Gisela Anton (born ''Gisela Glasmachers''; 27 March 1955 in Bullay) is a German experimental

particle In the physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscule in older texts) is a small localized object which can be described by several physical or chemical properties, such as volume, density, or mass. They vary greatly in size or quantity, from ...

and

astroparticle Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our own ...

physicist. She was awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize in 1994. Since 1995, she is a professor and Chair of Experimental Physics at the

University of Erlangen–Nuremberg University of Erlangen–Nuremberg (german: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, FAU) is a public research university in the cities of Erlangen and Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany. The name Friedrich–Alexander comes from the univ ...

Early life and education

Anton began studying

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

in at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

in 1973. In 1975, she entered and won the '' Bundessieger Jugend forscht'' (National Youth Research Competition). After earning her Ph.D. in 1983, she worked at the Physics Institute at the

from 1984 to 1995, but also engaged in research work in Saclay (1990–1991) and Mainz (1991–1992). In 1993, she habilitated at the University of Bonn. Since 1995, she is Chair of Experimental Physics at the

Career and research

Anton's career has included working in the field of

high-energy physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) a ...

and the ELSA

Particle Accelerator A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to very high speeds and energies, and to contain them in well-defined beams. Large accelerators are used for fundamental research in particle ...

in Bonn and designing the ''Amadeus'' detector. For this work, she was awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (1994) and the Bundesverdienstkreuz (''Federal Cross of Merit'') (1995). She studied

baryon In particle physics, a baryon is a type of composite subatomic particle which contains an odd number of valence quarks (at least 3). Baryons belong to the hadron family of particles; hadrons are composed of quarks. Baryons are also classif ...

resonances by real photons. In 2005, Anton explored acoustic sensors for the

ANTARES Antares is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. It has the Bayer designation α Scorpii, which is Latinised to Alpha Scorpii. Often referred to as "the heart of the scorpion", Antares is flanked by σ Scorpii and τ ...

neutrino telescope. Her research focuses on neutrino experiments such as

KM3net The Cubic Kilometre Neutrino Telescope, or KM3NeT, is a future European research infrastructure that will be located at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. It will host the next-generation neutrino telescope in the form of a water Cherenkov det ...

IceCube The IceCube Neutrino Observatory (or simply IceCube) is a neutrino observatory constructed at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica. The project is a recognized CERN experiment (RE10). Its thousands of sensors are located under ...

, and EXO-200. She is also doing applied research in the medical field on the

Medipix Medipix is a family of photon counting and particle tracking pixel detectors developed by an international collaboration, hosted by CERN. Design These are hybrid detectors as a semiconductor sensor layer is bonded to a processing electronics lay ...

detectors. Anton is the founder of the Erlangen Center for Astroparticle Physics (ECAP). She is also working with the ''ErlangerSchülerForschungsZentrum für Bayern'' (ESFZ), the Erlangen Student Research Center for Bavaria. In 2005, Anton delivered the Emmy Noether Lecture at the

Awards

*'' Bundessieger Jugend forscht'' (National Youth Research Competition, 1st Place Winner, 1975) * Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, 1994 * '' Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande'' (''Federal Cross of Merit'', 1995) * ''Preis für gute Lehre des Bayerischen Staatsministeriums für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst (''Prize for good teaching of the Bavarian State Ministry of Sciences, Research and the Arts, 2000) * ''

Bayerischer Verdienstorden The Bavarian Order of Merit (german: Bayerischer Verdienstorden) is the Order of Merit of the Free State of Bavaria. It is awarded by the Minister-President of Bavaria as a "recognition of outstanding contributions to the Free State of Bavaria ...

'' (''Bavarian Order of Merit'', 2009) * '' Bayerischer Maximiliansorden für Wissenschaft und Kunst'' (''Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art'', 2010)

Personal life

Gisela met her husband Frank Anton at the ''Bundessieger Jugend forscht'' (National Youth Research Competition) in 1975 and was later married in 1979.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anton, Gisela Living people 1955 births 20th-century German physicists German astrophysicists Particle physicists University of Bonn alumni Academic staff of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners