Anita has played a major role in better understanding the structure and dynamics of liquid and amorphous materials under extreme conditions, for example high-temperatures and high-pressures. She has also led an investigation into quantum effects in water, where its structure and dynamical properties are governed by a competition between intra-molecular and inter-molecular quantum effects. Anita has also made a substantial contribution to data analysis of this work and has been at the forefront in the race to develop oxygen isotope substitution in structural studies of liquid and amorphous materials.
The B.T.M. Willis prize is awarded annually by the Neutron Scattering Group of the Institute of Physics and the Royal Society of Chemistry for outstanding contributions to neutron scattering science.
The majority of Dr Zeidler's work uses the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble and the ISIS neutron source at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxford, both world leading research centres which are supported by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).
"Neutron techniques are an essential tool in my goal to better understand the structure and dynamics of amorphous materials. I am very honoured to win this prize and, building on this success, my focus will be on further advancing neutron scattering research to unravel the complexity of liquid and amorphous materials," said Dr Zeidler on her achievement.
"Anita is a worthy winner of this award and the judging panel were impressed with Anita's depth of research in structural studies under extreme conditions, which is of wide interest and importance for understanding the geophysical processes deep within the Earth's mantle," said Dr Ali Zarbakhsh, Chair of the IOP/RSC Neutron Scattering Group. "Anita and her colleagues at Bath University and the Central Facilities have advanced the study of oxygen isotope substitution in structural studies of liquids. This is work that has the potential to radically change our understanding of the structure of normal versus heavy water".
The team at Bath are centring their research on the atomic scale structure and dynamics of liquids and glasses, and this work includes an extensive use of both neutron and x-ray scattering methods. The systems investigated range from network glass forming materials, through ionic liquids which include metals and aqueous solutions, to glasses that have been modified by incorporating rare-earth ions. The aim is to understand and manipulate the ordering in these systems at the atomic scale to gain insight into processes associated with the glass transition and to develop materials with new functional properties.
Notes for Editors
The B.T.M Willis prize is sponsored by the Institute of Physics and the Royal Society of Chemistry. It is named after Dr Terry Willis, one of the pioneers of the use of neutron scattering in the United Kingdom.
