Enthusiastic IMN researcher with a passion for sports
What began as a sport to compensate for the often long day in the lab has become a passion: our colleague Lilian Vogl has accepted the challenge of the Germany Tour stage from Ebensfeld to Erlangen. Together with a group of enthusiastic racing cyclists, she arrived at the finish after 87 km at the required minimum speed of 26 km/h, happy and adrenaline-loaded. She is thrilled and can only recommend taking part in such an event: “the opportunity to ride with former pros like the multiple Tour de France stage winner Marcel Kittel and to get tips on riding technique is simply unique,” she says.
Cycling through the Franconian landscape (Photo: Peter Schweizer)
However, Lilian Vogl is not a pure racing cyclist, because it is precisely the sporty variety offered by triathlon that appeals to her. “It is precisely the feeling of gliding through the water like a fish or exploring the beautiful Franconian landscape by bike that provides the impetus for the best ideas and experiments,” she says.
The direct proximity of the Faculty of Technology to the local recreation areas Brucker Lache or Buckenhofer Forst naturally invites you to take a short run in the forest right after work or even during your lunch break. Refreshed, you can then get back to research. “Taking a short breath in the fresh air and in nature has already loosened some of the knots in our thoughts and produced new approaches to solving problems”, says Lilian Vogl.
Working at the high-resolution electron microscope (Image: IMN)
She is currently investigating the properties of nanowires using light and electron microscopy across all scales and is enthusiastic: “When you imagine that these new materials will revolutionize the field of sport in the future, it is a very exciting and dynamic field of research that you simply want to be part of”.
Actually, she wanted to start this year at the Erlangen Triathlon in the Olympic distance, but this was unfortunately cancelled due to corona problems. But she does not lose her motivation and even sets herself further goals: “With one more year of training I would like to improve my performance even more and then try my hand at the middle distance or maybe even start at the Ironman” she says laughing.