German Society for Plasma Technology awards Rudolf Seeliger Prize to INP researcher Prof. Jürgen Röpcke

Greifswald, 28 March 2023
The prestigious Rudolf Seeliger Prize of the German Society for Plasma Technology (DGPT) was awarded to Prof. Dr. Jürgen Röpcke yesterday during the 20th Symposium on Plasma Technology (PT20) in Bochum. The long-time employee of the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology e.V. (INP) receives the prize for his life's work. 

With the Rudolf Seeliger Prize, the DGPT honours deserving personalities in plasma research. Dr. Anke Dalke, Chairwoman of the Board of the German Society for Plasma Technology and researcher at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg comments: "Professor Jürgen Röpcke has made groundbreaking contributions to the understanding of reactive plasmas with his work on laser absorption spectroscopy and has opened up completely new options for the understanding and control of plasma technological processes by means of plasma diagnostics."

Prof. Dr. Klaus-Dieter Weltmann, Chairman of the Board of the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP) comments: "We warmly congratulate Jürgen Röpcke on this well-deserved high distinction with the prestigious Rudolf Seeliger Prize. His contribution to plasma diagnostics has not only inspired our institute, but the entire scientific community in this field, and has made new insights possible."

Jürgen Röpcke studied physics at the University of Greifswald where he also completed his doctorate and habilitation. Since 1982, he has worked at the Central Institute for Electron Physics of the Academy of Sciences, from which today's Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP) emerged in 1992. There he headed the Plasma Diagnostics Group from 2004. After his dissertation on discharge evolution in plasma displays, he worked on plasma diagnostics in diamond-depositing plasmas, spectroscopy in non-thermal hydrogen plasmas and absorption spectroscopy in the mid-infrared range, which enabled highly sensitive detection of plasma species for the first time. In 2005, he was appointed honorary professor at Stralsund University of Applied Sciences. As a founding managing director of the INP spin-off company neoplas control GmbH, he supported the transfer of quantum cascade laser technology from science to industry in the early years.

The prize is named after Rudolf Karl Hans Seeliger, a pioneer of gas discharge physics. Seeliger was a professor at the University of Greifswald from 1918 and headed the "Institute for Gas Discharge Physics" of the Academy of Sciences from 1949.

Further Information
Stefan Gerhardt // Communication Department
Tel.: +49 3834 554 3903 // stefan.gerhardtinp-greifswaldde
Felix-Hausdorff-Straße 2 // 17489 Greifswald // www.leibniz-inp.de