2021 Alfried Krupp Prize

The Alfried Krupp Prize

Since 1986, the Alfried Krupp Prize has been presented annually to young scientists who hold a first professorship at a German university in the fields of natural sciences and engineering. It is one of the most highly endowed awards for young scientists and has so far been presented to 43 outstanding young researchers.

The award, which is endowed with EUR 1.1 million, is intended to enable the award winners to create an improved working environment and advance their work in research and teaching over a period of five years, independent of public funding.

The winner of the 2021 Alfried Krupp Prize: Prof. Dr. Monika Aidelsburger

Prof. Dr. Monika Aidelsburger (*1987), born in Aichach, studied physics and was awarded her doctorate with “summa cum laude” at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Germany) in 2015. After two more years as a postdoctoral researcher in Munich, at the Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Optics (MPQ) in Garching and at the Collège de France in Paris, she took over the leadership of several research groups at the Chair of Quantum Optics of Prof. Immanuel Bloch at the LMU. She is holding a W2 professorship for Synthetic Quantum Matter there since 2019.

Monika Aidelsburger’s work has already been recognised with high-ranking grants and awards, including a “Starting Grant” from the European Research Council (2018) and a Marie Curie Research Fellowship from the European Union (2016). She is a member of the international database of excellent female scientists “AcademiaNet”, the American Physical Society and the German Physical Society, among other things.

About the research of Monika Aidelsburger

Monika Aidelsburger’s research focuses on quantum simulation and the experimental investigation of so-called ultracold quantum gases in optical lattices. In solids, the measurement of Hall deflections caused by the application of a magnetic field is standard. If these solids are brought into an area in which quantum phenomena play a role, fascinating topological states can arise whose properties we still do not understand exactly to date. Prof. Dr. Aidelsburger has realised an innovative method that makes it possible to simulate these phenomena in the laboratory with ultracold atoms in order to gain new insights into the exotic properties of topological matter. In particular, fundamental concepts that were previously considered purely theoretical and not directly observable phenomena can now be examined. At present, Prof. Dr. Aidelsburger is working on the development of a new platform that will extend quantum simulation with ultracold atoms to phenomena from the field of quantum electrodynamics and particle physics. For her peers, Monika Aidelsburger is among the world elite in quantum physics: Her scientific work has been published in international journals as well as cited approximately 5,500 times. In addition to her research and teaching at LMU, she is also active as an expert and mentor at international conferences.

“I have developed an innovative method that makes it possible to simulate these phenomena in the laboratory with ultracold atoms in order to gain new insights into the exotic properties of topological matter. In particular, fundamental concepts that were previously considered purely theoretical and not directly observable phenomena can now be investigated.” Prof. Dr. Monika Aidelsburger

“Monika Aidelsburger has already achieved exceptional results in her young career. Not only is she one of the most cited scientists in her field and therefore a driving force in quantum physics, but her research will perhaps have a fundamental influence on our future. We are happy to be able to accompany her on her journey.”

Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Ursula Gather, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of the Krupp Foundation

Ceremonial act: Impressions from the event

The Alfried Krupp Prize is presented at Villa Hügel every autumn. Due to the special pandemic circumstances, this year’s award ceremonial act was held on a smaller scale. Prof. Ursula Gather, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation, welcomed the ceremony guests and opened the evening with a speech that referred back to the topic of the keynote speech by Hetty Berg, Director of the Jewish Museum Berlin: The topic of the diversity of memories and their communication in the present also occupies the Krupp Foundation in a lasting and permanent way. Research into the history of the Krupp family and company has always been an important focus of the Foundation’s work and is presented to the public in the form of publications, academic papers as well as in the Krupp Historical Exhibition in the Little House of Villa Hügel. Recently, the Foundation made a conscious decision to conduct even more comprehensive research into the person of its founder, Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, and to perform a scientific analysis of him.

Laudatio

The evening was framed by the laudatio for Monika Aidelsburger, which was presented as a film and showed the perspectives of her colleagues: Prof. Dr. Immanuel Bloch from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Prof. Dr. Eugene Demler from ETH Zurich and former doctoral students Dr. Christian Schweizer and Dr. Karen Wintersperger provided an insight into their collaboration with Monika Aidelsburger as well as her research area and outlined her personality. Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen, Minister for Culture and Science of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, presented the Award to Monika Aidelsburger in a ceremonial act.