Goulielmakis Wins Young Scientist Prize

Dr. Eleftherios Goulielmakis, a research scientist at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching, has been chosen as the recipient of the 2009 IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Optics “for outstanding contributions in attosecond physics, particularly for the generation of attosecond pulses and their application for the direct measurement of light waves,” according to the organizations that grant the prize.

The IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Optics is awarded by the International Commission of Optics (ICO) and the Commission of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) to individuals who have made noteworthy contributions to applied optics and photonics during a maximum of eight years of research experience after having earned a PhD degree.

Goulielmakis’s research focus lies in ultrafast science and particularly in the development and application of precision-controlled light pulses in a broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum, from the infrared to the x-rays. Such pulses allow insight into fundamental processes in atoms and molecules with a resolution that is sufficient to ‘frame-freeze’ the ultrafast motion of electrons.

Electronic motion is among the fastest events in the microcosm and determines the fundamental properties of matter. Its exploration may enable new insight into the inner workings of atoms and molecules as well as it may permit the advancement of technologies at the nanoscale, for example the realization of electronics at ultimate speeds, thousands of times faster than the current state of the art.

Goulielmakis, born in 1975 in Heraklion (Greece), received his BS and MA degrees from the physics department of the University of Crete (Greece), in 2000 and 2002 respectively, and his PhD from the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich in 2005. At present he is a scientist in the Division of Attosecond Physics, which is led by professor Ferenc Krausz at the MPQ. He is one of the project leaders of the Munich-Center for Advanced Photonics (MAP) as well as an adjunct professor of physics at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) in South Korea. In 2007 he received the Foteinos Prize of the Academy of Athens.

Goulielmakis has been invited to deliver an invited lecture at one of the forthcoming ICO meetings. The Young Scientist Prize will be given to him on this occasion during a formal award ceremony.

For more information, visit: www.mpq.mpg.de