Ulrike Diebold is an innovative experimentalist who has gained deep insights into surface chemistry fundamental to heterogeneous catalysis and other interfacial effects.

She directly connects her carefully-conducted experiments with theory to provide an understanding of surface chemistry at gas-solid and gas-liquid interfaces.

Her atomically-resolved studies of oxide surfaces that clearly show how defects form, molecules react, and how one can modify surfaces to steer their reactivity.

She has also assumed leadership positions in various professional societies, most prominently the German Physics Society’s surface science division.