Bernard van Heck receives the Christiaan Huygens Science Award for physics
On Monday 3 October, Bernard van Heck received the Christiaan Huygens Science Award for the research for which he received his doctorate from Leiden University in 2015. "Van Heck's thesis has an exceptional 'Einsteinian' level," says jury chair Jan Zaanen. The award is presented in a different discipline each year; in 2016, it focused on physics. Based on superconducting electronics, Van Heck designed a circuit with which Majorana particles can be braided by means of electrical signals. His research brings the construction of a Majorana-based quantum computer, which makes it possible to perform certain calculations exponentially faster, one step closer.
The Christiaan Huygens Science Award encourages innovative research in the disciplines that flourished in part thanks to the work of Christiaan Huygens. This year, 15 candidates from theoretical and applied physics were nominated. The award, a bronze statue of Christiaan Huygens and a sum of 10,000 euros, was presented by the Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Jet Bussemaker, during the Generation Discover Festival on the Malieveld in The Hague.
The Award Winner
Bernard van Heck received his doctorate on 6 May 2015 for his thesis entitled 'Quantum computation with Majorana modes in superconducting circuits'. His work was part of a FOM research programme and his supervisors were FOM workgroup leader Carlo Beenakker and Anton Akhmerov. Van Heck, currently a 'Postdoctoral Associate'at Yale University, previously studied physics at the University of Rome ('a Sapienza'. This research focuses on the area of mesoscopic physics and quantum information.
Honourable mentions
1. Said Rodriquez (1983, Monterrey, Mexico) for his thesis entitled 'oupling Light and Matter in Metallic Nanoparticle Arrays' (Eindhoven, 2015).
2. Stefan Gadatsch (1987, Hachenburg, Germany) for his thesis entitled 'he Higgs Boson' (Amsterdam, 2015).
Both Rodriquez and Gadatsch were FOM PhDs.
The jury
Each year, the jury is composed of members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). This year' chair was Jan Zaanen, Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Lorentz Institute, Leiden University. The other members were René Janssen, Professor of Molecular Materials and Nanosystems at Eindhoven University of Technology and Huib Bakker, director of FOM Institute AMOLF and head of the molecular nanophysics department.
The Christiaan Huygens Science Award
The Christiaan Huygens Science Award is awarded each year to a researcher who has made an important contribution to science with his or her PhD research, with an eye for societal relevance. On a rotational basis each year, the award is presented to a discipline that Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) excelled in: mathematics, physics and astronomy.
Support
In the year of the award, the organisation and prize ceremony are actively supported by an organisation that is closely involved with the scientific discipline concerned. This year that was Shell. Besides Shell, ESA/ESTEC and Aegon also contributed to make the work of the Christiaan Huygens Science Award Foundation possible.
Generation Discover
Generation Discover is a festival organised by Shell and various other partners, where young people can come into contact with impressive technology in a playful manner and can investigate things themselves.