Oldenburg. PD Dr Svend-Age Biehs from the ‘Theory of Condensed Matter’ research group at the Institute of Physics was awarded the Peter C. Waterman Award for his work in the field of thermal radiation at the nanometre scale. The Peter C. Waterman Award is presented by the journal *Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer* (JQSRT). It recognises outstanding work by early-career researchers in the field of the theory and application of electromagnetic scattering.

Svend-Age Biehs conducts research in Prof. Martin Holthaus’s research group on radiative heat transfer at the nanometre scale and on the interaction of quantum systems with plasmonic structures and metamaterials. One of his main areas of focus is the theoretical description of the near-field thermal microscope developed by the research group led by Prof. Jürgen Parisi and Associate Professor Achim Kittel.

The award winner studied at the Institute of Physics at the University of Oldenburg, where he obtained his PhD in 2007. Following a two-year stay at the Institute d’Optique in Paris, he returned to Oldenburg, where he completed his habilitation in 2014.