22.06.2017 SFB 1083 Special Colloquium, Thursday, 06.07.2015, 17:15 h, Großer Hörsaal, Renthof 5, FB Physik

"The Sublime Utility of Useless Science" - Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Pedro M. Echenique (Donostia International Physics Center, San Sebastián, Spain)

…how science and innovation stand at the center of any successful strategy for the long-term economic development of a country, and how it is even more important and profitable to create an atmosphere for fundamental research rather than to define specific targets…

Professor Echenique is a theoretical physicist at the University of the Basque Country in San Sebastián, Spain. In 1978, only two years after receiving a PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK, he became Professor of Solid State Physics at the University of Barcelona. In 1980, in the wake of dictator Franko's disposal, he stepped down from this position and served, until 1984, in the first Basque government as education and culture minister as well as their spokesman. Professor Echenique has continuously engaged himself as a vivid supporter of fundamental science in Spain. In 1999, he founded the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), a center of excellence that receives significant funding from private donations. Under his leadership, the DIPC evolved into a worldwide reference in the field of theoretical condensed matter physics. In addition, it has served as the nucleus for other successful research institutes in the fields of materials science and nanoscience recently established in San Sebastián. In recognition of his fundamental scientific contributions on the interaction of electrons and ions with solids and solid surfaces, Echenique has been honored with numerous highly-esteemed prizes including the Max Planck Research Prize and the Prince of Asturia Award (Premios Príncipe de Asturias) which is considered the Spanish equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Echenique (in Basque Etxenike) is member of the Spanish Academy of Sciences and honorary doctor of several Spanish and European universities.

In 2015 the Science Magazine asked Prof. Echenique for his "Advice to a young scientist" (posted in: Advice,Postdoc,Academic,Physical Sciences,Europe; DOI: 10.1126/science.caredit.a1500124).

See also full press release on the occasion of his visit to Marburg in German or English.