Ernst Eckhard Koch Prize and Innovation Award Synchrotron Radiation
Martin Bluschke (MPI for Solid State Research, TU Berlin) receives the Ernst Eckhard Koch Prize from Mathias Richter for his outstanding dissertation. © Screenshot
The prize for innovation in synchrotron research went to Guiseppe Sansone, Luca Giannessi, Carlo Callegari and Kevin Prince. © Screenshot
This year, the Friends of HZB awarded the Ernst Eckhard Koch Prize to Dr. Martin Bluschke (MPI for Solid State Research and TU Berlin) for his outstanding doctoral thesis. The European Innovation Award for Synchrotron Radiation went to a team of four physicists for their work on the FERMI free electron laser at the Elettra synchrotron source in Trieste. The award ceremony took place at this year's HZB user meeting, which had to be held digitally this year.
The award ceremony was well attended with 197 spectators. The chairman of the Friends of HZB, Prof. Dr. Mathias Richter, led the award ceremony on screen and distributed hand-drawn bouquets of flowers as well as the award certificate. The prize committee had read the submitted proposals with great pleasure this year, he reported.
Ernst Eckhard Koch Prize 2020
The Ernst Eckhard Koch Prize went to Dr. Martin Bluschke, Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, who completed his doctorate in 2019 at the Technical University of Berlin. The title of his dissertation is: "Resonant x ray scattering studies of collective electronic states in cuprates and nickelates controlled by isovalent chemical substitution and epitaxial integration". Bluschke has been studying so-called collective states in solids at BESSY II, which are related to the phenomenon of superconductivity.
"Mr. Bluschke's dissertation reveals a deep understanding of physics. The numerous results are published to a high standard, which is also reflected by the number of citations," Richter quoted from the prize committee. Bluschke will continue his research at the University of British Columbia in Canada.
Innovation Award Synchrotron Radiation 2020
The Innovation Award Synchrotron Radiation 2020 went to Prof. Dr. Guiseppe Sansone (University of Freiburg), Dr. Luca Giannessi (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Frascati, Italy), Dr. Carlo Callegari and Prof. Dr. Kevin Prince (Elettra, Trieste, Italy) for their achievements in the development and application of innovative investigation methods exploiting the radiation emitted by seeded free electron lasers at the FERMI free electron laser at Elettra in Trieste. The prize committee acknowledged "this development is of utmost importance for the future" and "concerns ground-braking experiments even on the attosecond scale". The Innovation Award Synchrotron Radiation is endowed with 3000 Euros and is sponsored by SPECS GmbH and BESTEC GmbH.
- Key technology for a future without fossil fuelsIn June and July 2025, catalyst researcher Nico Fischer spent some time at HZB. It was his sabbatical, he was relieved of his duties as Director of the Catalysis Institute in Cape Town for several months and was able to focus on research only. His institute is collaborating with HZB on two projects that aim to develop environmentally friendly alternatives using innovative catalyst technologies. The questions were asked by Antonia Rötger, HZB.
- Berlin Science Award goes to Philipp AdelhelmBattery researcher Prof. Dr. Philipp Adelhelm has been awarded the 2024 Berlin Science Award. He is a professor at the Institute of Chemistry at Humboldt University in Berlin (HU) and heads a joint research group at HU and the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB). The materials scientist and electrochemist is investigating sustainable batteries, which play a key role in the success of the energy transition. He is one of the leading international experts in the field of sodium-ion batteries.
- Scrolls from Buddhist shrine virtually unrolled at BESSY IIThe Mongolian collection of the Ethnological Museum of the National Museums in Berlin contains a unique Gungervaa shrine. Among the objects found inside were three tiny scrolls, wrapped in silk. Using 3D X-ray tomography, a team at HZB was able to create a digital copy of one of the scrolls. With a mathematical method the scroll could be virtually unrolled to reveal the scripture on the strip. This method is also used in battery research.