of Basel, in the group headed by Prof. Ernst Meyer. Here, he investi­gated the velocity depen­dence of atomic friction in ultra-high vacuum, the onset of abrasive wear on alkali halide crystals, the transition from stick-slip to super­lubricity, electro­mechanical methods to reduce friction and self-assembling of organic molecules on insu­lating surfaces. He coauthored about 70 peer-reviewed publi­cations (including articles in Science, Nature Materials, PNAS, Nano Letters, Physical Review Letters and Nano­techno­logy) and various book chapters. He also coauthored the book "Nanoscale Processes on Insulating Surfaces" (World Scientific, 2009), and co-edited the book "Fundamentals of Friction and Wear on the Nanoscale" (Springer, 2007). Besides his PhD in physics, he was awarded a master degree in piano (Conser­vatory of Music "Niccolò Paganini", Genova, Italy).