Research award Leibniz Prize for Heidelberg Scientist Wolfram Pernice
Press Release No. 147/2024
11 December 2024
Most important research advancement prize honors his experimental work on integrated photonics
With Prof. Dr Wolfram Pernice, an outstanding scientist at Heidelberg University has received the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation (DFG). The goal of Prof. Pernice’s research in the field of integrated photonics is to develop new methods for information processing and rapid computation using light. In this context, he works on chip systems with nanoscale production methods aiming to come up with applications in artificial intelligence and quantum technologies. The experimental physicist’s research on what is known as neuromorphic photonic computing is pioneering, the DFG emphasizes. At the Kirchhoff Institute for Physics Prof. Pernice heads the research group “Neuromorphic Quantum Photonics”. The award – the most important research advancement prize in Germany – comes with prize money of 2.5 million euros.
On hearing that Prof. Pernice had been selected for the Leibniz Prize, Prof. Dr Frauke Melchior, Rector of Heidelberg University, says: “Our warm congratulations go to the prize-winner. We are delighted at the award and proud that it honors an internationally recognized researcher at the university. The Leibniz Prize for Wolfram Pernice is also evidence of the research prowess of our natural sciences, which are notable for their multiple interdisciplinary networks.”
In his research group, Prof. Pernice investigates neural networks using light instead of electrons. Here he links optical methods of physical data processing with parallel calculations that are essential for implementing artificial intelligence. The DFG underlines that his interdisciplinary research crosses traditional boundaries; it impacts on various disciplines – from natural sciences to computer science to engineering sciences. “His research results point the way to innovative, sustainable methods for reducing energy consumption of AI computer hardware and still enabling rapid calculations. Furthermore, he is known worldwide as a pioneer in the field of integrated quantum photonics,” the German Research Foundation adds.
Wolfram Pernice studied microsystem technology at the University of Freiburg. He obtained his doctorate in 2007 at the University of Oxford (UK) in the field of electrical engineering. A year later, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation enabled him to transfer to Yale University in the United States; in 2011 he moved to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology to lead an Emmy Noether junior research group. The scientist was appointed to a professorial post at the University of Münster in 2015. Since 2021, Wolfram Pernice has been professor of experimental physics at Heidelberg University.
The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize – the most important research award in Germany – has been awarded annually by the German Research Foundation since 1986. Up to ten prizes can be awarded each year with prize money of 2.5 million euros each. The awards for 2025 go to four female and six male researchers, including Wolfram Pernice. An award also goes to mathematician Prof. Dr Angkana Rüland, who taught and did research at Heidelberg University from 2020 to 2023. The purpose of the Leibniz Programme, established in 1985, is to honor outstanding scientists, to expand their research opportunities and facilitate employment of particularly qualified early-career researchers. The award ceremony will take place on 19 March 2025 in Berlin.