Press Release

Prof. Dr. Jelena Vučković and Prof. Dr. Yuri Kivshar win ZEISS Research Award 2025

This award recognizes exceptional research in optics or photonics. The awards ceremony will take place on 10 July 2025 in the Deutsches Museum in Munich.

13 March 2025

Oberkochen, Germany | 13 March 2025 | ZEISS Group

Physicists Prof. Dr. Jelena Vučković and Prof. Dr. Yuri Kivshar were presented with the ZEISS Research Award for their outstanding work in the field of nano- and quantum photonics. Both researchers are making groundbreaking contributions to nonlinear optics, metamaterials and nanophotonics. To date, their work has advanced research and opened up new prospects for technological innovation.

The company has been recognizing outstanding research in optics and photonics since 1990. The awards ceremony will take place on 10 July 2025 in the Deutsches Museum in Munich.

Prof. Dr. Jelena Vučković, Professor of Electrical Engineering at Standford University

Pioneering the development of innovative optical technologies

Prof. Dr. Jelena Vučković has been a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University since 2003. Vučković heads up the Nanoscale and Quantum Photonics (NQP) Lab there. She is one of the leading researchers in quantum photonics. Her research focuses on the investigation of methods for controlling light at the nanoscopic level and the development of photonic chips. She has made a significant contribution to nanophotonics by releasing a software suite called SPINS (Stanford Photonic Inverse Design Software). Now incorporated as a start-up, SPINS automates the design of nanophotonic devices, revolutionizing nanophotonics by creating highly efficient, compact and powerful structures. Their innovative approaches and technologies have substantially improved the integration and functionality of optical components on microchips.

Prof. Dr. Yuri Kivshar, Head of the Nonlinear Physics Centre at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra

Pioneer in the study of non-linear and topological phenomena

Since 1993 Prof. Dr. Yuri Kivshar has been working at the Australian National University where he founded the Nonlinear Physics Centre. His research focuses on nonlinear phenomena in optical systems, metamaterials and nanophotonics. He is a pioneer in Mie-resonant metaphotonics, which is based on multipolar Mie resonances and their interference in dielectric nanoparticles and metasurfaces made of materials with a high refractive index. His work has led to significant advances in resonant nonlinear and topological nanophotonics. This innovation enables the manipulation of light on the nanoscale and has improved the integration of complex optical functions in miniaturized components. Kivshar's research thus paves the way for new technological applications of nanophotonic and non-linear systems.

ZEISS Research Award: ZEISS promotes science and research

Enabling innovation at the limits of technology. ZEISS is also dedicated to this ambition. Not just as an optics company, but as a technology group. Science and research play an important role here. That's why ZEISS wants to commend outstanding research in optics and photonics with the ZEISS Research Award. The Carl Zeiss Research Award was started in 1990. It was suceeded by the ZEISS Research Award in 2016. Many of the 26 award winners have gone on to receive other important distinctions, and four of them have even won the Nobel Prize.

The two key criteria for being eligible for the ZEISS Research Award are that the candidates have to have made outstanding achievements in optics or photonics, they should still be actively conducting research and their work offers major potential for gaining further knowledge and enabling practical applications. If these criteria are met, the researchers are put forward to a panel of scientific experts from around the world. Prof. Dr. Jürgen Mlynek from Humboldt University in Berlin is chairman of the jury.

The science awards will be presented in a special setting. ZEISS has invited guests to come to the Deutsches Museum on 10 July 2024. Around 200 guests from the fields of research, science and technology are expected to attend the award ceremony.

Press contact Sarah Hailer

Corporate Brand, Communications and Public Affairs
ZEISS Group

About ZEISS

ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. In the previous fiscal year, the ZEISS Group generated annual revenue around 11 billion euros in its four segments Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology and Consumer Markets (30 September 2024).

For its customers, ZEISS develops, produces and distributes highly innovative solutions for industrial metrology and quality assurance, microscopy solutions for the life sciences and materials research, and medical technology solutions for diagnostics and treatment in ophthalmology and microsurgery. The name ZEISS is also synonymous with the world's leading lithography optics, which are used by the chip industry to manufacture semiconductor components. There is global demand for trendsetting ZEISS brand products such as eyeglass lenses, camera lenses and binoculars.

With a portfolio aligned with future growth areas like digitalization, healthcare and Smart Production and a strong brand, ZEISS is shaping the future of technology and constantly advancing the world of optics and related fields with its solutions. The company's significant, sustainable investments in research and development lay the foundation for the success and continued expansion of ZEISS' technology and market leadership. ZEISS invests 15 percent of its revenue in research and development – this high level of expenditure has a long tradition at ZEISS and is also an investment in the future.

With over 46,000 employees, ZEISS is active globally in around 50 countries with more than 60 sales and service locations, around 40 research and development facilities, and 35 production facilities worldwide (30 September 2024). Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. The Carl Zeiss Foundation, one of the largest foundations in Germany committed to the promotion of science, is the sole owner of the holding company, Carl Zeiss AG.

Further information at www.zeiss.com

Press Photos

Prof. Dr. Jelena Vučković

Professor of Electrical Engineering at Standford University

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Prof. Dr. Yuri Kivshar

Prof. Dr. Yuri Kivshar, Head of the Nonlinear Physics Centre at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra

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