Celebrating Outstanding Commitment
This year’s President’s Dinner once again saw numerous awards presented for exceptional teaching, remarkable research achievements, and impressive social engagement.
© Uni Bayreuth, Peter Kolb
On Friday, 5 December 2025, the restaurant Liebesbier in the heart of Bayreuth was once again transformed into a stage for special moments: the University of Bayreuth honoured individuals who have distinguished themselves through outstanding teaching, notable research contributions, and extraordinary social commitment.
Following the welcome address by University President Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Stefan Leible, a total of seven awards were ceremoniously presented. The evening concluded with a dinner speech by former State Secretary Dr Josef Lange, entitled “50 Years of UBT – What (Still) Isn’t in the History Books”. The event was expertly hosted by Angela Danner, Head of the University’s Press, Marketing and Communications Service Unit.
International Club Award for Dr. Heyou Zhang
© Uni Bayreuth, Peter Kolb
The International Club Award honours outstanding young researchers at the University of Bayreuth for international social engagement and academic excellence. This year, Dr Heyou Zhang received the award. Since 2022, he has been a postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of Soft Matter Spectroscopy under Prof. Dr. Jürgen Köhler, working in a highly advanced and competitive research field.
During his PhD at the University of Melbourne, Australia, he developed a new technique for designing metamaterials, nanolasers, and sensor platforms. He further advanced this technique in Bayreuth, achieving the world’s first realisation of a purely optical logic gate through a multidisciplinary approach and collaboration with chemists.
Despite his early career stage, Dr Zhang already boasts an impressive publication record and has attracted significant attention for his research at international conferences. Beyond his research, Dr Zhang is a dedicated tutor and mentor for international doctoral candidates, supporting the next generation of scientists at the chair.
City of Bayreuth Award for Dr. Fabian Eller
© Uni Bayreuth, Peter Kolb
Once again this year, Lord Mayor Thomas Ebersberger presented the City of Bayreuth Award for outstanding doctoral theses. The award went to Dr. Fabian Eller, Dr. Anna Krombacher, and Dr.-Ing. Nico Leupold.
Dr. Fabian Eller received the award for his PhD thesis in Physics entitled “Enabling Tailored Nanostructure Control in Organic Semiconductors with Accelerated Nanostructural Analysis”. The reviewers described his results as “methodologically impressive, systematic, and expertly interpreted”. Particularly noteworthy is his successful control of molecular arrangement at the nanoscale in his experiments – a factor of utmost importance for efficient organic solar cells.
His work was supervised by Prof. Dr. Eva M. Herzig, Chair of Experimental Physics, Dynamics and Structure Formation.
Angela Danner
Head of Office – Press, Marketing, Communication
University of Bayreuth
Central University Administration (ZUV)
Phone: +49 (0)921 / 55-5323
E-mail: angela.danner@uni-bayreuth.de