Physics professor Yoram Alhassid recently received the esteemed Alexander von Humboldt Senior Scientist Award as a “lifelong tribute to past academic accomplishments.”

Endowed by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany, the award allows its recipients to carry out research projects in Germany for six to twelve months. Alhassid received the maximum amount and will have 12 months to collaborate with German scientists.

“It was very flattering,” Alhassid said. “I wasn’t looking for any recognition; my focus is on the research. But it is very nice when people recognize the work you do.”

The foundation allows the recipients to divide the months of supported research into shorter time spans — something Alhassid said he hopes to take advantage of so he does not have to interrupt his teaching.

Alhassid said he hopes to use some of his award in the summer of 2003 to visit various institutions, such as the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg and the University of Bochum.

Alhassid will not be traveling to Germany this summer because he is organizing a 10 week interdisciplinary program on nuclei and quantum dots for scientists at the University of Washington in Seattle.

— Brian Lee