Sciencepreneur

Franz Kärtner Receives UNIPRENEURS Award

DESY scientist and entrepreneur is recognized for the ability to seamlessly combine scientific expertise with entrepreneurship.

Franz Kärtner was honored by UNIPRENEURS, an initiative to recognize spin-offs from universities and science organizations, for his combination of academic achievement and entrepreneurial spirit at a ceremony in Berlin. Franz Kärtner heads the Ultrafast Laser and X-ray Physics group in the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) at DESY, is a professor at the University of Hamburg and has founded a successful deep-tech start-up, Cycle GmbH.

The UNIPRENEURS award is considered the highest recognition in Germany for outstanding commitment to entrepreneurship from within academia. The professors are nominated in the largest nationwide survey of founders to date and subsequently advised and selected by a renowned board of trustees.

Kärtner receives the award for his tireless efforts with regard to further developments in the field of "Free-Electron Laser Science" and the successful transfer of the resulting research results into a successful company. Cycle GmbH develops precision time and frequency distribution systems based on femtosecond lasers that help customers in science and industry to precisely control and supply signals to large systems such as free-electron lasers in the X-ray range, large ultrafast laser systems and radar telescopes.

Franz Kärtner emphasizes the importance of cooperation between science and industry: "Spin-offs are important for translating the results of cutting-edge research into innovations, thereby strengthening Germany as an industrial location and retaining the best-qualified specialists and innovators in the long term."

A total of 20 professors were honored, selected from 700 nominations by a board of trustees made up of experts.


More Information on UNIPRENEURS: www.unipreneurs.de
More information on CYCLE: www.cyclelasers.com

published

  • 2023/09/06

Press Contact

  • innovation@desy.de