idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Nachrichten, Termine, Experten

Grafik: idw-Logo
Grafik: idw-Logo

idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft

Science Video Project
idw-Abo

idw-News App:

AppStore

Google Play Store



Instanz:
Teilen: 
20.04.2017 13:34

Physics: Laurens Molenkamp wins yet another ERC Grant

Robert Emmerich Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg

    Top research pays off: After 2011, Professor of Physics Laurens Molenkamp from the University of Würzburg has been awarded a second Advanced Grant from the European Research Council worth 2.5 million euros.

    The European Research Council (ERC) gives its Advanced Grants to excellent scientists who have established themselves in the research community through extraordinary achievements. Each grant comes with 2.5 million euros in prize money intended to promote innovative projects.

    It is already the second time that the coveted prize goes to Laurens Molenkamp, Professor at the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany.

    The JMU professor is definitely one of the leading scientists in his field: In 2007, the quantum spin Hall effect was discovered in his lab. Moreover, Molenkamp was the first scientist to implement the new material class of topological insulators in experiments. Since his breakthrough, intensive research worldwide has been conducted in this domain.
    Experts expect topological insulators to provide huge advances in information technology by using the material to build even smaller and more powerful computer chips in the future.

    What the money will be used for

    The new project will study the so-called "exotic" superconductors. They are created when a topological insulator is brought into contact with normal superconductors. "Here exotic means that the electron pairs in the topological material are formed in a different way than in conventional materials," Molenkamp explains.

    How exactly this happens will now be investigated using high-frequency techniques and high-precision controlled magnetic fields. The novel form of superconductivity should be particularly well suited for use in quantum computers. "But we don't know yet whether this is actually true and how easy or difficult it will be to implement this," the professor says.

    The ERC funds will be used to purchase the new measuring stations required for the project. Additionally, three positions for Ph.D. students will be created; they will work on their projects with other members of the faculty.

    Multiple awards for Molenkamp

    Laurens Molenkamp has already received numerous renowned awards for his research of topological insulators including the Europhysics Prize 2010, the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize of the American Physical Society 2012 and the Physics Frontiers Prize 2013.

    The "German Nobel Prize", the Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation (DFG) worth 2.5 million euros, followed a year later. In 2017, he received the Stern-Gerlach Medal, the most prestigious award of Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. And only a few days ago, Molenkamp accepted the King Faisal International Prize.

    Contact

    Prof. Dr. Laurens Molenkamp, Chair of Experimental Physics III of the University of Würzburg, T +49 931 31-84925, molenkamp@physik.uni-wuerzburg.de


    Weitere Informationen:

    https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/ueber/university/persoenlichkeiten/ercgrants/ The ERC Grants at the University of Würzburg


    Bilder

    Professor Laurens Molenkamp with some of the numerous award certificates he has received over the past years.
    Professor Laurens Molenkamp with some of the numerous award certificates he has received over the pa ...
    (Photo: Jasper Molenkamp)
    None


    Merkmale dieser Pressemitteilung:
    Journalisten, jedermann
    Elektrotechnik, Physik / Astronomie, Werkstoffwissenschaften
    überregional
    Forschungsprojekte, Personalia
    Englisch


     

    Hilfe

    Die Suche / Erweiterte Suche im idw-Archiv
    Verknüpfungen

    Sie können Suchbegriffe mit und, oder und / oder nicht verknüpfen, z. B. Philo nicht logie.

    Klammern

    Verknüpfungen können Sie mit Klammern voneinander trennen, z. B. (Philo nicht logie) oder (Psycho und logie).

    Wortgruppen

    Zusammenhängende Worte werden als Wortgruppe gesucht, wenn Sie sie in Anführungsstriche setzen, z. B. „Bundesrepublik Deutschland“.

    Auswahlkriterien

    Die Erweiterte Suche können Sie auch nutzen, ohne Suchbegriffe einzugeben. Sie orientiert sich dann an den Kriterien, die Sie ausgewählt haben (z. B. nach dem Land oder dem Sachgebiet).

    Haben Sie in einer Kategorie kein Kriterium ausgewählt, wird die gesamte Kategorie durchsucht (z.B. alle Sachgebiete oder alle Länder).