Dr. Vesna Srot awarded with the 2026 MAS Birks Award 

We are proud to announce that Dr. Vesna Srot of the Stuttgart Center for Electron Microscopy at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research has received the MAS Birks Award at Microscopy & Microanalysis 2026 for her paper “Fe-rich Enamel: Paradigm Shift in Understanding Enamel of Rodent Teeth”.
 

We’re honored to announce that Dr. Vesna Srot has been awarded the MAS Birks Award at Microscopy & Microanalysis 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The award recognizes the best contributed paper initially presented at Microscopy & Microanalysis 2025 and celebrates excellence in scientific communication and innovation in microanalysis.

About Vesna Srot

Vesna Srot is a research group leader at the Stuttgart Center for Electron Microscopy, led by Peter A. van Aken, a facility that has long been a cornerstone of research at the MPI-FKF.
Vesna’s research interests are twofold. On the one hand, she studies in situ (S)TEM. In this research direction, her efforts are devoted to developing new methods for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based in situ sample preparation. These techniques are directly applied to the investigation of functional materials using (scanning) transmission electron microscopy, or (S)TEM.
On the other hand, she investigates biological and bioinspired materials. In this area, she focuses on the preparation of hybrid organic–inorganic biological and bioinspired materials, as well as on advanced imaging and analytical (S)TEM characterization. The goal of her research is to bridge biology, materials science, and medicine, uncovering nature’s design principles and rethinking how strength and function emerge at the nanoscale.

The Award

Vesna received the award for her paper, “Fe-rich Enamel: Paradigm Shift in Understanding Enamel of Rodent Teeth” But what is this work about?
The study challenges the traditional view of tooth structure by proposing rodent enamel as a sophisticated, functionally graded composite, engineered at the nanoscale for durability and self-sharpening.
In their study, Vesna and her collaborators revealed that the iconic orange-brown incisors of rodents are reinforced by nanoscale pockets of iron-rich material, which play a crucial role in determining the properties of the teeth.
Present as a secondary phase within the enamel, in fact, these iron-rich pockets contribute to the mechanical resilience and acid resistance of the teeth.

Vesna and her collaborators also uncovered the mechanism behind the characteristic coloration, showing that the distinctive orange-brown color does not originate from the iron-rich enamel itself, but from a previously unknown surface layer.
These findings reshape our understanding of the microstructure and color generation of rodent incisors, with far-reaching implications for human health, next-generation restorative dentistry, bioinspired dental materials, and acid-resistant coatings.
The relevance and scientific significance of this contribution could not go unnoticed, and it was therefore recognized with the MAS Birks Award.

We once again congratulate Dr. Vesna Srot on this achievement and wish her every success in her future scientific endeavors.

About the MAS Birks Award

The Microanalysis Society (MAS) is a non-profit professional association dedicated to advancing the principles, instrumentation, and applications of microanalysis.
Every year, the MAS confers the Birks Award for the most outstanding contributed paper in the field of microscopy.