The relentless drive toward miniaturization in next-generation materials and devices drives the development of characterization tools with improved spatial and spectral resolution. Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopes (STEM) is a pivotal technique, enabling atomic-scale exploration of the physical and chemical properties of nanomaterials at the atomic scale.

Recent breakthroughs in detector sensitivity and monochromator technology now allow high-spatial-resolution mapping of low-energy excitations (<1 eV), including lattice phonons, molecular vibrations, infrared plasmons, hybrid modes, excitons, and polaritons—in both real and reciprocal space. Coupled with ultrafast EELS, and external stimuli, these advances can reveal nanoscale dynamics in quantum materials and provide unprecedented insights into reaction mechanisms in environmental cells. A fuller understanding of the behavior of these excitations and electronic properties —particularly near defects, interfaces— will unlock transformative advances in superconductivity, optoelectronics, energy storage, and biomedicine, bridging the gap between fundamental science and functional device engineering.

The school on STEM/EELS 2025 offers a unique opportunity to learn and understand the fundamentals of these excitations and their evolution under operational conditions from lecturers that are at the forefront of this new research field. The school will be hybrid: both in-person and online registrations are open.

Previous editions were "2D materials: oxide membranes, twistronics and beyond”, “Angle Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy", “Orbital currents in solids" and "Topological Interfaces 2024"