Week 1 (02.03 - 06.03): Do you work with EBSD or XRD to analyze microstructures and textures? Then this workshop will take your skills to the next level. You will
- gain a deeper crystallographic understanding
- import, clean, and segment EBSD data with ease
- explore misorientations and grain boundary networks
- compute and interpret tensorial properties such as stress, strain, elasticity, and thermal expansion
- understand and apply parent-grain reconstruction and phase-transformation tools
- master advanced statistical methods for EBSD analysis
- become confident with powerful visualization techniques
- discover that MTEX enables you to do (almost) everything you can imagine with your data
Week 2 (9.03. - 12.03.): The second week brings together researchers, PhD students, and industry practitioners who apply quantitative methods to study crystalline microstructures. Participants will present case studies, share workflows, and engage in hands-on discussions of real-world data. Invited experts will deliver introductory lectures on novel analysis methods — followed by open Q&A and breakout sessions. Whether your focus is in metallurgy, geology, semiconductors, or beyond, this week is designed to foster cross-disciplinary interaction, help you tackle your own data challenges, and spark collaboration across academia and practice.
Week 1: Learning Crystallographic Texture Analysis with MTEX
Date: 02.03.2026 - 06.03.2026
During the first week we provide on a daily basis lectures covering the principles of EBSD, texture and crystallography and their relation to plastic deformation and macroscopic properties. All concepts will be illustrated via practical examples during the exercises within MTEX.
Matlab basics and general concepts of MTEX, the class vector3d, spherical coordinates
Lecture 1 - EBSD (Rüdiger Kilian) slides , video
principle concept, data import, basic data cleanup, orientation maps, color keys
Exercise 1 script , solution , data , video , filled script
Lunch
Lecture 2 - Orientations and Symmetries (Ralf Hielscher) slides , video
crystal lattice, direct and reciprocal coordinate system, Miller indices, zonal axes, crystal shapes, point groups, Laue groups, symmetrically equivalent orientations, pole figures, inverse pole figures, fundamental sectors
Exercise 2 script , data , video
segmentation, shape properties, orientation properties, grain selection, grain statistics
Exercise 3 script , solution , filled script , video
Lunch
Lecture 4 - Misorientations and Grain Boundaries (Vivian Tong) slides , video
grain boundary misorientations, misorientation axis, misorientation angle, KAM, GOS, IGMA, twin boundaries, tilt vs. twist boundaries, orientation, gradients, statistics of boundary networks
Exercise 4 script , data , video
kernel density estimation, orientation density function, pole density function, inverse pole density function, model ODFs, ODF characteristics, random sampling, ODF reconstuction from XRD data
Exercise 5 script , video
Lunch
Excursion: Terra Mineralia (Mineral exhibition)
Correction of spatial coordinates, reference frame alignment, denoising
Exercise 6 - TrueEBSD for intragranular misorientation analysis script , data , metadata , questions , answers , paper , video
Lunch
Lecture 7 - Quantitative Microstructure Analysis (Rüdiger Kilian) slides , video
grain shape, grain boundary and grain size statistics
Exercise 7 - Fabric Analysis slides , data , video
elasticity, piezoelectratricity
Lecture 9 - Plasticity (Ralf Hielscher) slides , video
deformation tensors, slip systems, dislocation systems, Schmid Factor, Taylor factor, combining MTEX with external software like VPSC
Lunch
Lecture 10 - Parent Grain Reconstruction (Ralf Hielscher) slides , data , video
determination of orientation relationships, phase transition, parent grain reconstruction, transformation textures, variant selection
Free Discussion of Personal Data Sets
Times: Lecture 1: 8:00 - 9:30, Exercise 1: 10:00 - 11:30, Lecture 2: 13:00-14:30, Exercise 2: 15:00 - 16:30
Week 2: MTEX in Applications
Date: 9.03.2026 - 12.03.2026
The second week is a get together of new and experienced MTEX users to share their use cases of MTEX, research results and MTEX specific tricks and tips. There will be introductory lectures by invited experts that explain their workflow in specific applications of MTEX. To encourage discussions we plan with slots of 20 minutes talks followed by 10 minute discussions. As we expect a very heterogeneous auditorium we kindly ask the participants to keep their talks as accessible as possible.
Keynote Speakers
-
Stefan Zaefferer (MPI for sustainable materials Düsseldorf): Investigating defect crystallography using diffraction techniques in the SEM
-
Zachary D. Michels (University of Minnesota): Grains With Benefits — EBSD maps as a platform for correlative analysis
-
Andreas Leineweber (TU Bergakademie Freiberg): Dealing with complicated crystal structures
Time Schedule
| Time | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00−10:00 | Z. Michels | Grains With Benefits — EBSD maps as a platform for correlative analysis video |
| Coffee | ||
| 10:30−11:00 | G. Trullenque | Multidisciplinary Integration and Networking for Increased sustainability and multi-resources valorization of Geothermal Brines video |
| 11:00−11:30 | K. Matsuyama | Applying MTEX to microstructural and intracrystalline analyses of peridotites: Insights into uppermost mantle dynamics video |
| 11:30−12:00 | L. Morales | |
| Lunch | ||
| 13:30−14:30 | U. Faul | Dislocation Density from Conventional EBSD Maps of Silicates video |
| Coffee | ||
| 15:00−15:30 | V. Tong | TrueEBSD for dummies: a GUI for EBSD map distortion corrections video |
| 15:30−16:00 | R. Kilian | Analysing anisotropic phase distributions |
| 16:00−16:30 | M. Ortmanns | Influence of initial grain size on quartz deformation and static recovery video |
| Short walk through Freiberg | ||
| 19:00 | Dinner at Stadtwirtschaft |
| Time | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00−11:30 | Excursion - Silver Mine Freiberg | |
| Lunch | ||
| 13:30−14:30 | S. Zaefferer | Investigating defect crystallography using diffraction techniques in the SEM video |
| 14:30−15:00 | T. Nyyssönen (online) | Three-dimensional shape metrics for martensite and bainite from two-dimensional orientation maps video |
| Coffee | ||
| 15:30−16:00 | A. Erlacher | Complexion transitions in La-doped alumina: microstructural evolution and grain boundary distributions video |
| 16:00−16:30 | P. Kroeker | Characterization of Complex HCP Twinning Mechanisms and Variant Selection Using MTEX video |
| 16:30−17:00 | M. Bolan | Recent developments assessing composition gradient-induced plasticity in expanded austenite video |
| Time | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00−10:00 | R. Hielscher | Modeling and Reconstructing Grain Boundary Normal distributions |
| Coffee | ||
| 10:30−11:00 | M. Witte (online) | Two new methods for the quantification of steel microstructures with EBSD: Determination of c/a-ratios and misorientation pattern matching video |
| 11:00−11:30 | T. Philipp (online) | Investigation of static recovery and recrystallisation in cold-rolled dual-phase steels |
| Lunch | ||
| 13:30−14:30 | T. Vermeij | Identification of crystallographic slip systems using MTEX video |
| 14:30−15:00 | M. Theising (online) | Using MTEX for the Investigation of Recrystallization in Aluminim Alloys (online) video |
| 15:00−15:30 | S. Lathouwers | In-situ Probing the Thermo-Mechanical Response of L-DED printed Metallic Multi-materials video |
| Coffee | ||
| 16:00−16:30 | F. Safari | canceled |
| Time | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00−10:00 | A. Leineweber | Dealing with complicated crystal structures video |
| Coffee | ||
| 10:30−11:00 | A. Ott | Application of a clustering algorithm for efficient texture-informed simulations video |
| 11:00−11:30 | L. Richter | Correlative Microscopy - A usecase of EBSD trace analysis with MTEX video |
| 11:30−12:00 | T. Pöschl | Robust Approximation of Directional Data video |
| Lunch | ||
| 13:30−14:30 | Round Table Discussion | |
| Coffee |
Venue:
Location of the Workshop: Hörsaalgebäude, Prüferstraße 9
Hotel Kreller: 80 Euro per night with breakfast, very close
Hotel am Obermarkt: 79 Euro per night without breakfast, very close
Elly Hostel: 77 Euro per night, with kitchen
Registration:
- Please register at https://tickets.acatrain.net/mtex-2026/
Registration Fee:
- first + second week (presence): (PhD) students - 400 Euro, other - 600 Euro
- first + second week (online): (PhD) students - 200 Euro, other - 300 Euro
- second week: (PhD) students - 100 Euro, other - 200 Euro
- Payment includes: Lunch for all days and Excursion fee
- Registration for students of the TU Freiberg and the University of Halle is free of charge
Organizers:
Ralf Hielscher (TU Bergakademie Freiberg), Rüdiger Kilian (Universität Halle), Luiz Morales (ETH Zürich), Vivian Tong (National Physical Laboratory UK)
