Emil Warburg Prizes 2024 Awarded
Dr. Christina Witt and the Mechanical Workshops at the University of Bayreuth have been awarded the 2024 Emil Warburg Prizes.
Dr Christina Witt (Science Award, 3rd from the right), Prof. Dr Anna Köhler (5th from the right); Peter Schmidt (5th from the left), representing all employees of the mechanical workshops (Technology Award); Lord Mayor and Chairman of the Board of the Emil Warburg Foundation, Thomas Ebersberger (far right); Wolfgang Hetz, Board Member of Sparkasse Bayreuth (far left).
The 2024 Emil Warburg Technology Prize was awarded to the Mechanical Workshops of the University of Bayreuth in recognition of their dedicated and substantial contributions to the research laboratories on campus. In experimental physics, experimental setups must constantly be redesigned and reconfigured to address new research questions. For these technical modifications, collaboration with the workshop staff and their extensive experience from previous projects is of immense importance. Since such modifications do not always work immediately, the short distances between the workshops and the laboratories on campus, as well as the commitment of the workshop teams, are crucial for the progress of research in experimental fields. Research at universities takes place largely within the framework of master's and, in particular, doctoral theses. To ensure that these can be completed within the intended timeframe, the prompt support provided by the workshops is of central importance.
The Scientific Prize was awarded to Dr. Christina Witt for her outstanding contributions to the understanding of novel semiconductor materials. Witt completed her doctorate at the Chair of Experimental Physics II under Professor Anna Köhler. The subject of her award-winning doctoral thesis is "Understanding the Morphology and Optoelectronic Properties of Powder-Based, Print-Processed Lead Halide Perovskites". These new semiconductor materials can be produced at room temperature and are suitable for applications such as solar cells, X-ray detectors, and light-emitting diodes. Thin films of these perovskites are of particular importance, and Witt’s research focused on their morphology, which plays a decisive role in the efficiency of the aforementioned applications. The reviewers of her dissertation highlighted the pioneering nature of her study, stating that it is "the high level of methodological precision and careful discussion that makes this study particularly valuable."
Following the award ceremony, PD Dr. Elina Olthof from the University of Cologne delivered the keynote lecture on the topic "New Semiconductor Materials".
Abour the Foundation
Professor Emil Warburg (1846–1931) was one of the leading physicists of his time. In his retirement, he frequently visited his daughter, Lotte Meyer-Viol, in Bayreuth. After his death, he was laid to rest in Bayreuth’s municipal cemetery.
To honour the memory of Professor Dr. Emil Warburg, his descendants, together with Bayreuth’s then Lord Mayor, Hans-Walter Wild, established the Emil Warburg Foundation in Bayreuth in 1978. The foundation supports physics at the University of Bayreuth and recognises outstanding achievements in the field of physics at the university through its awards.
Prof. Dr. Walter Zimmermann
Wilhelm and Else Hearaeus Senior Professorship Theoretical Physics
University of Bayreuth
Depertment of Physics
phone: +49 (0)921 / 55-3181
e-mail: walter.zimmermann@uni-bayreuth.de
web: https://www.zimmermann.physik.uni-bayreuth.de