Germany’s highest research award granted to Daniel Prades from Barcelona
TU Braunschweig welcomes Daniel Prades as their first Alexander von Humboldt Professor. The Spanish expert for nanophotonics receives Germany’s highest-doted research award with five million euros. As an established top researcher, he will further strengthen Braunschweig as a centre of science from 2024 onwards and in particular provide new impetus for the region’s strong research on nano and quantum sensors.
The Alexander von Humboldt Professorships bring world-leading researchers to Germany on a long-term basis. With a maximum of ten professorships per year, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation attracts the best minds and grants them up to five million euros for their first five years. With Daniel Prades, currently a full professor at the University of Barcelona, one of these professorships is going to TU Braunschweig for the first time.
Award winner Professor Daniel Prades: “I am overwhelmed to have this unique opportunity. The Alexander von Humboldt Professorship enables me to once again explore completely new avenues in the field of nanophotonics for distributed sensing with my colleagues from Braunschweig.”
Falko Mohrs, Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science and Culture: “I am overjoyed that Professor Daniel Prades has been awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship and congratulate him and the TU Braunschweig on this great success! It means that another scientist who has been awarded Germany’s most highly endowed research prize will contribute to the excellence of our research in Lower Saxony. He will find ideal working conditions at the Institute of Semiconductor Technology and will not only support the LENA research centre and thus metrology in Braunschweig, but will also be involved in the Quantum Valley Lower Saxony and the QuantumFrontiers cluster of excellence through many connecting links. Thanks to Daniel Prades, cutting-edge research in Lower Saxony has become even more visible and stronger far beyond the state’s borders.”
“With the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship, Daniel Prades is both a great enrichment and confirmation of the excellent research conditions at our university. This success shows how attractive our region is for international researchers. Together with our partners at Leibniz Universität Hannover, our joint cluster of excellence QuantumFrontiers can now stand out internationally with two Alexander von Humboldt Professorships,” says Professor Angela Ittel, President of TU Braunschweig.
Microscopic sensors with great potential
One of the central topics that the new professorship at TU Braunschweig is driving forward revolves around “ubiquitous sensing”. In order to rely on autonomous systems, for example, countless tiny sensors capable of precision measurements are needed. “With Professor Daniel Prades, we have gained a renowned scientist in the field of quantum and nanosensors. His ideas not only have the potential to shape our research landscape, but he also brings these technologies out of the laboratory and into application,” says Professor Andreas Waag, nominating scientist from the Institute of Semiconductor Technology at TU Braunschweig.