A total of seven Lumina Quaeruntur premiums for researchers of younger and middle generation have been awarded by the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic within a programme to support prospective scientists. One of the recognized researchers is Ippocratis Saltas from Centre for Cosmology and Fundamental Physics of the Institute of Physics. The annual ceremony at which laureates are handed over prizes by Eva Zažímalová, the president of the Academy of Sciences, was postponed due to epidemiological measures.
Space research has been “in” this year
From the total of seven laureates of the Lumina Quaeruntur Academy prize, two premiums were awarded to top physicists for the study of the universe. One of them is Ippocratis Saltas from the FZU, who focuses on the research of dark energy in the universe. The recognition comes only a few days after other achievements in the exploration of the cosmos were acknowledged by the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Ippocratis Saltas
The scientific focus of the second bearer, Lumina quaeruntur, is also related to the study of the universe. The young talented Greek physicist Ippocratis Saltas plans to develop interdisciplinary research on the border of astrophysics, cosmology and particle physics.
The program of the new group is ambitious, and entitled New Ways in Search of Dark Energy. In it, Ippocratis Saltas wants, among other things, to formulate novel tests of extreme precision to test the law of gravity, using as a laboratory our Sun as well as the recently discovered gravitational waves. He further aims to study the fundamental character of the mysterious dark energy in the Universe and to theoretically describe its quantum origin.
Lumina Quaeruntur helping scientists to reach to ERC
The Lumina Quaeruntur premium, awarded by the Academy of Sciences, aims at early middle-aged researchers. “I believe that the scholarship will help them get on with international grants,” says Eva Zažímalová, the president of the Academy of Sciences. Besides the implementation of their projects, the laureates undertake to submit grant applications to the European Research Council (ERC) or to its equivalent, within the period of five years from the start of their project. The ERC project belongs to one of the most prestigious grants in Europe.
Ippocratis Saltas (b. 1983) studied physics at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and then specialized in theoretical particle physics at the University of Sussex. He also completed his doctoral studies at the local department of physics and astronomy.
Since 2017, Ippocratis Saltas has been operating in the newly established Center for Cosmology and Fundamental Physics (CEICO) , which falls under the Institute of Physics of the ASCR. CEICO is unique in its focus in the context of Central Europe, as its research ranges from string theory through cosmology and the study of gravity to instrumental research.