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South African researcher in winning team
March 2006
A South African researcher, Prof Okkie de
Jager of the North West University - the only
one from Africa - is a member of one of the
five finalist teams in the prestigious EU
Descartes Prize for outstanding European
research teams in genetics, climate change,
astronomy, social sciences and disease
management.
The team - HESS - received this award for
enhancing the understanding of the extreme
universe.
The HESS collaboration was formed to
produce an instrument that would be the
world leader in the domain of high-energy
gamma-ray astrophysics. The design was
based on proven technology and technical
and experimental approaches developed by
the research teams. These were combined to
provide an instrument to explore the most
extreme objects in the universe. The results
allowed the collaboration to revolutionise the
understanding of the universe as viewed in
gamma rays. It produced the first-ever
gamma ray images of astronomical objects
and the first scan of a large region around
the centre of our galaxy.
The team consisted of members from
various countries. The French members were
Prof Stavros Katsanevas of the Centre
National de la Recherche Scientifique,
Dr Michael Punch of the Institut National de
Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des
Particules, Dr Philippe Goret of the
Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique and
Dr Hélène Sol of the Institut National des
Sciences de l'Univers.
From Germany it was Prof Werner
Hofmann of the Max-Planck-Institut für
Kernphysik, Prof Thomas Lohse of the
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Prof Götz
Heinzelmann of the Universität Hamburg,
Prof Stefan Wagner of the Universität
Heidelberg and Prof Reinhard Schlickeiser of
the Ruhr-Universität Bochum.
Dr Paula Chadwick of the University of
Durham in the UK, Prof Luke O'Connor Drury
of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
in Ireland, Prof Ladislav Rob of the Charles
University in the Czech Republic and our own
Prof Ocker Comelis de Jager were the other
members.
The other finalists were the PITCID project
for new understanding of and development
of new treatments for chronic inflammatory
disease, the TANNIN team for development
of natural tannin based, formaldehyde free
adhesives for wood composite products, the
HIDEMAR project for revolutionary new
nanoparticles and nanopatterned arrays for
high-density data storage and the
PATHFINDER project for demonstrating the
effects of nuclear receptors in health and
disease. Each of these teams received
€ 30 000 (about R225 000) in prize money.
The € 1 000 000 (About R7 500 000)
Descartes Research Prize was shared this year
between five pan-European teams who
achieved major scientific breakthroughs in
key European research areas. The five teams
were the EXEL DALHM team for developing a
new class of artificial meta-materials, called
left-handed materials or negative index
materials which have the ability to overturn
many familiar properties of light, the CECA
team for breakthrough findings on climate
and environmental change in the Arctic, the
PULSE team for demonstrating the impact of
European pulsar science on modern physics,
the European social survey for radical
innovations in cross-national surveys and the
EURO-PID project for cutting-edge research
on a group of over 130 rare genetically
determined diseases known as primary
immuno deficiencies.
The European Union Commissioner for
Science and Research Janez Potocnik recently
handed the winners their prizes at a function in London.
Source: NRF News
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