MULHOUSE, [18 MAY 2009] – The European Physical Society is delighted to announce the 2009 winners of its young researcher Prizes in Quantum Electronics and Optics. These prizes are awarded only once every two years, and recognize the highest level of excellence amongst emerging researchers. The young researcher prizes include the prestigious Fresnel prize for those under 35, as well as prizes for the best European PhD theses in photonics over the last two years. “They are extremely competitive, and a list of past winners clearly shows how the prizes act as successful springboards into both academia and industry,” said Professor John Dudley, Chairman of the European Physical Society’s Quantum Electronics and Optics Division. The awards will be presented in a Ceremony on Tuesday June 16th during the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO) Europe, held during the World of Photonics Congress in Munich, Germany.

2009 Fresnel Prize (Fundamental): Tobias Kippenberg

Tobias Kippenberg received his PhD in 2004 from Caltech (USA). At the end of 2005 he returned to Germany and established the independent Max Planck junior research group “Laboratory of Photonics and Quantum Measurements” at MPQ in the Division of Prof. Theodor W. Hänsch. His research explores ultra-high Q microresonators for optical frequency comb generation and for studying optomechanical phenomena. Since September 2007 he has been tenure track assistant professor at ETH Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. He has authored or co-authored around 40 peer-reviewed publications and has given over 30 invited talks at international conferences.

2009 Fresnel Prize (Applied): Romain Quidant

Romain Quidant received his PhD in 2002 from the University of Burgundy (France). Since then he has worked in Barcelona at ICFO-The Institute of Photonic Sciences. In 2006, he was appointed ICREA junior Professor and ICFO group leader of the Plasmon Nano-Optics group. His research is focussed on engineering plasmon properties of metallic nanostructures to extend optical concepts and photonic functionalities down to the nanometer scale. He is supported by Cellex Foundation Barcelona, and is author or co-author of around 50 peer reviewed publications and has delivered more than 20 invited talks at international conferences.

2009 PhD Thesis Prizes (Fundamental)

Fernando G.S.L. Brandao:
PhD from Imperial College London.
Quantum information theory

Alexei Ourjoumtsev:
PhD from Institut d’Optique/ University Paris XI.
Novel quantum states of Light

2009 PhD Thesis Prizes (Applied)

John C Travers:
PhD from Imperial College London.
Fibre supercontinuum generation

Deran Maas:
PhD from ETH Zurich.
Novel pulsed semiconductor lasers

Background Information on EPS-QEOD

The European Physical Society provides an international forum for physicists and acts as a federation of national physical societies. Founded in 1968, the EPS now has over 2500 individual members, and brings together 40 national physical societies epresenting 100,000 physicists from the countries of Europe. The Quantum Electronics and Optics Division (QEOD) of the EPS acts as a focal point for European research in optics and photonics through its wide range of strategic activities, sponsorship and conference organisation. See qeod.epsdivisions.org

Contacts:

Dr. Rüdiger Paschotta
Chairman of Junior Awards Committee 2009
Paschotta@rp-photonics.com

Prof. John Dudley
Chair of the Quantum Electronics and Optics Division of the European Physical Society
john.dudley@univ-fcomte.fr

Senior Researcher Prizes in Quantum Electronics and Optics Announced

QEOD Prizes 2009:

The European Physical Society is delighted to announce the 2009 winners of its senior Prizes in Quantum Electronics and Optics. These prizes are awarded only once every two years, and recognize the very highest level of achievements in fundamental and applied research. The awards will be presented in a Ceremony on Tuesday June 16th during the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO) Europe, held during the World of Photonics Congress in Munich, Germany.

2009 Senior Prize for Fundamental Aspects of Quantum Electronics and Optics: Alain Aspect

The 2009 Senior Prize for Fundamental Aspects of Quantum Electronics and Optics is awarded to Alain Aspect, French CNRS Distinguished Researcher, and Professor at the Institut d'Optique Graduate School and at the Ecole Polytechnique in Palaiseau near Paris. Alain Aspect is a member of both the French Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Technologies, and a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences (USA). Aspect has made numerous contributions to the fields of quantum and atom optics, and it was his seminal experiments in 1982 that confirmed the counterintuitive nature of quantum entanglement to which Einstein himself had objected. These results paved the way for the modern research revolution in quantum information processing, and the development of technologies such as quantum cryptography and quantum computing. Since then he has performed numerous other pioneering studies in the fields of both quantum and atom optics, and his work has included – between 1985 and 1992 – a highly significant collaboration on laser cooling of atoms together with 1997 Nobel prize winner Claude Cohen-Tannoudji.

2009 Senior Prize for Applied Aspects of Quantum Electronics and Optics: Thomas Ebbesen

The 2009 Senior Prize for Applied Aspects of Quantum Electronics and Optics is awarded to Thomas Ebbesen, Professor at the University of Strasbourg in France, and Director of ISIS, a multidisciplinary research institute funded both by the University and the French CNRS. Thomas Ebbesen is also a Senior Member of the Institut Universitaire de France. Ebbesen has carried out research into a range of topics in physics and chemistry, including novel carbon materials and superconductivity. The Quantum Electronics and Optics Prize is awarded for his work carried out since the early 1990s into the novel optical properties of nanostructured metals and in particular for his discovery of how light can be efficently transmitted through subwavelength holes. His pioneering experiments have greatly contributed to the emergence of the field of surface plasmon photonics. Ebbesen’s work is at the interface of nanoscience and photonics, and impacts on numerous strategic technologies such as opto-electronics, optical communications and sensing.

2009 QEOD Prize Committees:
 
Quantum Electronics and Optics (QEO) Awards
 
Chair: M. Segev (Past Quantum Electronics and Optics Prize winner)
J. Dudley (QEOD Chair)
F. Wagner (EPS Past President)
U. Keller (Past CLEO/Europe General Chair)
G. Roosen (Past CLEO/Europe General Chair)
D. Lenstra (Past IQEC General Chairs)
E. Arimondo (Past IQEC General Chairs)
 
 
Fresnel Award and Thesis Awards
 
Chair: R. Paschotta (Past Fresnel Prize winner)
J. Dudley (Division Chair and CLEO/Europe General)
F. Wagner (EPS Past President)
R. De La Rue (CLEO/Europe General Chair)
D. Meschede (EQEC General Chair)
K. Moelmer (EQEC General Chair)
V. Zadkov (QEOD treasurer)

QEOD Prizes 2007

EPS Quantum Electronics Prize

Prize in year 2007
Fundamental aspects		Applied aspects
	Anton Zeilinger Universität Wien, Austria "For his many seminal contributions to the foundations of quantum optics and quantum information science."		Mordechai Segev Technion, Haifa, Israel "For his pioneering contributions in the field of light propagation in nonlinear media, in particular regarding spatial solitons in photorefractive materials, incoherent solitons, and nonlinear waves in periodic structures."

Prizes awarded in previous years.

EPS Fresnel Prize

Prize in year 2007
Fundamental aspects		Applied aspects
	Markus Aspelmeyer Universität Wien, Austria "For his outstanding achievement in the fields of entanglement, quantum communication and quantum physics of nano-mechanical devices."		Jérôme Faure Ecole Polytechnique-ENSTA-CNRS Palaiseau, France "For the application of high field lasers to laser plasma accelerators."

Prizes awarded in previous years.

EPS Theses Prize

Prize in year 2007
Fundamental aspects		Applied aspects
	Axel Griesmaier University of Stuttgart, Germany "Dipole-dipole interaction in a degenerate quantum gas"		Giuseppe Della Valle Politecnico of Milan, Italy "Photonic devices at 1.5 µm manufactured by ion exchange and femtosecond laser writing"
Fundamental aspects		Applied aspects
	Jacob Sherson Univ. of Århus and Univ. of Copenhagen, Danmark "Quantum memory and teleportation using macroscopic gas sample"		Raúl Vicente Zafra Universitat de les Illes Balears, Spaib "Nonlinear dynamics and synchronization of bidirectionally coupled semiconductor lasers"

Prizes awarded in previous years.