Gulbenkian prize granted to young researchers at IPFN

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation announced last week the winners of the 2016 edition of the Young Researchers Incentive Programme. Two of the eight distinguished researchers, Fábio Cruz and Victor Hariton, are members of IPFN.

Fábio Cruz was awarded by his work in the thematic area of Science of the Earth and Space, in which he presented the project “Multiscale Modeling of Pulsar Magnetospheres”. In this project, Fábio will model pulsar magnetospheres – one the most extreme and exotic environments in the Universe – using advanced numerical tools, capable of solving the self-consistent collective dynamics of the electron-positron (e-e+) plasmas surrounding these compact astronomical objects. Moreover, by resorting to ab initio massively parallel simulations, it will be possible to model, for the first time, the formation process of the e-e+ cascades in the vacuum gaps of pulsar magnetospheres due to quantum electrodynamical (QED) processes in a realistic geometry. 

Victor Hariton presented his project “Fab-Laser - Femtosecond ablation of biological samples with shaped laser pulses”. The proposed work addresses the challenge of how to optimize the interaction between ultrashort laser pulses and solid targets, with particular application to tissues of biological interest. With proper spatial and temporal shaping, such laser pulses could deposit their energy in a much more efficient way, avoiding damage to nearby tissues.

Both student are integrated in the Group of Lasers and Plasmas (GoLP), of which three other members were already distinguished by this programme in past editions.

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation established the Young Researchers Incentive Programme with the aim of stimulating the creativity and quality of scientific research among the younger generation. The Program is intended for young researchers under the age of 26 who work in Portuguese institutions. The prize has a monetary value of € 12,500, of which €2,500 goes to the researcher and €10,000 to the host Institution where the research will be carried out.