The Federal President of Germany Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier has appointed Professor Christine Silberhorn, Head of the Institute for Photonic Quantum Systems and holder of the Chair of Integrated Quantum Optics at Paderborn University, to the German Science and Humanities Council. The physicist begins her three-year term as a member of Germany’s highest-ranking science policy advisory body on 1 February.
Silberhorn is looking forward to her new tasks: “I am delighted to have been appointed and I relish the opportunity it brings to support the structural and substantive development of Germany as a hub of science.” Membership of the German Science and Humanities Council is a particular honour for Silberhorn, as well as for Paderborn University. “In Professor Christine Silberhorn, a scientist of exceptional international renown has been appointed to Germany’s top science policy advisory body, bringing together exceptional individuals from the world of research. I would like to offer her my sincere congratulations”, University President Professor Birgitt Riegraf emphasised.
Founded in 1957, the German Science and Humanities Council advises Germany’s federal and state governments on matters relating to science, research and higher education. Recommendations from the German Science and Humanities Council are designed to form the basis for ensuring and developing scientific performance in Germany. 24 of the 32 members of the German Science and Humanities Council's Scientific Commission are appointed to the Council on the joint recommendation of the German Research Foundation, the Max Planck Society, the German Rectors’ Conference, the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, the Fraunhofer Society and the Leibniz Association.
Silberhorn’s research focuses on the development and analysis of optical components and methods in terms of quantum technology applications. At Paderborn University she heads up the Integrated Quantum Optics working group and is the spokesperson for the Transregio 142 Tailored Nonlinear Photonics Collaborative Research Center, a member of the Center for Optoelectronics and Photonics (CeOPP) and the spokesperson for the Institute for Photonic Quantum Systems (PhoQS). She is also a winner of the Leibniz Prize, a member of Leopoldina, and a member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts.
