Dr. Jan Schäfer (ORCID 0000-0002-0652-5057) is an experimental physicist and Head of the Microscopy, Characterization and Mechanistic Studies group at VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, CEET, MELab, Czech Republic. He received his PhD from the University of Greifswald, Germany, in 2007. He has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications with over 1,800 citations and an h-index of 26 (2026). His research combines advanced nanomaterials technologies with their comprehensive characterization using electron microscopy, X-ray spectroscopy, and infrared spectroscopy.
He began his international scientific career at the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP) in Greifswald, where he headed both the Surface Analysis Laboratory and the Application Laboratory. He developed several plasma sources, the best known of which is the HelixJet, and, as a project leader, contributed to establishing and developing collaborations including that with the University of Sheffield. He has participated in 18 industry-oriented applied research projects and three international research projects. Since 2024, he has been developing a state-of-the-art electron microscopy platform at MELab, comprising HRSEM, FIB-SEM, EDS, EBSD, HRTEM, and EELS, to support national and international research projects. His current work focuses on mechanisms of material formation, correlative characterization, and atomic engineering at the level of individual nano-objects and atoms.