The
European Physical Society is happy to announce that the EPS Emmy Noether
Distinction 2022 is awarded to Monika RITSCH-MARTE and to Ilaria ZARDO.Congratulations!
2022 EPS Emmy Noether Distinction – Full Career
The EPS awards the 2022 Emmy Noether Distinction for her Full Career to Monika RITSCH-MARTE of
the Institute of Biomedical Physics, Dept. of Physiology & Medical
Physics, Medical University of Innsbruck (Medizinische Universität
Innsbruck) Austria, “for exceptional contributions to optical
microscopy and manipulation methods and for the promotion of women’s
careers in physics .”
Monika RITSCH-MARTE obtained
her PhD in Quantum Optics and, more specifically, on the generation and
application of nonclassical states of light (so-called “squeezed
light”) from the Waikato University in Hamilton, New Zealand, under the
supervision of Dan F. Walls and Crispin Gardiner in 1988. She returned
to Austria to pursue her career in a Post-Doctoral appointment, working
with P. Zoller at the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University
of Innsbruck. She enjoyed several short and intermediate length working
visits at the University of Colorado in Boulder (USA), at the
Università degli Studi de Milano (Italy), and at the Research Institute
for Theoretical Physics of Helsinki (Finland). After completing her
Habilitation at the University of Innsbruck in 1995, Monika Ritsch-Marte
accepted the Chair of Biomedical Physics at the Medical University in
Innsbruck in 1998, where she founded a Biomedical Optics group.
Monika
Ritsch-Marte has contributed exceptionally to the development and
application of microscopic methods and optical tweezers. Her research
group has pioneered the use of spatial light modulators in the form
of liquid-crystal displays to optical microscopy. Spatial light
modulators allow rapid switching between different microscopy modalities
(bright field, dark field, phase contrast) without the need for
changing any hardware components. She has pioneered and developed the
use of spiral phase contrast [1] using controllable vector beams [2], and, in particular, edge contrast enhancement based on holographic Fourier plane filtering of the microscopic image.
Monika
Ritsch-Marte and her group also actively work in the field of
non-linear microscopy, and have developed a non-scanning (wide-field)
variant of the chemically-selective coherent anti-Stokes Raman
scattering (CARS) technique.
With her group, Monika Ritsch-Marte
currently develops methods of optical manipulation of ever-larger
particles, among which the optical "macro-tweezers" system, a large
volume dual-beam mirror trap, suitable to trap and guide swimming
micro-organisms without inducing any optical damage.
Monika Ritsch-Marte and her colleague Stefan Bernet hold several patents (e.g.
spiral-phase contrast microscopy or a diffractive Moiré lens with
tuneable refraction index). Monika Ritsch-Marte is one of the world’s
leading authorities on the control and use of structured beams for
optical imaging, on the use of holographic techniques, and on the
development of optical tweezers, in particular in the light of their
application to the imaging and manipulation of living matter.
Monika
Ritsch-Marte provided exceptional service to the community. Together
with Claudia Draxl, she chaired a working group of the Austrian Academy
of Sciences dedicated to the promotion of women in physics. Monika
Ritsch-Marte was the first woman president of the Austrian Physical
Society (ÖPG) from 2007 to 2008, and vice president of the ÖPG from 2009
to 2011 [3]. In 2008, on the occasion of the 130th
birthday of Lise Meitner, Monika Ritsch-Marte initiated, on behalf of
the ÖPG, and in partnership with the DPG, the series of “Lise Meitner
Lectures” [4].
This recurring event aims to present outstanding German and Austrian
woman physicists to the broad public, with the aim of inciting young
women to choose a scientific career, and to reduce ignorance about
science and the scientific method. The Lise Meitner Lectures have been
continuously held, every year, at the occasion of the yearly meetings of
the DPG and of the ÖPG. Monika Ritsch-Marte has continuously been a
member of the Lise-Meitner-Lectures project commission.
The Emmy
Noether Distinction selection committee celebrates the remarkable wealth
of Monika Ritsch-Marte’s scientific achievements over a very broad
spectrum of optics and optical methods, applied to a very wide diversity
of topics, including quantum physics, quantum optics, imaging,
holography, instrumentation, and manipulation. Monika Ritsch-Marte’s
contributions to the field of physics (optics) for life sciences are
exceptional. In addition Monika Ritsch-Marte has worked steadfastly and
untiringly for the recognition of women in physics and for the promotion
of physics as a career choice for young women, in an environment where
this commands resolve and continuous commitment.
2022 EPS Emmy Noether Distinction – Mid-career
The EPS awards the 2022 Emmy Noether Distinction for mid-career candidates to Ilaria ZARDO of the Department of Physics, University of Basel, Switzerland, "for
her contributions in the methodology of characterizing nanoscale
materials and the consequent discovery of their new functional
properties."
Ilaria Zardo obtained her
Ph.D. in physics from the Technical University of Munich (Technische
Universität München – TUM) in Germany and University of Rome “La
Sapienza” (Università di Roma - “La Sapienza”) in Italy on the “Growth
and Raman spectroscopy studies of gold-free catalyzed semiconductor
nanowires” in October 2010 with a « summa cum laude » mention. Her
advisors were Prof. Gerhard Abstreiter, Prof. Anna Fontcuberta i Morral,
and Prof. P. Postorino. Ilaria Zardo subsequently continued to work
with Prof. Abstreiter on a post-doctoral appointment at TUM, before
moving to the Netherlands for a second post-doc at the Technical
University of Eindhoven, where she worked with Prof. Erik P.A.M.
Bakkers. Ilaria Zardo became an Assistant Professor of Experimental
Physics at the University of Basel in Switzerland in 2015, and secured
an Associate Professorship in Experimental Physics at the Department of
Physics in Basel in 2020.
Ilaria Zardo’s work has provides key new
insights in the area of semiconductor nanostructures. In particular,
Ilaria Zardo has made very substantial contributions to the
understanding of polytypism, i.e. the possibility of a same material adopting different crystalline structures. This can arise as a result of, e.g.
different growth conditions or methods, or of the material’s reduced
physical dimensions: a material structure unstable in bulk form may be
stable upon synthesis as a thin film, a nanorod or nanowire, or a
nanoparticle. Thus, Ilaria Zardo was among the first to grow silicon in a
hexagonal structure [5],
and was the first to demonstrate, through the design of a novel and
unique experimental set-up, that polytypism enables fundamentally new
functional properties. For example, Gallium Phosphide GaP transforms
into a direct bandgap semiconductor when crystallised in the wurtzite
phase. Key to her scientific success is Ilaria Zardo’s innovative use
of Raman spectroscopy of nanowire systems, and the combination of theory
and experiment to do so. She was the first to derive the optical
selection rules for a range of III-V compounds such as GaAs, InAs and
AlAs. She also predicted and experimentally confirmed which additional
modes should be detected when the wurtzite phase appears instead of the
common zinc blende. Ilaria Zardo introduced her insights into the field
of thermal transport, demonstrating the ability to engineer phonons (i.e.
crystal lattice vibration modes) in polytype nanowires, leading to the
field of nanophononics, and enabling novel applications in thermal
management, electronic devices (phonon circuits), and quantum computing.
Alongside
her scientific research, Prof. Ilaria Zardo has, since her appointment
at the University of Basel, continuously, consistently, and intensively
engaged in many actions designed to stimulate the choice of a scientific
career by young women. Ilaria Zardo recognized very early on that role
modelling has to start at an early age. She engaged in high school
events to promote mathematics, information science, natural science, and
technology topics to girls (e.g. at the Tech Days of the Swiss
Academies of Technical Sciences), and initialised and organised annual
network events for young women on the International Day of Women and
Girls in Science. Ilaria Zardo also works behind the scenes, e.g.
to guarantee female representation in her university and
internationally; she engages, in her personal time, in mentorship of
young women seeking to build an academic career, efforts rewarded by the
awards and appointments obtained by her students.
The Emmy
Noether selection committee is deeply impressed by Ilaria Zardo’s
excellence in all aspects: scientific impact, teaching, project
management and coordination, project evaluation on the national and
international level, support to the community, support and mentoring of
women students from the high school to the university level, her
engagement in stimulating young women to choose scientific careers, and
her continuous dedication to scientific outreach. All the more
remarkable considering her present career stage, Ilaria Zardo’s
achievements set a shining example for all women striving to pursue a
career in physics.
More info:
[1] https://scholar.google.at/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=attixk4AAAAJ&citation_for_view=attixk4AAAAJ:84Dmd_oSKgsC
Print Page
Blog Home
All Blogs
RSS
