Congratulations to 2023 MRE Young Scientist Award Winners!

Matter and Radiation at Extremes initiated MRE Young Scientist Award in 2019 to recognize the outstanding early-career scientists to deliver their important, original and innovative achievements in the field of science and technology on matter and radiation at extreme conditions.

In 2023, YSA jury members strongly appreciated the presentations from all 10 shortlisted candidates at second round auditions. All the speakers had made excellent presentations showing highly impressive progress and remarkable findings in their recent work, and replays of the presentations are available at

https://www.koushare.com/lives/room/025702

The winners of the 2023 MRE Young Scientist Award (YSA) are Yang Wan, Anna Grassi and Philip Dalladay-Simpson, who represent the research topics of Fundamental Physics at Extreme Light, Inertial Confinement Fusion Physics/Radiation and Hydrodynamics, and High Pressure Physics and Materials Science respectively. Congratulations to the winners!

The YSA award ceremony will be held in the Opening and Award Ceremony of ICMRE2023 on June 6 ( 8:15-8:30 Beijing time). More info and the schedule of events are available here: http://icmre2023.mre.org.cn

Winners of 2023 Young Scientist Award

Yang Wan from Israel Weizmann Institute, Israel

Presentation title: Direct characterization of laser and particle beam driven plasma wakefield

The 2023 Young Scientist Award of the journal Matter and Radiation at Extremes is awarded to Dr. Yang WANG for his work on direct characterization of laser and particle beam driven plasma wakefield. The method he developed allows for non-destructive in-situ measurement of the wakefield, which in turn gives the possibility to optimize the process and adapt for specific applications. Femtosecond electron microscopy is a unique tool, providing new insight in complex laser-plasma-beam dynamics for real-time operation.

- Stefan Weber, Associate Editor of MRE

Anna Grassi from Sorbonne Universite, LULI, France

Presentation title: Impact of collisions in the energy partition of high-Mach number shocks produced on the National Ignition Facility

Anna is a leading authority on collisionless shocks in astrophysical and laboratory plasma. Her theory and simulation of these plasmas have developed new insights on unsolved issues in astrophysics and on the design, execution and analysis of laboratory experiments to test these insights. Her work now centers at the most advanced laser facility, the National Ignition Facility, where detailed measurements for the first time show nonthermal particle energies driven by collisionless shocks. Connecting these laboratory measurements to astrophysical plasma is ongoing and her analysis and experiment design are guiding these connections. Her simulations have also contributed to understanding of ion beam and neutron production expected using Ultra High Intensity lasers. For her leadership in these complex physics analyses she is awarded the Young Scientist Award sponsored by the Materials and Radiation at Extremes journal in the areas of inertial confinement fusion and hydrodynamics.

- David Crandall, Associate Editor of MRE

Philip Dalladay-Simpson from Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research

Presentation title: Distinct vibrational signatures and complex phase behavior in metallic oxygen

Dr. Philip Dalladay-Simpson is distinguished for his extraordinary impact on high-pressure physics, chemistry, materials, Earth and planetary sciences. At his early career of 34 years age, he has pioneered major technical breakthroughs that have enabled high-pressure science and spectroscopy to reach a new dimension. Phil's research has been marked by seminal advances across a wide frontier from dense hydrogen, simple molecular compounds, and dense oxygen at extreme P-T conditions. With oxygen and hydrogen being the most abundant elements of terrestrial and Jovian planets, representatively, numerous high P-T transitions that Phil discovered are underpinning our present knowledge of the deep interiors of Earth and planets.

- Hokwang Mao, Co-Editor-in-Chief of MRE

Shortlist of MRE 2023 Young Scientist Award

Matter and Radiation at Extremes (MRE) initiated its Young Scientist Award (YSA) event in 2019, and the 4th MRE YSA comes in 2023. Since the announcement of the event in January 2023, dozens of experts and scholars in the research fields of MRE all around the world have participated in recommending and screening qualified young researchers. The committee has carefully evaluated the applications by considering the academic importance of the work submitted and its originality, innovation, scientific merits and broader impacts as well as the extended CV of the applicants. As a result, the following 10 young scholars have been short listed to present their work at the next May meeting.

Audition of the shortlisted applicants will be held online on May 10-11, 2023 and will be broadcast

Join the meeting: Zoom ID：815 7041 6551, Code：100827

Watch broadcast: https://www.koushare.com/lives/room/025702

Each applicant will present their work for 15 minutes and will have a 5-minute Q&A session. For the complete schedule of the presentations click here. After the presentations the jury will decide about the final three winners!

The award ceremony will be held on the 6th International Conference on Matter and Radiation at Extremes (ICMRE2023). For more info on ICMRE, please visit http://icmre2023.mre.org.cn. 

2023 MRE Young Scientist Award

The 6th International Conference on Matter and Radiation at Extremes (ICMRE2023) will be held in June 2023.

The MRE Young Scientist Award is part of a global campaign which aims to stimulate young scholars worldwide to deliver their important, original, and innovative achievements in the fields of science and technology on matter and radiation at extremes. Held by the academic journal Matter and Radiation at Extremes, the contest has attracted audiences of thousands in its previous three iterations. This year, the 4th MRE Young Scientist Award contest will be held online via MRE Webinars, and the prize presentation will be held at ICMRE 2023.

The MRE Young Scientist Award winner receives:

• A trophy and a certificate
• Cash prize of RMB 10,000 (after individual income tax in China)
• A formal invitation to publish on MRE

Eligibility Criteria

• The applicant should be no more than 35 years old in 2023.
• The applicant should be the presenting author of original research which has not been published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
• The topic of the research work should be within the scope of MRE.

Application Process

The applicant must complete an extended CV personal information form and submit a summary abstract on the original research (3 pages including representative figures and references) in DOC (DOCX) or PDF format to mreeo@aip.org with subject line “Name_Institute_2023 MRE Young Scientist Award”. Recommendation letters are welcome but not essential.

Submission Deadline：March 31, 2023

Selecting Process

All valid submissions will be evaluated by a jury and the shortlisted candidates will be announced no later than April 20, 2023. The candidates will be invited to present their work via MRE Webinars on May 10-11, 2023. The award winners will be selected by the jury and invited to take part in the prize presentation at ICMRE2023.

Past MRE Young Scientist Award

Matter and Radiation at Extremes initiated MRE Young Scientist Award in 2019 to recognize the outstanding early-career scientists to deliver their important, original and innovative achievements in the field of science and technology on matter and radiation at extreme conditions.

In 2022, YSA jury members strongly appreciated the presentations from all 9 remaining candidates at second round auditions. Deciding the final winners was a tough task as all the speakers had made excellent presentations showing highly mature skills and excellency in their recent work. The winners of the 2022 MRE Young Scientist Award (YSA) are Zheng Gong, Arnaud Colaitis and Yanhao Lin, who represent the research topics of Fundamental Physics at Extreme Light, Inertial Confinement Fusion Physics/Radiation and Hydrodynamics, and High Pressure Physics and Materials Science respectively. Congratulations to the winners!

The YSA award ceremony will be held in the Opening and Award Ceremony of ICMRE2022 on June 7 (Starting at at 20:00 Beijing time/8:00 EDT/14:00 Paris time/12:00 GMT). More info and the schedule of events are available here: http://icmre2022.mre.org.cn/en/web/article/menudetail?mid=875.

Winners of 2022 Young Scientist Award

Zheng Gong from Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics

Presentation title: Ultrarelativistic spin-polarized plasma driven by high-intensity laser pulse

“The 2022 MRE YSA prize is awarded to Dr. Zheng GONG for his very original research in generating spin-polarized plasma using high-intensity laser interacting with novel targetry. His theory and simulation investigations lead to a new compact scheme for the controlled generation of relativistic spin-polarized electron beams which have important applications in material science, nuclear structure studies and fundamental high-energy physics. This prize also honors his exceptional publication record in the field of high-intensity laser-plasma interaction research.”

- Stefan Weber, Associate Editor of MRE

Arnaud Colaitis from Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications (CELIA)

Presentation title: 3D simulations of OMEGA implosions in presence of low mode asymmetries: systematic flow anomalies and impact of low modes on implosion performances

Dr. Arnaud Colaitis of CNRS and the CELIA collaboration in France has been selected as winner of the Materials and Radiation at Extremes award to Young Scientists for work in high energy density science of hydrodynamic and inertial confinement fusion (ICF). Dr. Colaitis and colleagues have made significant progress in modeling of direct drive ICF implosions without adjustable parameters and in excellent comparison to experiments at the Omega laser facility. His new code IFRIIT combined with ASTER correctly predicts results of low mode asymmetries leading to flow of compressing ICF targets and models the effects of Cross Beam Energy Transfer including laser beam polarization effects. This work successfully addresses some of the most significant issues in direct drive ICF and may lead to significantly improved results in this challenging endeavor pointing toward inertial fusion energy. Dr. Colaitis has also worked on Martian atmospheric turbulence and iron solar opacities signifying his versatility as a successful young scientist.”

- David Crandall, Associate Editor of MRE

Yanhao Lin from Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research

Presentation title: Hydrous SiO2 transporting water to the core-mantle boundary

“The 2022 MRE Young Scientist Award is bestowed to Dr. Yanhao LIN for his outstanding contribution to our understanding the global water circulation mechanism in deep mantle. His high pressure-temperature experiments have revealed that stishovite, a dense form of SiO2 and a major component of the subducting basaltic slab, is capable of hosting and carrying several percent of H2O down through the mantle transition zone into the lower mantle. He has further demonstrated that stishovite transitions to denser CaCl2-type and seifertite phases can retain water all the way through the lower mantle to the core-mantle boundary at 130 GPa and 3300 K, thus completing the full mantle cycle by delivering the water directly to the source of the uprising plumes.”

- Hokwang Mao, co-Editor-in-Chief of MRE