Special award for Potsdam astrophysicist

Prof. Bernard Schutz selected Fellow of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation

July 10, 2013

With this selection the Society recognizes his:

  • groundbreaking scientific work: Bernard Schutz has developed important principles for the observation of the universe with gravitational waves. His main focus among astrophysical objects has been the study of  unstable rotating, relativistic stars;
  • his leading role in the development of both earth-based and space-based gravitational wave observatories;
  • as well as his innovations in the field of scientific publication: Bernard F. Schutz is initiator and editor of the Open Access Online Journalwww.livingreviews.org,which allows all scientists an independent and free  access to scientific papers. Today, Schutz is one of the leading international experts developing new and  forward-looking approaches for scientific publication.

Prof. Schutz will receive the Fellowship on 11 July 2013 at the 20th International Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation (GR20). The GR20 conference is taking place until 13 July 2013 in Warsaw, together with the 10th Eduardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves. It is the most important international meeting of gravitational physicists from around the world.

“This award is a very special honor for me. It also emphasizes the importance of theoretical astrophysics for gravitational wave astronomy”, says Prof. Bernard F. Schutz. “Only through intensive collaboration between theorists and experimentalists can we achieve the direct detection of Einstein’s gravitational waves and establish a new ‘Astronomy of Listening’ to complement the existing ‘Astronomy of Seeing’.”

Schutz is the director of the Astrophysical Relativity Division at the AEI. His department mainly focuses on the study of neutron stars, black holes and the gravitational waves emitted by them. The department researches the astrophysics of these cosmic objects and develops data analysis methods to detect gravitational waves.

Schutz is also responsible for data analysis as a Principal Investigator in the international collaboration of earth-based gravitational wave detectors. He is a member of the scientific team developing the spacebased gravitational wave observatory eLISA.

The U.S. born Bernard Schutz has been a director of the AEI since 1995.
He is a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, a Fellow of the Society of Learned Wales and a member of the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences Uppsala. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the Institute of Phsics (UK). Bernard Schutz has already been awarded the Amaldi Gold Medal of the Italian Society for Gravitation and an Honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Glasgow.

The International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation ISGRG is an international scienctific society promoting research of General Relativity and Gravitation though the exchange of ideas and information by the members. It was founded it 1971.

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