Lower Saxony's Science Minister Falko Mohrs honoured one female scientist and three male scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the development of higher education in the state with the Lower Saxony Science Prize 2024 at the Landesmuseum Hannover this Wednesday evening. He also honoured three students and a team of students. The award recognises outstanding achievements in research, transfer, teaching and studies. The award winners were nominated by the universities in Lower Saxony. The Scientific Commission of Lower Saxony (WKN) was responsible for the selection. There was a separate jury for the ‘Teaching’ category.
Lower Saxony's Science Minister Falko Mohrs: ‘Science provides the tools and knowledge that enable us to understand and shape the world around us. Science contributes significantly to the functioning of democracies and drives the innovations we need to be competitive as a business location. New ideas, new knowledge and new technologies are created every day at our universities. With the Lower Saxony Science Prize, we honour personalities who make important contributions to this with their outstanding achievements - in research, transfer, teaching or studies. They create scientific and technological foundations for key technologies, find solutions to challenges relating to our most important resource, water, and contribute to new therapeutic concepts with their findings: This year's award winners impressively demonstrate how our science in Lower Saxony is a driving force for the development of our state and contributes to making life in Lower Saxony a little better every day. And the award winners demonstrate this: The well-qualified and committed specialists we need for our economic progress and public services are trained at our universities. I would like to congratulate all the award winners.’
Award winner Professor Andreas Waag
Professor Andreas Waag from the Institute of Semiconductor Technology at TU Braunschweig and co-speaker of the QuantumFrontiers Cluster of Excellence received the 25,000 euro award in the category ‘Scientist at a university in Lower Saxony’. The jury wrote: ‘He has made an exemplary contribution to raising the profile of TU Braunschweig through his outstanding research achievements. This is not only reflected in the form of high publication activities and third-party funding (...). He has also been extremely successful in transferring his research results to industry and is very committed to international cooperation and students.’
Angela Ittel, President of TU Braunschweig: ‘A research centre for metrology, a Lower Saxony network for quantum research, a research network for gallium nitride research and much more - Prof. Andreas Waag is a first-class example of how cooperation and the recognition and use of synergies across departments, university boundaries and nations not only leads to excellent research, but also to new technologies for society. The TU Braunschweig is very proud to have such an outstanding and integrative scientist and such a role model among its members. My sincere thanks for his unique work and my heartfelt congratulations on the Lower Saxony Science Prize!’
Professor Andreas Waag heads the Institute of Semiconductor Technology and primarily researches the light-emitting material gallium nitride. Gallium nitride microelectronics can now be found in many applications that we come into contact with every day. White light LEDs have completely replaced incandescent lamps, fast nitride transistors are used in 5G communication technology and gallium nitride power transistors increase the efficiency of inverters in photovoltaics. With the miniaturisation and scaling of thousands of light-emitting semiconductor devices on a chip, Professor Waag is developing key optical technologies for quantum and nanometrology and other next-generation applications. As spokesperson for the LENA research centre, the TU research focus on metrology and as co-spokesperson for the ‘QuantumFrontiers’ metrology cluster of excellence, he is using these technologies to enable measurements at the quantum frontier with unprecedented precision and to develop new types of optical processors for artificial intelligence.
The focus on miniaturisation and scalability forms the bridge to bringing quantum research into application. On this path, Professor Waag is one of the initiators of Quantum Valley Lower Saxony (QVLS), a cross-institutional network that has been working towards implementing scalable quantum computers in Lower Saxony since 2021. On the other hand, as co-founder of the Nitride Technology Center (NTC), he is working to combine the luminosity of gallium nitride with conventional silicon microelectronics. With Professor Waag, the TU Braunschweig has thus repeatedly established itself as the nucleus of innovative alliances and large-scale projects in the field of quantum metrology and microelectronics.
