Ehrenfest-Afanassjewa thesis award
 

Paul and Tatiana Ehrenfest in 1904

Paul Ehrenfest (1880-1933) contributed to the foundations of quantum physics and was an inspiring teacher and mentor of a string of outstanding Ph.D. students at Leiden University. Tatiana Afanassjewa (1876-1964), Paul's companion in life and in science, contributed to the foundations of statistical physics. Together they made their home a place where students were encouraged to boldly explore new ideas.

Background reading:

 

Koen Bastiaans wins the 2020 Ehrenfest-Afanassjewa thesis award, on the dissertation "Probing quantum materials with novel scanning tunneling microscopy techniques". Koen carried out his Ph.D. research in the group of Milan Allan at the Leiden Institute of Physics.
Press release and the award ceremony.

The jury complimented Bastiaans with this exceptionally complete and clearly described work, in which he describes his research into quantum matter. His versatility is impressive: besides performing simulations, designing and building his own unique equipment, Bastiaans has also managed to achieve wonderful results in the experiments he conducted. His research and thesis really contain everything you might wish for from a doctoral candidate.

The jury was very pleased with the high level of the nominations and, in addition to the winning dissertation, gives honorable mentions to the Ph.D. theses of Mario Avellaneda (AMOLF), Jorinde van de Vis (NIKHEF) and Andreas Wallucks (TUD).

The Dutch Physics Council invites nominations for the 2021 Ehrenfest-Afanassjewa thesis award. The award recognizes an outstanding Ph.D. thesis in the field of physics, defended at a Dutch university in the previous year (1 September 2020 - 1 September 2021). The prize is open to nominations in any subfield of physics, and for theoretical as well as experimental work. The winner receives € 5000 and is invited to present their research at the national Physics@Veldhoven meeting (January 2022).

Nominations are to be submitted electronically according to these rules and instructions. The deadline is 1 October 2021.

The jury for the 2021 Ehrenfest-Afanassjewa thesis award includes:

 

 

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