idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft
On June 1st the section of the "Order Pour le mérite" in Berlin has elected Prof. Theodor W. Hänsch, Director at Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching and leader of the Laser Spectroscopy Division, as new member. The membership of this order is regarded as one of the most renowned awards for artists and scientists who enjoy outstanding respect worldwide for their excellent contributions. Also the poet Durs Grünbein and Prof. Dr. Svante Pääbo, a researcher of paläogenetics, have been conferred this distinction.
The Order Pour le mérite was established by the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. in 1842 to honour outstanding scientists, scholars, and artists. It was meant as a complement to the "military order" founded by Friedrich II. Alexander von Humboldt was its first Chancellor and advisor. The end of the monarchy in 1918 went along with the end of both orders. The "peace order" however was renewed by the German president Theodor Heuss in 1952. Since then it is under the protectorate of the respective German President. At present 38 German and 29 foreign members belong to the order. They meet twice a year at conferences to exchange their views and ideas.
Prof. Hänsch was born in Heidelberg in 194. He studied physics at the University of Heidelberg, earning his doctorate in 1969. He went on to post-doctoral study in the United States, and was a professor of physics at Stanford University from 1975-1986. Since 1986 he has been Director of Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and Professor of Experimental Physics at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich. His main research fields are the high precision laser spectroscopy of hydrogen and similar elements and the investigation of ultracold quantum gases.
Prof. Hänsch has received many scientific prizes and awards. Among others he was awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in 1988. Twice - in 1998 and 2000 - he got the renowned Philip Morris Research Prize. In 2006 he was conferred the Große Bundesverdienstkreuz mit Stern (order of merit) of the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2005 he was awarded the Nobel Prize of Physics for the development of the frequency comb technique which was done in the frame of high precision laser spectroscopy experiments.
Olivia Meyer-Streng
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Theodor W. Hänsch
Professor of Physics, Ludwig Maximilians University, München
Director at Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics
Hans-Kopfermann-Straße 1
85748 Garching
Phone: +49 - 89 / 32905 702/712
Fax: +49 - 89 / 32905 312
E-mail: t.w.haensch@mpq.mpg.de
Dr. Olivia Meyer-Streng
Press & Public Relations
Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics
Hans-Kopfermann-Straße 1
85748 Garching
Phone: +49 (0) 89 / 32905 213
Fax: +49 (0) 89 / 32905 200
e-mail: olivia.meyer-streng@mpq.mpg.de
Criteria of this press release:
Mathematics, Physics / astronomy
transregional, national
Personnel announcements
English
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