Claudia Felser (28 July 1962 in

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

) is a German solid state chemist and materials scientist. She is currently a director of the

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids The Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (MPI CPfS) (german: Max-Planck-Institut für Chemische Physik fester Stoffe) is a research institute of the Max Planck Society. Located in Dresden, the institute primarily conducts basic res ...

. Felser was elected as a member into the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...

in 2020 for the prediction and discovery of engineered quantum materials ranging from Heusler compounds to topological insulators.

Education and career

Felser studied chemistry and physics at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

, completing there both her diploma in solid state chemistry (1989) and her doctorate in physical chemistry (1994). After postdoctoral fellowships at the

Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research The Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (German: ''Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung'') was founded in 1969 and is one of the 82 Max Planck Institutes of the Max Planck Society. It is located on a campus in Stuttgart, togeth ...

in Stuttgart, Germany (1994-1995) with

Arndt Simon Arndt Simon (born 14 January 1940) is a German inorganic chemist. He was a director at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart. Life Simon studied Chemistry at the University of Münster from 1960-1964. He worked on his doc ...

and Ole Krogh Andersen, she moved to the

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science Basic research, also called pure research o ...

(CNRS) in Nantes, France (1995-1996), where she worked in the group of Jean Rouxel. Afterwards, she joined the

Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stu ...

in 1996 as an assistant professor (C1). She habilitated there in 2002 and was appointed to a full professor (C4) in 2003. In 1999, she was a visiting professor at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

and, in 2000, at the

University of Caen The University of Caen Normandy (French: ''Université de Caen Normandie''), also known as Unicaen, is a public university in Caen, France. History The institution was founded in 1432 by John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, the first rector ...

.From 2009 to 2010 she was visiting professor at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and in 2019 visiting professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in the department Physics/ Applied Physics. Since September 2011 she is a director of the

and Professor hon. at the

TU Dresden TU Dresden (for german: Technische Universität Dresden, abbreviated as TUD and often wrongly translated as "Dresden University of Technology") is a public research university, the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, th ...

Research

Her initial research interests include Heusler compounds and related filled tetrahedral structure types, the design, synthesis and physical investigation of new quantum materials, and materials for energy technologies (solar cells, thermoelectrics, catalysis, spintronics). The physical investigations are executed on bulk material, thin films and artificial superstructures. Her current research focuses on relativistic materials science. Felser, along with collaborators, developed the field of topological quantum chemistry, which involves the design, synthesis, and realization of new multifunctional materials guided by theory. In particular, she focuses on new materials for quantum technologies such as topological insulators, Weyl and Dirac semimetals, skyrmions, superconductors, new fermions, and new quasiparticles (axions, majorana, parafermions, etc.). Winners of the 2019 APS DMP Awards

Bibliography

Three of her most-cited publications are: * * *

Awards and honors

* 2022: Member of the Academy od Sciences and Literature * 2002: Blaise Pascal Medal of the European Academy of Sciences * 2022: Liebig commemorative coin of the GDCh (Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker) * 2022:

Max Born Medal and Prize The Max Born Medal and Prize is a scientific prize awarded yearly by the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, German Physical Society (DPG) and the British Institute of Physics (IOP) in memory of the German physicist Max Born, who was a German-J ...

of the German Physical Society (DPG) and the British Institute of Physics (IOP) * 2021: International Member of

National Academy of Science The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Natio ...

(NAS), US * 2020: International Member of

(NAE), US * 2019: APS

James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials The James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials is a prize that has been awarded annually by the American Physical Society since 1975, but was only given that name following its endowment by IBM in 1999. Prior to that it was known as the Internation ...

with Bernevig and Dai * 2018: Member of the

German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...

* 2016: Elected fellow of the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

(magnetic society) * 2015: Tsungming Tu Award * 2014: Alexander M. Cruickshank Lecturer Award * 2013: Elected

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

(APS) fellow (Division of Condensed Matter Physics) * 2010: Nakamura Lecture Award of the

University of California Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the Un ...

* 2001: Order of Merit (Landesverdienstorden) of the federal state

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

for the foundation of the first NAT-LAB for school students at the University Mainz with a focus in female school students She is the chairwoman of a

German Research Foundation The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germ ...

research group. She was a member of the 13th

Bundesversammlung (Germany) The Federal Convention, also known as the Federal Assembly (german: Bundesversammlung), is, together with the Joint Committee, one of two non-standing constitutional bodies in the federal institutional system of the Federal Republic of Germany ...

Personal life

Claudia Felser is married to the physicist Stuart S. P. Parkin. She has one daughter.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Felser, Claudia 1962 births 21st-century German chemists 21st-century German physicists 21st-century German women scientists German women chemists German women physicists Living people People from Aachen Princeton University faculty Academic staff of the University of Caen Normandy University of Cologne alumni Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Members of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina German materials scientists Solid state chemists Chemical physicists Materials scientists and engineers Max Planck Society people Max Planck Institute directors Fellows of the American Physical Society