Uschi Steigenberger

Steigenberger was born in Augsburg. She studied physics at the University of Würzburg, where she remained for her graduate studies. She earned a PhD in condensed matter physics under the supervision of Michael von Ortenburg. For her doctoral thesis she designed a stress rig, which allowed her to apply uniaxial pressure to single crystals of tellurium.^[1] After earning her PhD in 1981, Steigenberger worked in various magnet labs, including the CNRS Grenoble High Field Magnet Facility in Grenoble and Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow.^{[citation needed]}

Steigenberger joined the Institut Laue–Langevin in 1982.^[2] She worked on the PRogetto dell'Istituto di Strutura della MAteria del CNR (PRISMA) spectrometer with collaborators in Italy, and continued to work with them on the motion of molecules.^[3][4] She worked on cadmium telluride that had been alloyed with magnesium.^[5] Here she met British physicist Keith McEwen, whom she married in 1986 before the couple moved to the United Kingdom.^[6]

Steigenberger joined the ISIS neutron source in 1986.^[7] She was initially responsible for the PRISMA spectrometer, leading a collaboration between the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Italian Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche.^[8] PRISMA was used for inelastic neutron scattering from single crystals.^[8] It can measure the change in scattering during the application of temperature, pressure or magnetic fields.^[8] Steigenberger was made one of the ISIS Excitations Group leaders, becoming the first woman Division Head in 1994. She attended the Oxford School on Neutron Scattering in 1991.^[9] In 1996 Steigenberger coordinated a workshop on pulsed neutron experiments.^[10] She served as director at the ISIS neutron source from 2011 to 2012.^[7][11] She worked with scientists from Norway to create Larmor, a high-intensity small-angle scattering instrument that uses a beam of polarised neutrons to study the movement of atoms in a material.^[12] Steigenberger served as Chair of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin.^[7] She retired from the ISIS neutron source in 2013.^[13] Her work was recognised by scientists all over the world, developing important partnerships with Japan and Italy.^[14]

Steigenberger was shortlisted for a WISE Campaign Lifetime Achievement Award.^[15] She was a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, and part of their review of women in the physics workplace that led to the Juno award scheme as well as being a member of their Science Board.^[16][17] In the 2016 New Year Honours she was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to science, which she collected in 2017.^[2][18] This OBE was honorary as Steigenberger kept her German citizenship whilst working in the UK.^[16][18]

Steigenberger was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January 2017, and died on 12 December 2018.^[17][19]