The Ludwig-Genzel-Prize, sponsored by Bruker Optics, is awarded to a young scientist for exceptional contributions to the field of condensed-matter spectroscopy. The 2008 award will be handed over during the LEES 08 Conference in Vancouver - Whistler.

for his contributions to the optical spectroscopy of superconductors and development of far-infrared pump-probe experiments. Ricardo Lobo's achievements include the investigation of kinetic-energy changes across the superconducting transition in hole-doped cuprates by measuring the optical response from the far-infrared to the deep-UV. His work on the normal state gap in electron-doped materials also brings new insight on this controversial issue. Ricardo Lobo significantly contributed to the realization of novel pump-probe experiments at Brookhaven National Laboratories utilizing a Ti:sapphire laser synchronized to the VUV synchrotron storage ring. This allowed him to investigate the pair recombination dynamics in superconductors and gap energy shift in the photoexited state. His most recent achievements are in the field of multiferroics, in particular the investigation of the lattice dynamics.

For furthther information, see the Ludwig-Genzel-Prize webpage.