Falcke, Katsnelson and Van Oudenaarden elected as KNAW members
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has elected professor Heino Falcke, professor Mikhail Katsnelson and professor Alexander van Oudenaarden, together with fourteen others, as new members. The official installation of the new members will take place on Monday 8 September 2014 in the Trippenhuis building of the KNAW.
Members of the KNAW are leading scientists from various disciplines. Each year, members of the Academy choose new members on the basis of scientific achievements. The KNAW currently has about 1.500 members spread across the Humanities and Social Sciences Division and the Science Division. This year, besides Falcke, Katsnelson and Oudenaarden, another seven new members are being admitted to the Science Division.
Heino Falcke (1966) works at Radboud University Nijmegen and investigates the nature of black holes and the gas jets in their vicinity. His research combines astrophysics and particle physics. Using concrete observations he confirmed his theory that it must be possible to detect high-energy cosmic radiation using the radio telescope LOFAR. A recent idea, which he also wants to test experimentally, is his theoretical prediction of a 'shadow' of a black hole that must be possible to detect using radio frequencies.
Mikhail Katsnelson (1957) works at Radboud University Nijmegen and is one of the leading researchers worldwide in the area of theoretical solid state physics. He has made important contributions to understanding strongly correlated systems and magnetism. In addition, he has contributed to a series of publications about the fundamental properties of graphene and with this he made an important theoretical contribution to the research in this area that was awarded the Nobel Prize. Katsnelson is active within FOM as a workgroup leader.
Alexander van Oudenaarden (1970) works at the Hubrecht Institute, UMC Utrecht and the Utrecht University. Oudenaarden researches the way in which cells use networks of genes and proteins to make decisions. His group is primarily interested in how a few cells can make the right decision, even in the presence of disturbances by fluctuations inside and outside the cell. Oudenaarden completed his PhD at FOM. In 1998, he received the Andries Miedema prize, the FOM prize for the best promotion research in the research field of condensed matter. This prize has since been replaced by the FOM Physics Thesis Award.
A complete list of new members can be found on the website of the KNAW.