Young Investigators Prize for Andreas Maier

Wolfgang Hillert head of the DPG working group accellerator physics handing over the young researcher award to Andreas R. Maier. Credit: Atoosa Meseck

Andreas Maier from CFEL is an accelerator physicist at the University of Hamburg and is in charge of the LUX facility at the DESY site for researching the new technology of plasma acceleration in the context of the LAOLA collaboration between DESY and the university. This technology permits significantly higher accelerations and therefore paves the way for new applications.

Maier received the Young Scientists Prize “in recognition of his outstanding scientific achievements during his doctoral research and initial research phase, in developing laser-driven wakefield acceleration in plasmas,” says the committee. “His research deals with pioneering and innovative ideas for the further improvement of this accelerator technology and aims to realize for the first time a free-electron laser that uses laser-plasma accelerated electrons.” In particular, the committee says that Maier’s set-up displays a long-term stability and reliability never before achieved in such accelerators. “His activities lead us to expect further outstanding research results in the near future.”