Postdoc Dennis Valbjørn Christensen from DTU Energi has received prestigious student awards from respectively the Materials Research Society and the American Physical Society. The prizes awards PhD’s showing a very high academic level and a promising career within materials research.
The Danish PhD Dennis Valbjørn Christensen from DTU Energy was one of PhD students who received the Materials Research Society's Graduate Student Awards 2017.
US-based Materials Research Society (MRS) is a non-profit professional organization for approx. 14,000 material scientists, researchers and engineers from 90 countries and the MRS Graduate Student Awards are intended to honor and encourage graduate students whose academic achievements and current materials research display a high level of excellence and distinction.
Read more about the price here: http://www.mrs.org/gsa
"The competition was relatively tough and the nominees came from prominent universities. It was especially difficult to compete with US students as they typically have 5-6 years to complete their graduate studies while Danish PhDs’ have three years," explains Dennis Valbjørn Christensen.
"The prices of $200 from MRS and $500 from the APS are not opening up for anything further in the future. They are most of all a pat on my shoulder for my good work, and I'm quite proud to have received them"
Dennis Valbjørn Christensen, postdoc, DTU Energy
In his thesis "Exploring Magnetic and Electronic Properties in γ-Al2O3/SrTiO3", Dennis investigated the new properties occurring when the ceramic materials alumina (γ-Al2O3) and strontium titanate (SrTiO3) are assembled. On their own, the materials are electrically insulating and nonmagnetic, but when joined, a conducting interface is formed which exhibits magnetic properties, making the materials very interesting for electronic components.
"It's very fascinating, especially as you can twist the properties in a variety of ways, for example by applying an electrical voltage, putting the sample into a magnetic field or deforming the sample," Dennis says. He visited several international research institutes during his PhD studies.
His research makes it possible to exploit the properties of oxide systems in electronic components, and it is assessed as having such high standards that both the Materials Research Society and the American Physical Society chose to acknowledge him with their graduate student awards.
The American Physical Society (APS) is the world's second largest organization for physicists who publish scientific journals, including the prestigious Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, as well as organizing conferences and awarding prizes to promote and support material research.
Read more about American Physical Society here: https://www.aps.org/units/gmag/awards/index.cfm
"The prices of $200 from MRS and $500 from the APS are not opening up for anything further in the future. They are most of all a pat on my shoulder for my good work, and I'm quite proud to have received them," says Dennis, who presented his work at the MRS ceremony.
He was invited to do the same at the American Physical Society ceremony just before Easter, but problems with the airline company meant that he never reached the award ceremony.
"I was supposed to give an invited lecture as prize winner and receive the prize at their GMAG business meeting, but now the prize will be sent by mail instead."
Dennis Valbjørn Christensen has now been appointed postdoc at DTU Energy, where he continues his outstanding research in oxide materials.