Genzel Prize
Awarded for Exceptional Contributions to the Field of Condensed-Matter Spectroscopy
The Ludwig Genzel Prize honors outstanding early career scientists who have made exceptional contributions to condensed matter spectroscopy, particularly in the far infrared region to honor the legacy of Ludwig Genzel. Genzel was a pioneer of infrared spectroscopy who greatly expanding the field, especially in solid state physics.
The Genzel Prize is awarded every two years at the International Conference on Low Energy Electrodynamics in Solids (LEES). It has been exclusively sponsored by Bruker Optics in Ettlingen for nearly two decades, supporting the next generation of innovators in the field.
Professor Edoardo Baldini (University of Texas at Austin, U.S.A.)
Professor Edoardo Baldini is recognized for pioneering research that advances the understanding of low energy electrodynamics in quantum materials. His work combines ultrafast and nonlinear spectroscopies to unravel how collective excitations, electronic correlations, and symmetry breaking phenomena evolve on femtosecond timescales, offering new insight into the fundamental physics governing complex solids. At the LEES 2025 conference in Busan, South Korea, his achievements were honored with the Genzel Prize, highlighting his influential contributions to condensed matter spectroscopy and his role in shaping the future of materials science.
Ludwig Genzel Special Prize 2025
To celebrate 50 years of FT-IR by Bruker, an additional Ludwig Genzel Special Prize was awarded in 2025 to Professor David B. Tanner from the University of Florida, Gainesville, U.S.A. in recognition of his 40 years of important contributions to the field of infrared spectroscopy.
Professor Ana Akrap (University of Fribourg, Switzerland)
Within the scope of the solid state physics conference LEES 2023 (Low Energy Electrodynamics in Solids) in Sankt Pölten (Austria), the Ludwig-Genzel-Prize was awarded to Professor Ana Akrap. The Ludwig-Genzel-Prize is awarded biyearly for exceptional contributions to the field of condensed-matter spectroscopy. Bruker Optics GmbH & Co. KG (Ettlingen) is exclusively funding this award since almost 20 years.
Professor Ana Akrap has exceptional contributions to the physics of quantum materials obtained via infrared spectroscopy in high magnetic fields and at high pressures. She has been using infrared spectroscopy as her main experimental technique to study the electronic and lattice-dynamical properties of various condensed-matter systems. Of particular importance are her contributions to the understanding of the iron-based superconductors and of various low-dimensional correlated materials. More recently she has put her focus on the optical properties of topological insulators and semimetals. Here, she has performed seminal work that has helped us to understand important aspects of the band structure and the free carrier dynamics of Weyl and Dirac semimetals. Ana Akrap continuously pushes the experimental limits by performing her low-temperature spectroscopic experiments under extreme conditions.
Professor Ana Akrap is recognized for advancing the understanding of quantum materials through far infrared spectroscopy under extreme conditions. Her research spans electronic and lattice dynamical properties in complex solids, including iron based superconductors, low dimensional correlated systems, and topological insulators. She has performed seminal work on the band structure and carrier dynamics of Weyl and Dirac semimetals, continually pushing experimental limits with high field, high pressure, and low temperature measurements.
Learn More About Previous Laureates of the Genzel Prize
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