• 23 peer-reviewed publications, including 2 Science, 1 Science Advances, 2 Nature Communications, 1 Angewandte Chemie, 1 Physical Review Letters; as at 03/2026.
• Google Scholar
• List of publications (at TU Wien reposiTUm)
• ORCID ID: 0000-0001-7101-1055

• 2019 Loschmidt Prize of Chemical-Physical Society Vienna
• 2013 Dean's Award, Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic
• 2012 Erasmus mobility grant, Institut Néel & Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France

Dr. Jan Balajka studied Physical Engineering and Nanotechnology at Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic, graduating (M.Sc.) in 2013. He then joined the Surface Physics group of Prof. Ulrike Diebold at the Institute of Applied Physics, TU Wien, Austria, where he completed his Ph.D. in 2018. His doctoral research focused on oxide–water interactions at the atomic scale, including the development of experimental approaches enabling the integration of ultrapure liquid water in an ultrahigh-vacuum experiment.

Following his Ph.D., he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University before returning to TU Wien, where he is currently a University Assistant in the Surface Physics division. His research centers on noncontact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM), combining atomically resolved imaging with advanced theoretical modeling to uncover the structure and chemistry of complex insulating surfaces.

His work focuses on oxide and mineral surfaces, heterogeneous ice nucleation, and solid–liquid interfaces, with an emphasis on chemically sensitive imaging and structure–function relationships. His research has provided atomic-scale insight into long-standing problems in surface science, including the structure of α-Al₂O₃(0001) and the role of surface reconstructions in ice nucleation on silver iodide.