Physics department celebrates 50th anniversary

On 23 June, the Physics Department of TU Dortmund University held its golden jubilee celebration, which had to be cancelled in 2020 due to the corona pandemic. Former and active members recalled the founding in 1970 and milestones in the development. As part of the celebrations, the department also awarded an honorary doctorate to Prof. Helmut Dosch, Chairman of the Directorate of the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg.

In 1970, two years after the opening of the University of Dortmund, Prof. Dietmar Fröhlich, Prof. Ulrich Bonse and Prof. Albert Schmid founded what is now the Department of Physics. From 1971, the department acted independently after initially being merged with the chemistry and mathematics departments. Joachim Treusch, one of the first professors at that time and today a member of the university council, remembers those early days: "The university was new, there were no fixed curricula yet. We were able to implement ideas that we would not have dared to do ten years later."

One of these innovative ideas was the linking of theoretical and experimental physics in the curriculum. In the so-called "integrated courses", theoretical and experimental physicists teach together - a special feature that still exists today.

Internationalisation and growth in research and teaching

Since its founding, the Physics Department has strived for a high level of internationalization in research and teaching. In the course of time, numerous cooperations have been established worldwide, for example with CERN in Geneva, the MAGIC telescopes on La Palma or IceCube at the South Pole. One of the department's current goals is to offer its Master's programmes in English, as Dean Prof. Kevin Kröninger reported at the ceremony. Other recent developments at the department include the newly established Graduate School of Physics, which is intended to further improve the training structure for doctoral students, and the establishment of a Humboldt Professorship for the Israeli scientist Prof. Edvardas Narevicius.

In addition, the department has continuously expanded its range of topics and courses. In 2011, for example, it introduced the Medical Physics degree programme, followed ten years later by the International Master of Advanced Methods in Particle Physics. Rector Prof. Manfred Bayer, himself an experimental physicist, emphasised at the anniversary celebration: "As Rector, but also as a physicist, I am pleased that the Physics Department has managed to implement new, courageous projects in joint work since its beginnings. Numerous high-ranking publications, large collaborative projects and about 11 million euros in annual third-party funding underline the success of the department."

Honorary doctorate for special achievements in science

At the ceremony, the department awarded an honorary doctorate to Prof. Helmut Dosch, who has been Chairman of the Directorate of the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg since 2009. The X-ray physicist received the award for his extraordinary achievements in science and science management. In particular, he has rendered outstanding services to the development and advancement of new analytical methods using synchrotron radiation. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and has been Vice President of the Helmholtz Association since 2013.

Prof. Dosch expressed his gratitude both for the honour and for the cooperation between researchers at TU Dortmund University and DESY in Hamburg. For example, he himself worked with Prof. Metin Tolan, who was Professor of Experimental Physics at TU Dortmund University from 2001 to 2021 and has since been President of the University of Göttingen. As a sign of the scientific friendship, Prof. Tolan held the laudation for the new honorary doctorate.

Impressions from the Ceremony

Rector Prof. Manfred Bayer, himself an experimental physicist, congratulated the physics department for its successful projects in recent years.
Dean Prof. Kevin Kröninger welcomed the guests and guided them through the ceremony.
Numerous former and current members of the Physics Department attended the ceremony.
Joachim Treusch, former professor of the Physics Department, looked back on the history of the department in his ceremonial address.
Prof. Metin Tolan, who already worked with Prof. Helmut Dosch, gave the laudation for the new honorary doctor as a sign of scientific friendship.
Dean Prof. Kevin Kröninger officially presented Prof. Helmut Dosch with the certificate for an honorary doctorate.