100,000 euros for researcher from the University of Oxford

FAU Excellence Graduate School awards prize for young researchers

The ‘Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies’ (SAOT) of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) will award the fifth 100,000 euro research prize, the ‘Young Researcher Award in Advanced Optical Technologies’ on 11 June 2012. This year’s winner is the British scientist Dr. Martin Booth from the University of Oxford. The president of FAU, Prof. Dr. Karl-Dieter Grüske, will award the prize in an ceremony held at 15:30 in the auditorium of the Erlanger Schloss. Prof. Christopher Dainty, Chair of the Department for Applied Physics at the National University of Ireland and last year’s President of the Optical Society of America will deliver a ceremonial address entitled: ‘Simple Physics for Better Vision’.

The SAOT is honouring Dr. Martin Booth for his groundbreaking research in applying adaptive optics for microscopy and photonic engineering. This involves adjusting the beam path by means of controllable optical elements to the properties of the object for examination so that the resolution of the microscope is improved and image defects are avoided. This means that smaller and more detailed structures can be generated or deconstructed. Dr Booth gains the status of a guest professor as part of the award and will be establishing a research group in Erlangen in the coming months to continue his innovative work.

Dr Martin Booth is an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellow at Oxford University’s Department of Engineering Science. His work includes active and adaptive optics, optical microscopy for biomedical imaging and tissue examination as well as optical microstructuring for manufacturing photonic materials, which are used for example in IT. Erlangen is Dr. Booth’s second research location in Germany: in 1997, Dr Booth conducted research for the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen.

The Award
As part of the award, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg invites the guest professor to join its team of SAOT researchers and teach at the Erlangen Graduate School ‘Advanced Optical Technologies’. Such collaborative opportunities enable intensive knowledge transfer between SAOT members and guest researchers. This form of exchange is critical to the work and scientific progress in the Graduate School. The Young Researcher Award is annually awarded to scientists under the age of 40 who have achieved excellent results in researching optical technologies. SAOT worked with a panel of international experts to determine the winner of the award.

The Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT)
The Graduate school was founded in November 2006 as part of the Excellence Initiative by the German Federal and State Governments to Promote Science and Research at German Universities. Its researchers work closely together forging interdisciplinary links between the fields of physics, medicine and engineering to harness the potential of new optical technologies. The seven key fields of research at the Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies spans the entire portfolio of current optics research: pptical principles, optical measurement, optical technology for processing materials, optics in medicine, optics in communication and information technology, optic materials and systems, and computer optics. Over 140 candidates are currently enrolled in the doctoral programme of the Graduate School. Since the winter semester 2007/2008, the University has offered particularly well-qualified graduates with a (Bachelor’s) degree in science or engineering the opportunity to take part in the Elite Network of Bavaria’s Master’s degree ‘Advanced Optical Technologies’ (MAOT) as a preparation for the Graduate School. For further information on the Graduate School please visit www.aot.uni-erlangen.de.

Further information for the press:

uni | media service | news No. 120/2012 on 04.06.2012