Senior Professor Rainer Waser with Professor Max Lemme (left) and Rector Professor Ulrich Rüdiger (right). Photo: Heike Lachmann
A true interdisciplinary all-rounder with a lot of heart.
Professor Rainer Waser is a real jack-of-all-trades. The head of the Institute of Materials of Electrical Engineering 2 is not only an electrical engineer, but also a physicist, chemist and extremely knowledgeable in the fields of philosophy and sociology. Although Professor Waser officially retired last summer, he will fortunately remain with us as a senior professor.
In 1992, Waser was appointed university professor at RWTH Aachen University, and five years later he also became director of the Peter Grünberg Institute at Forschungszentrum Jülich.
RWTH Rector Ulrich Rüdiger describes him as a ‘stable bridge between Aachen and Jülich’ and this title is well deserved. With his support for the founding of the ‘Jülich Neuromorphic Computing Alliance’, he supports cross-institute work and the ‘Jülich Aachen Research Alliance’, i.e. the connection between the research centre and RWTH Aachen University, is still particularly close to his heart.
‘Not just immersing myself in one discipline, but building bridges has driven me throughout my life’ – Professor Rainer Waser (Translation)
Professor Rainer Waser’s interdisciplinary approach earned him the Leibniz Prize, the highest honour awarded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), in 2014.
‘He is an exceptional personality not only because of his depth of expertise and his love of knowledge, but also because of his willingness to cooperate and form alliances’ – RWTH Rector Professor Ulrich Rüdiger (Translation)
Professor Waser began his academic career at Darmstadt Technical University, where he graduated in 1979 with a degree in chemistry, specialising in physical chemistry. Already
During his studies, he was supported by the German National Academic Foundation. After graduating, Professor Waser worked as a research assistant at the Institute of Physical Chemistry at Darmstadt Technical University and received his doctorate summa cum laude in 1984 on the formation of surface complexes. His work at Philips Research Laboratories brought him to Aachen, where he worked from 1984 to 1992, before being appointed Professor at the Institute for Materials in Electrical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University in 1992.
‘We also celebrate your tireless commitment to research and teaching and your ability to inspire and lead others.Your expertise will continue to be a valuable asset to our university’ – Professor Max Lemme (Translation)
We congratulate him on this very well-deserved honour and take his efforts to connect not only scientific approaches, but also people, as an example.
You can find a detailed portrait of Professor Rainer Waser here.
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