MPI-P PhD student in the Gutenberg Academy for Young Researchers

Only absolutely outstanding PhD students are accepted into the Gutenberg Academy. Dominik Pilat is now one of them. He will officially join the Academy during its welcome ceremony on April 27, 2015.

Dominik is funded by the German National Academic Foundation and is supervised by Dr. Rüdiger Berger and Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Butt. His thesis deals with the measurement of surface forces at high pressure, as found e.g. at the bottom of the sea or during oil recovery.

After the submission of a written recommendation by Prof. Butt, Dominik went through a multistage application procedure and convinced the management of the Academy of his scientific project. This requires empathy on several levels: after all, the jury is composed of a cross-section of all scientific disciplines. The attention of experts and laymen alike had to be gripped by the presentation of his research project.

The three pillars of the Academy are indeed interdisciplinary exchange, individual development and networking. To this end, the junior members are invited to choose external mentors.

The Gutenberg Academy was established in 2006 as an initiative from Mainz scientists and artists under the patronage of the Johannes Gutenberg University.