TU Dortmund grants call to Humboldt Professor
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TU Dortmund University has successfully applied for a Humboldt Professorship for Prof. Edvardas Narevicius from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. The scientist is to be appointed to the Dortmund Faculty of Physics and will conduct research on ultracold reactions in the "Research Center Chemical Sciences and Sustainability" at the UA Ruhr. The 49-year-old chemist is a pioneer in the experimental investigation of quantum effects in molecular collisions, which can only be detected at extremely low temperatures near absolute zero.
On 1 June, the Humboldt Foundation announced that in the first selection round of the year, ten top international researchers will be offered the opportunity to conduct research at a Humboldt Professorship at a university in Germany. With funding of up to 5 million euros for five years, the Humboldt Professorship is Germany's most highly endowed international research award. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research pays the award money if the candidate takes up the professorship at the university that nominated them. At TU Dortmund University, the appointment of the desired candidate could possibly take place as early as 1 August.
Prof. Narevicius has been researching at the Weizmann Institute of Science since 2008 and heads the Quantum Molecular Lab there. He has made an international name for himself in the field of chemical physics through basic research on quantum effects in molecular collisions. His research shows great potential for better understanding physical processes and chemical reactions. In 2020, for example, he received an ERC Advanced Grant from the European Research Council for the experimental investigation of quantum gases, which had previously been methodologically inaccessible due to a lack of suitable cooling technology. By developing an apparatus that slows down molecules to a high degree and "freezes" them at a few millikelvin, new groundbreaking studies are possible that could be just as relevant for astrophysics as for quantum chemistry or quantum IT.
Professorship at the Research Alliance Ruhr
The new professorship "Ultracold Reactions" is to be assigned to the "Research Center Chemical Sciences and Sustainability" of the UA Ruhr. It would be the first professorship to be filled by international appointment at the newly founded Research Alliance Ruhr. The Research Center aims to understand chemical products, processes and reactions at the molecular level and to use this knowledge for environmentally friendly and economically competitive innovations. The chemical industry is just as much in focus as building materials production or pharmaceuticals. With the Cluster of Excellence "RESOLV - Ruhr explores solvation", the UA Ruhr already has a leading international consortium that has been very successfully investigating the extent to which solvents such as water influence processes and how their properties can be used for optimisation since 2012. The Humboldt Professorship is to be strongly involved in RESOLV's research.