The European Physical Society (EPS) Prize for Research into the Science of Light is a major prize awarded on behalf of the EPS through its Quantum Electronics & Optics Division (QEOD). The prize is awarded every 2 years in recognition of recent work by one or more individuals (no more than three) for scientific excellence in the area of electromagnetic science in its broadest sense, across the entire spectrum of electromagnetic waves.
The work for which the individual(s) is/are nominated must be such that a significant component of it was performed during the period 5 years prior to the award. In addition, the award will recognize research for which a significant portion of the work was carried out in Europe or in cooperation with European researchers, and may be given for either pure or applied research.
The award will be accompanied by an engraved glass medal, certificate, and a monetary sum of 2000 euros.
The 2024 Prize for Research into the Science of Light is awarded to Professor John Dudley, University of Franche-Comté and CNRS Institute FEMTO-ST, Besançon, France and Professor Goery Genty, Tampere University, Finland, for "pioneering contributions to ultrafast nonlinear fibre optics which have opened new frontiers into the study of supercontinuum light, nonlinear optical instabilities and rogue waves".
John Dudley is Professor of Physics at the University of Franche-Comté and the CNRS Institute FEMTO-ST in Besançon, France. His research interests cover broad areas of ultrafast and nonlinear optics, including source development and characterisation, the understanding of complex instabilities in fibre propagation, supercontinuum physics and applications, and analogies with other physical systems. He has received a number of distinctions, including the CNRS Silver Medal, the IOP President’s Medal, the APS Nicholson SPIE Harold E. Edgerton Award, and the Optica R. W. Wood Prize. He is also committed to education and outreach, and currently chairs the UNESCO International Day of Light. He is Fellow of SPIE, Optica, IEEE, EOS, and the Royal Society of New Zealand (Hon.).
Goëry Genty is a Professor at Tampere University in Tampere, Finland. His research interest ranges from ultrafast nonlinear optics to the development of real-time measurement techniques, advanced laser sources, novel sensing and imaging concepts as well as the application of machine learning to nonlinear optics. He has received several awards including the IUPAP Young Scientist International Prize in Optics and the Physics Prize of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. He is a Fellow of Optica and EOS. He is also the director of the Flagship for Photonics Research and Innovation and of the Finnish national research infrastructure for light-based technologies, two of the most prestigious large-scale research programs of excellence funded by the Research Council of Finland.
The 2019 Prize for Research into the Science of Light is awarded to Professor Javier García de Abajo, ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain for "pioneering contributions to the understanding of the behavior of light at the nanoscale, in particular in plasmons and in light interactions with free electrons".
Javier García de Abajo received his PhD from the University of the Basque Country in 1993 and then visited
Berkeley National Lab for three years. He was a Research Professor at the Spanish CSIC and in 2013 moved to
ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques (Barcelona) as an ICREA Research Professor and Group Leader. He is
Fellow of both the American Physical Society and the Optical Society of America, and he has co-authored 300+
articles on different aspects of nanophotonics, atomic physics, surface science, and electron microscope
spectroscopies.
