FOM Valorisation Chapter Prize 2010 for Ewold Verhagen
The Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM) has awarded the FOM Valorisation Chapter Prize 2010 to Dr Ewold Verhagen. He will receive the prize of 5.000 euro for the chapter in his thesis that explores possible applications of his work in the field of nano-optics (the behaviour of light at a very small scale). Earlier this year, Dr Verhagen had already won the FOM Physics Thesis Award for the best physics thesis of the year. Both prizes will be presented to him during the annual Physics@FOM Veldhoven congress on 18 January 2011.
Ewold Verhagen (1980) obtained his PhD cum laude from Utrecht University on 16 December 2009. He conducted his research at the FOM Institute AMOLF, under the supervision of Prof. Albert Polman and Prof. Kobus Kuipers. His research led to no fewer than fifteen publications in renowned journals, including three in Nano Letters and three in Physical Review Letters. Now he is working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland.
Dr Verhagen worked within the ‘Joint Solar’ Industrial Partnership Programme of FOM, where his research in the field of fundamental physics led to remarkable findings which can be reapplied to solar cells. AMOLF Director and PhD supervisor Prof. Albert Polman: “Ewold was special not only because of the originality and depth of his research, but also because of the diversity it showed. He was not granted the cum laude for nothing!”
In the last chapter of his thesis titled ‘Applications and outlook’, Dr Verhagen explores the possible applications based on his research into the concentration of light using plasmons. The Committee’s view of this chapter is that Dr Verhagen creatively described a broad spectrum of realistic applications of the scientific results and that he also clearly justified the valorisation potential. “His valorisation chapter was particularly good, which is why he deserves the FOM Valorisation Chapter Prize 2010,” say the jury.
The FOM Valorisation Chapter Prize and the FOM Physics Thesis Award are two of the four scientific FOM Prizes for physics researchers. For further information about FOM Prizes, please go to the FOM website.
Further information
About the research: Ewold Verhagen, +41 216 935855 (office), +41 216 930559 (lab)
About the prize: Jasper Reijnders, +31 30 600 1217
Ewold Verhagen's thesis is also available online.