14Prof. Daniel Prades receives the prize from the President of the Humboldt Foundation Robert Schlögl and Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger. Photo credit: David Ausserhofer
Daniel Prades has been researching as the first Alexander von Humboldt Professor at Technische Universität Braunschweig since April 2024. The Humboldt Professorships 2024, Germany’s most highly endowed research prize, were awarded on 13 May in Berlin by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger presented the prizes to a total of 12 top international researchers who will now move to German universities. In particular, two of the twelve professorships will strengthen the QuantumFrontiers Cluster of Excellence at the Universities of Braunschweig and Hanover, further boosting the development of quantum technologies in Quantum Valley Lower Saxony.
Prof. Daniel Prades receives the prize from the President of the Humboldt Foundation Robert Schlögl and Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger. Photo credit: David Ausserhofer
Daniel Prades is moving from Barcelona to Braunschweig with the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship. With prize money of around five million euros for five years, the expert in microphotonics will strengthen research at the Institute of Semiconductor Technology and in joint collaborative projects such as the Cluster of Excellence QuantumFrontiers, the Cluster4Future QVLS-iLabs and other activities in the environment of Quantum Valley Lower Saxony. In addition to Daniel Prades, the Cluster of Excellence has been able to recruit a second Alexander von Humboldt Professor, Robert Raußendorf. The expert in quantum information theory is researching quantum error correction at Leibniz Universität Hannover and is supporting the construction of the Lower Saxony quantum computer based on ion traps.
Early warning system for air pollutants
With his work on gas sensors based on microscopically small light-emitting diodes, Daniel Prades is using his expertise to provide new impetus for measuring environmental influences such as pollutants in the air everywhere and with little effort in order to develop early warning systems. “We are delighted to have won Daniel Prades as an internationally sought-after expert for our research focus on metrology,” said Vice President Professor Peter Hecker at the award ceremony in Berlin.
Group photo of the 12 Humboldt Professors honoured with Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzingen and Humboldt Foundation President Robert Schlögl. Photo credit: David Ausserhofer
The ceremony was part of a three-day programme during which the current prize winners were able to exchange ideas with researchers who have already received funding from the Foundation. President Angela Ittel and colleagues from the faculty, institutes and research services took part in various programme items and were able to confirm Prades’ initial impressions of coming to Germany: “I am very much looking forward to my time at TU Braunschweig and would like to thank all my new colleagues who have welcomed me so warmly and have always supported me in all matters big and small – so that the many small hurdles could be overcome in the best possible way. Together with our partners at Leibniz University Hannover, our joint cluster QuantumFrontiers can now impress the world with two Alexander von Humboldt Professorships!”