Wim Ubachs receives 'New Frontiers in Cosmology' prize
FOM workgroup leader Prof. Wim Ubachs, from LaserLaB and the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the VU University Amsterdam, has won one of the 'New Frontiers in Cosmology' prizes. Ubachs receives the prize, targeted at fundamental constants in nature, for his research 'Search for Drifting Constants via Extra-galactic Alcohol'. The prize consists of a payment of 250,000 US dollars to devote to research, which is made available by the Templeton Foundation.
The prize-winning research is directly related to the Vrije FOM-programma 'Broken Mirrors & Drifting Constants' for which Ubachs is the programme leader. In this research programme, which was awarded funding in 2010, accurate atomic clocks and ultrastable lasers are being used to search for new physics. The prize-winning research is also related to the study 'Methanol in the early universe; a sensitive probe for drifting constants'. This research proposal from Ubachs and Dr. H.L. Bethlem was awarded funding in the autumn 2011 round of the FOM Projectruimte. This award was partly possible due to additional funding under the Sector Plan Physics and Chemistry.
Prize
The prize was inaugurated to encourage scientists to seek answers to various 'Big Questions'. The research of Ubachs tried to find an answer to the question 'Is our Universe unique or is it part of a much larger multiverse?'. Ubachs and the other prize winners will receive the prize on 12 and 13 October during a symposium that will be held in Philadelphia in the United States.
Further information
A summary of the prize-winning research can be found under this link.
Further information about the prize can be found on the website of New Frontiers in Cosmology.
Information about the FOM programme: 'Broken Mirrors & Drifting Constants'.