Prof. Dr. Catharina Stroppel’s work in the field of mathematics known as representation theory involves many different crossovers with other areas such as knot theory and low-dimensional topology. Specifically, she looks at symmetries and the various forms that they take. Symmetries can be found in physics, for example, in the structure of crystals. She was recently awarded a Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize by the German Research Foundation (DFG) in recognition of her outstanding contributions to this field. The researcher is a member of the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics Cluster of Excellence and the Modelling Transdisciplinary Research Area at the University of Bonn.
Research for quantum computers
Prof. Dr. Dieter Meschede from the Institute of Applied Physics at the University of Bonn has been studying questions of atomic, molecular and quantum physics for over three decades. The many achievements of his working group include the “conveyor belt made of light,” which uses laser beams to move and sort individual atoms. The aim is to be able to use atoms to perform calculations inside a quantum computer. The senior professor, who has written two textbooks, secured a much-sought-after Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) in 2011. He was President of the German Physical Society from 2018 to 2020 and currently is a member of the Matter Transdisciplinary Research Area at the University of Bonn.
About the academy
The North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts was established in 1970 and has been the sole academy in Germany to incorporate the arts alongside the sciences since 2008. It only accepts the very best researchers and artists among its members, who engage in scientific and academic dialogue with one another and exchange ideas and opinions with research and cultural institutions in Germany and further afield. Only figures who “have distinguished themselves through scientific or artistic achievements,” in the words of its articles of association, are eligible for election. The academy currently has around 270 full and almost 140 corresponding members.
