Outstanding research achievements at BTU

The prizes, with a total value of 6,500 euros, were donated by both the university's sponsorship association and BTU.

The prize of 1,500 euros for the best dissertation went to Dr. rer. pol. Charlotte Gerling for her research entitled "The economics of climate adaptation to protect biodiversity". In her doctoral thesis, Dr. Charlotte Gerling examines the question of how species endangered by climate change can be protected as cost-effectively as possible with limited financial budgets. With her economic considerations, she is addressing an aspect of biodiversity protection that has been largely unexplored to date. Her evaluation of policy instruments is pioneering work. The dissertation was awarded "summa cum laude". The examiners were Prof. Frank Wätzold, Chair of Economics, in particular Environmental Economics, Prof. John Hearne (RMIT University Melbourne).

The paper was written as part of the BMBF project Ecoclimb (Economics of Climate Adaptation for Biodiversity Conservation). It was written in cumulative form in English and contains eight scientific articles (instead of the usual three in economic dissertations). Dr. Gerling is the first author of seven of these eight articles. Under her leadership, two fundamentally different, complex models were developed that combine ecological, economic and climate science knowledge - an applied model for the protection of an endangered grassland species in Schleswig-Holstein and an abstract, conceptual model. These models were further developed in various directions in order to investigate specific issues relating to the evaluation of policy instruments and the handling of uncertainties.

On June 11, 2024, Dr. Charlotte Gerling was one of three young researchers to receive the Social Market Economy Research Prize of the Roman Herzog Institute (RHI ), which is endowed with 10,000 euros.

Recognition of further outstanding dissertations:

2nd place:

• "Pioneers of modern construction. Building with iron in 18th century Russia"
  Dr.-Ing. Aleksandra Kosykh
  Examiners: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lorenz, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Prof. Ine Wouters, University of Brussels; Dr. Peters, Emeritus Professor ETH Zurich

3rd place:

• "Nanopore Sequencing in Laboratory Medicine - New Molecular Diagnostic Approaches for Familial Mediterranean Fever and SARS-CoV-2 Infection"
  Dr. rer. nat. Jonas Paul Christian Schmidt
  Examiners: Prof. Meike Burger, Furtwangen University, Prof. Dirk Roggenbuck, Chair of Molecular Diagnostics and Quality Management at BTU
• "High Temperature Electrostatic Precipitation: Fundamentals, Phenomena and Feasibility"
  Dr.-Ing. Patrick Bürger
  Examiners: Prof. Alfred Weber, Clausthal University of Technology, Prof. Ulrich Riebel, Chair of Practical Technology at BTU

Jörg Waniek, Chairman of the Board of the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg e.V. support association, said: "It is a special pleasure and honor for us, as the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg Friends' Association, to award the prize for the best dissertation at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg. This prize exemplifies the outstanding scientific work and commitment shown by young researchers. Their dissertations are not only proof of their individual excellence and intellectual capacity, but also a valuable contribution to the further development of our common knowledge. As a sponsoring association, we have made it our mission to support science and, in particular, the promotion of young talent. With this award, we not only want to honor scientific achievements, but also highlight the importance of science in society."

Best Paper Awards of the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Hübner, Full-time Vice President for Research and Transfer , underlines the importance of the Best Paper Awards with the following words: "The Best Paper Awards in the areas of Young Researcher and Senior Researcher at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg are being presented for the first time this year and represent recognition for scientific excellence and innovation at our university. The award-winning work is characterized by outstanding scientific methods and relevant findings. Their work is impressive proof of the excellent scientific work at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg."

Young Researcher Prize
The prize, endowed with 2,500 euros, went to Paul Oleynik, Chair of Experimental Physics and Functional Materials

• PaulOleynik, Fritz Berkmann, Sebastian Reiter, Jon Schlipf, Markus Ratzke, Yuji Yamamoto, Inga Anita Fischer: "Strong Optical Coupling of Lattice Resonances in a Top-down Fabricated Hybrid Metal-Dielectric Al/Si/Ge Metasurface" published in Nano Letters (2024), 24(10)

The article describes a new method for fabricating and utilizing ultrathin surfaces that can control light in an innovative way: It is about a special type of surfaces called "optical metasurfaces". These metasurfaces are ultra-thin layers that can influence the behavior of light when it interacts with matter. Compared to conventional metasurfaces, which consist only of metal or only of dielectric material (insulating material), so-called "hybrid metasurfaces", which use a combination of both materials, offer more possibilities for influencing and controlling light.

Senior Researcher Prize
The prize, endowed with 2,500 euros, went to Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Götz Seibold, Chair of Computational Physics

• Götz Seibold, Riccardo Arpaia, Ying Ying Peng, Roberto Fumagalli, Lucio Braicovich, Carlo Di Castro, Marco Grilli, Giacomo Claudio Ghiringhelli, Sergio Caprara: "Strange metal behavior from charge density fluctuations in cuprates" published in Communications Physics (2021), 4 (7)

The article is about a strange metallic behavior observed in so-called "cuprates". Cuprates are materials that can become superconducting at high temperatures, i.e. conduct electricity without resistance. Scientists have long been trying to understand why these materials become superconducting at such high temperatures and what causes the strange metallic behavior that occurs at temperatures above a certain limit (the so-called pseudogap temperature T*). New experiments with X-ray scattering have now discovered a new type of charge density fluctuations. These fluctuations have low energies and short correlations and are related to known charge density waves. The newly discovered fluctuations in the charge distribution within cuprates could explain the strange metallic behavior of the materials. This discovery could help to better understand the behavior of high-temperature superconductors.

The awards were presented at a ceremony by Jörg Waniek, Chairman of the Board of the Friends of the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg e.V., and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Hübner, Full-time Vice President of the BTU.

The first Research Day at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg was entitled "The Magic of AI: From Fascination to Ubiquity". In addition to the awards for the best dissertation and for the best scientific publications (Best Paper Awards), current research in the field of artificial intelligence, which has become an integral part of our lives, was presented. Rapidly developing technologies are finding their way into a wide variety of areas: Production, medicine, education, communication, our homes and much more. Specialist presentations provided insights into AI-specific perspectives in the state of Brandenburg, research into neuro-adaptive systems and how AI is influencing the world. A panel discussion was held on the topic of "Artificial intelligence: between science and everyday life - how AI is changing our lives".

The Förderverein der Brandenburgischen Technischen Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg e.V . supports theuniversity as part of its educational mission in the realization of events and projects and in addressing student concerns. These include the prize for the best dissertation at BTU and the prizes for the best Bachelor's and Master's thesis.