Daniel Nickelsen, a 32-year-old graduate with a Diplom in physics, is to receive this year’s Oldenburg University Society (UGO) Science Prize, worth 2,000 euros, for his outstanding doctoral thesis.
Nickelsen was up against nine other candidates, whose doctoral theses had also been nominated for the prize by professors. The official award ceremony will take place on 18 November at the University of Oldenburg.
In his doctoral thesis in theoretical physics, which he completed in 2014, Nickelsen examined the representation of thermodynamic processes and turbulent flows as Markov processes, gaining insights that may be significant for energy research.
As a physicist, Nickelsen is a product of Oldenburg. After passing his Abitur in Husum in 2003, he began his studies at the University of Oldenburg. Before his diploma examination, which he passed with distinction in 2010, he undertook a research stay at Imperial College London. As a doctoral candidate, he supervised tutorial groups for undergraduates. He is now a research assistant at the Institute of Physics.