The Institute for Radium Research is an Austrian
research institute
A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...
associated with the
Austrian Academy of Sciences,
Vienna. The Institute's researchers won multiple Nobel Prizes. Due to the gradual change of interests, "nuclear physics" was added to the institute's name in 1956. Since 2004, it is called the ''Stefan-Meyer-Institute for subatomic physics''.
History
The
Sankt Joachimsthal mines were located within the
Austria-Hungary monarchy, and were the largest producers of uranium containing ore at the end of the 19th century. Eduard Suess sent the first samples of
pitchblende to
Pierre
Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
and
Marie Curie for their research on radioactive materials. This action was taken after the advice of
Franz Serafin Exner.
After the discovery of
radium, the Austrian industrial
Karl Kupelwieser Karl may refer to:
People
* Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name
* Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne
* Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer
* Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...
donated 500,000
Austrian kronen to found an institute for research on radium in 1908. After constructing the building for the institute in 1909–1910, the institute was opened on 28 October 1910.
Stefan Meyer became the first acting director, and
Franz Serafin Exner was the director of the institute until Meyer took over in 1920. Meyer stayed in that position until the
Anschluss Österreichs in 1938, the annexation of Austria by
Nazi Germany, forced him to retire due to his Jewish ancestors.
[St. Sienell und Chr. Ottner: ''Das Archiv des Instituts für Radiumforschung'', Anzeiger der Österr. Akad. d. Wissenschaften Abt. II, 140, 11-53 (2004)] After the war, he was reinstated as director and performed his duties until his retirement in 1947.
The starting years were dominated by the research on the new element radium. Meyer was able to organize the production of 4
gram radium, as recommended in 1901 by the
Austrian Academy of Sciences. The chemical plant of
Carl Auer von Welsbach, which was used to produce
rare-earth elements, provided the necessary technical equipment and knowledge required for separation of small quantities of material from ore.
This relative large amount made it possible for
Otto Hönigschmid to determine the molecular mass of radium using 1.5 g of
radium bromide.
Victor Franz Hess was working on the absorption of
gamma rays in the
atmosphere
An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...
. His discovery of
cosmic rays in 1912, which was rewarded by the
Nobel Prize in 1936, was a direct result of his work in the institute.
and
Friedrich Adolf Paneth developed at the Institute the
radioactive tracers method, for which Hevesy received the Nobel Prize in 1943.
Initially, very few women scientists worked at the Institute, including
Berta Karlik
Berta Karlik (24 January 1904 – 4 February 1990) was an Austrian physicist. She worked for the University of Vienna, eventually becoming the first female professor at the institution. While working with Ernst Foyn she published a paper on the ra ...
and
Marietta Blau; however, the percentage of women reached 30% during the time of Meyer.
From 1945 to 1974, Berta Karlik directed the Institute.
In 1955, Karlik became professor for nuclear physics at the
University of Vienna, so that the Institute was now both an Academy and a University Institute. Herbert Vonach succeeded her as director from 1974 to 1986.
The institute was renamed in 1956, so that "nuclear physics" was now included in the title - corresponding to the widened research interests. In 1987, the institute was converted into an "Institute for Intermediate Energy Physics" under the direction of W. H. Breunlich.
Honour
On 28 May 2015, the Institute received the title "Historic Site" by the
European Physical Society.
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Successor organisations
There are now two separate successor organisations:
* The Stefan Meyer Institute for subatomic Physics of the
Austrian Academy of Sciences (SMI, earlier: Institute for Intermediate Energy Physics) that investigates the
Strong Interaction
The strong interaction or strong force is a fundamental interaction that confines quarks into proton, neutron, and other hadron particles. The strong interaction also binds neutrons and protons to create atomic nuclei, where it is called the n ...
in cooperation with foreign research centers.
* The Institute for Isotope Research and Nuclear Physics of the
University of Vienna which uses the particle accelerator VERA for
Radiocarbon Dating
Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon.
The method was dev ...
and similar dating methods.
References
External links
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*{{cite journal, doi = 10.1017/S0007087405006989, title= Designing (for) a new scientific discipline: the location and architecture of the Institut für Radiumforschung in early twentieth-century Vienna, year = 2005, last1 = Rentetzi, first1 = Maria, journal = The British Journal for the History of Science, volume = 38, pages = 275–306, issue = 3
B. Strohmaier: Report on the Museum for the History of Physics in PöllauStefan-Meyer-Institute for Subatomic physics
Education in Austria
Nuclear technology in Austria