Matthias Bode received the diploma in physics from the Free University of Berlin, Germany, in 1993, and the Ph.D. degree in physics from the University of Hamburg, Germany, in 1996. Based on his works on spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy he received the habilitation in experimental physics from the University of Hamburg in 2003.

Since 1996 he is a Research Staff Member at the Institute of Applied Physics at the University of Hamburg. In the past 10 years Dr. Bode developed spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy, a magnetic imaging technique with a resolution down to the atomic limit. His research explores correlations between structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of epitaxial nanostructures with a special interest in frustrated antiferromagnetic surfaces, superparamagnetism, and new magnetic phenomena.

Dr. Bode has published more than 80 peer-reviewed papers, three review articles, and three book chapters. In 2003 he was awarded the Philip-Morris Award for research.