Clara Saraceno ist Inhaberin des Lehrstuhls für Photonik und ultraschnelle Lasertechnik. © RUB, Marquard

Honor Clara Saraceno receives Zhenyi Wang Award

The researcher receives the prize for achievements in the development of high-power laser-driven Terahertz sources.

Professor Clara Saraceno was honoured with the Zhenyi Wang Award for Excellence in IRMMW-THz 2023 “for achievements in the development of high-power laser-driven Terahertz sources“. The prize is named after the outstanding scientist Zhenyi Wang and is annually awarded by the Shenggang Liu Education Foundation. The award was presented during the 48^th International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-THz) in Montreal, Canada, in September 2023.

Since 2021, the “Zhenyi Wang Award for Excellence in IRMMW-THz“ aims to honour exceptional female professionals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz wave science, technology, and applications. Each year, a panel of international experts in the field determines the recipient of the award.

About Zhenyi Wang

Zhenyi Wang was an outstanding Chinese scientist from the 18th century. She opposed the prevailing norms that restricted women's rights in the Qing dynasty, especially in terms of education. She made determined efforts to further her education in various fields such as astronomy, mathematics, geography, and medicine. Being self-taught, she excelled not only in the realm of science but also demonstrated proficiency in poetry.

Wang made significant contributions by providing explanations and predictions for lunar and solar eclipses, elucidating the precession of the equinoxes, and independently deriving the Pythagorean Theorem for triangles. She is regarded as one of the outstanding scientists of her time.

Clara Saraceno holds the Chair on Photonics and Ultrafast Laser Science at Ruhr University Bochum. As a member of the Cluster of Excellence RESOLV, her research focuses on advancing THz high-power sources and exploring their diverse applications. One such application involves utilizing nonlinear spectroscopy as a tool to investigate the interconnected network of water molecules. Recently, Saraceno received a Proof of Concept Grant from the European Research Council to bring a new type of ultra-fast laser technology to the market.