Ernst Eckhard Koch Prize and Innovation Award on Synchrotron Radiation

Friends of HZB awarded outstanding researchers at this year‘s HZB User Meeting, which was attended by around 450 visitors

This year, the Friends of HZB awarded the Ernst Eckhard Koch Prize to the outstanding doctoral thesis of Dr Fredrik Johansson (Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, CNRS, Sorbonne). The European Innovation Award on Synchrotron Radiation went to Professor Marianne Liebi and Dr Manuel Guizar-Sicairos, both from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI, Switzerland). The award ceremony took place at this year's HZB user meeting, which had to be held digitally again this year and attracted around 450 visitors.

The chairman of the Friends of HZB, Professor Mathias Richter, guided the award ceremony on screen. Six high caliber nominations were up for selection this year for the Ernst Eckhard Koch Prize.
 

Ernst Eckhard Koch Prize 2021

The Ernst Eckhard Koch Prize went to Dr Fredrik Johansson (now Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, CNRS, Sorbonne) for his dissertation at Uppsala University on "Core-hole Clock Spectroscopy Using Hard X-rays — Exciting States in Condensed Matter".

"Overall an exceptional dissertation achievement" said the expert jury, highlighting the number of Johansson’s high-quality scientific publications. "Also impressive is the demonstration of orbital and directional selectivity in ultrafast charge transfer in SnS₂ using core-hole-clock," the jury said. Johansson then presented the method in a clear and concise talk: it allows a precise measurement of charge transfer times in different solids and promises deeper insights into solar cells, for example.
 

Innovation Award on Synchrotron Radiation 2021

The Innovation Award on Synchrotron Radiation 2021 went to Professor Marianne Liebi and Dr Manuel Guizar-Sicairos, both from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland. They developed and implemented a method to obtain information about textures in materials on the nanoscale from small angle scattering data using mathematical methods (Small Angle Scattering Tensor Tomography). The expert jury emphasised that this method is now used at many synchrotron sources and has opened the door to fascinating studies of hierarchical structures in life and materials science. The laudation was given by Professor Gabriel Aeppli, Head of the Photon Science Division at PSI. The Innovation Award on Synchrotron Radiation is endowed with 3000 € and is sponsored by SPECS GmbH and BESTEC GmbH.
 

Contact:

Friends of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin e. V.
Albert-Einstein-Straße 15, 12489 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 8062-12901
Email: freundeskreis(at)helmholtz-berlin.de
www.helmholtz-berlin.de/zentrum/forschungszentrum/freundeskreis/index_en.html

Press release HZB, 9 December 2021