My interests are focused on new materials, their fascinating structures leading to new physical and chemical properties. My passion goes to the development and application of X-ray based analytical methods in the emerging fields of chemistry, biology, physics and microtechnology. Novel models for X-ray tools using diffraction and scattering in combination with X-ray imaging techniques have an enormous potential in application areas such as materials and life sciences. In recent years, my research moved from micrometer-sized towards nano-systems, coated materials and interfaces regarding especially their dynamics in non-ambient environments. The overriding goal is to develop a better understanding of mechanisms on materials surfaces and interfaces with respect to defect mobility and strain relaxation.