Petra Rudolf next EPS President-elect

Petra Rudolf is the next President-elect of the European Physical Society (EPS). She will take up office as the President in April 2019. Representing all national physical societies in Europe (including Turkey and Israel), the EPS studies issues of concern to all European countries relating to physics research, science policy and education. Rudolf, professor in Experimental Solid State Physics at the University of Groningen, will be leading the EPS for two years.

Petra Rudolf was asked for the position and elected during the Council meeting of the EPS held on 6-7 April 2018 in Paris. There she presented a programme of three main points. 'The first one is that the EPS wishes to train physicists in east Europe in applying for grants. Currently too little research subsidizing is awarded to them.' Secondly, Rudolf aims to teach physicists in Europe lobbying skills. 'There are not many politicians with a physics or science background. Therefore, we need to be able to explain the importance of investing in fundamental research'. Last but not least, Rudolf wishes to stimulate diversity within the physics field. 'We will look at the gender balance but also at cultural diversity. The EPS will be awarding a quality mark to institutions that are doing well on this subject.'

Petra Rudolf was born in Germany but moved to Italy for her last high school years. She studied Physics at the University of Rome, specialising in Solid State Physics. In 1987 she joined the National Surface Science laboratory in Trieste for 5 years, interrupted by 2 extended periods at Bell Labs, USA, where she worked on the newly discovered fullerenes.
In 1993 she moved to the University of Namur, where she received her PhD and quickly progressed to lecturer and senior lecturer before taking up the Chair in Experimental Solid State Physics at the University in Groningen in 2003.
2014-2018 she was Director of the Graduate School of Science and Engineering. Her main research interests concern molecular motors, graphene, organic thin films and inorganic-organic hybrids. She has published more than 200 articles and given more than 70 invited talks at national and international conferences.
She was President of the Belgian Physical Society (2000/01) and elected Fellow of the IoP (2001), Lid van verdienst of the Dutch Physical Society (2006), Fellow of the APS (2010) and member of the German National Academy for Science and Engineering (2016). Her work on molecular motors earned the 2007 Descartes Prize of the European Commission. In 2013 she was knighted by H.M. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

Persbericht EPS

Petra Rudolf