Thomas Fredenhagen Award 2019

The Thomas Fredenhagen Prize of the Lübeck Merchants' Association was awarded for the fourth time this year. In addition, a young talent award was also presented this year. The award was given in the area of transfer and business cooperation. The prize of 10,000 euros, donated by the Professor Hans-Heinrich Otte Foundation and the Kaufmannschaft zu Lübeck, went to Prof. Dr. Gereon Hüttmann and the team from the Institute of Biomedical Optics. The Young Investigator Award, endowed with 3,000 euros, was spontaneously made available by the donor and awarded to Prof. Dr. Floris Ernst and his team from the Institute of Robotics and Cognitive Systems.

University of Lübeck on April 25, 2019. Mr. Hartmut Richter, President of the Lübeck Merchants' Association, explained the criteria used by the jury to determine the award winner. Dr. Dietrich Dehnen, representing the Hans-Heinrich Otte Foundation, took over the announcement of the award winners. Dr. Dehnen pointed out that a large number of applications had been received that fulfilled the required criteria to a high degree. The founder has therefore decided to offer additional prize money for a "Young Scientists' Prize" this year, because applications have also been submitted by young ambitious scientists. This is intended to honor the special commitment of young scientists and to further motivate them to pursue the successful paths they have taken.
Dr. Dehnen presented the prize to Prof. Dr. Gereon Hüttmann and Prof. Dr. Floris Ernst on behalf of the Professor Hans-Heinrich Otte Foundation.

Prof. Hüttmann was honored for his services to the business cooperation with Thorlabs GmbH, which is the market leader in the field of optical components. He has raised funding of 7 million euros with the cooperation, which has been in existence since 2005 and focuses on the field of coherence tomography (OCT). Two completed doctorates, three ongoing doctorates, 20 patent applications and numerous international publications attest to the sustained success of the collaboration, which thus also has charisma beyond the BioMedTec science campus. Prof. Dr. Floris Ernst was honored with the "Young Investigator Award" for the business cooperation with Varian Medical Systems Inc (VMS) the world market leader for radiation therapy systems, which has existed since 2012. The cooperation has resulted in four dissertations, one of them "summa cum laude," a large number of publications, including 20 peer-reviewed contributions to national and international congresses, and funding of 750,000 euros. The award recognizes the successes already achieved and the great potential that the cooperation shows. Both award winners expressed their gratitude for the award because they see it as recognition and appreciation of the results of their work and pointed out that, of course, the working groups in their institutes have made a considerable contribution to the success of the collaborations.