Klaas-Jan Tielrooij wins FOM Physics Thesis Prize 2011
The FOM Physics Thesis Prize 2011 has been awarded to dr. Klaas-Jan Tielrooij. He receives this prize worth 10,000 euros for his research into the properties of water in the vicinity of ions and molecules. The assessment committee was of the opinion that the thesis contained very important and highly relevant research that was presented in an outstanding and impressive manner. The prize will be awarded together with the other scientific FOM prizes during the annual congress Physics@FOM Veldhoven on 17 January 2012.
The research
During his doctoral research, Tielrooij used two new and advanced spectroscopic laser techniques and further developed these to study the movement of water molecules. The committee was impressed by the superb research questions that Tielrooij posed: "By posing the right questions and performing the right measurements he has achieved considerable progress. One of his most important results is the discovery that water behaves differently in the vicinity of a positively- or negatively-charged ion. By doing this the winner of the FOM Physics Thesis Prize has succeeded with his doctoral research in changing our thinking about the effects of solutions in water."
The committee also praises the accessibility of the thesis and how Tielrooij has vividly explained his research with simple yet clear figures: "The thesis is extremely well structured, the research is presented in an outstanding manner, and the thesis has an excellent and highly accessible Dutch summary." With this the committee considers him to be a worthwhile winner of the second edition of the FOM Physics Thesis Prize.
The societal relevance of the research is demonstrated by the considerable interest for his thesis in the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad and the TV programme Noorderlicht. Furthermore, his research results are not only relevant to physicists but will also facilitate advances in bordering disciplines such as chemistry and biology.
About Klaas-Jan Tielrooij
Klaas-Jan Tielrooij gained his doctorate on 15 December 2010 from the University of Amsterdam. He carried out his research at the FOM Institute AMOLF under the guidance of his supervisor professor Huib Bakker. Professor Mischa Bonn was his associate supervisor. Tielrooy translated his research into an impressive list of publications including an article in Science. In April of this year he received a Rubicon grant from NWO, which is funding a two-year postdoc position at the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona for research on antennae for hidden information.
The prize
The FOM Foundation awards various prizes to researchers in physics, and the FOM Physics Thesis Prize has been awarded each year since 2010 for the best physics thesis. Criteria for this are: new insights obtained with the research, the originality of the research method, the depth and breadth of scientific understanding demonstrated by the candidate and how the research is presented in the thesis. The winner is entirely free to choose how the 10,000 euros is spent.
Further information
About the research:
Dr. Klaas-Jan Tielrooij
The Institute of Photonic Sciences, Barcelona
Telephone: +34 935 5340 35
Mobile phone: +34 691 361 210
About the prize:
FOM Foundation
Noortje Vis, Programme coordinator
Telephone +31 (0)30 600 12 17
General information about FOM prizes: /live/english/about/Scientific_prizes/general_information.pag