Honoring Atomic-Scale Breakthroughs: Dr. Anna Rosławska Receives the DPG Gaede Prize
The German Physical Society (DPG) has selected Dr. Anna Rosławska, the head of the Emmy Noether Group “Atomic Scale Optics” at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (MPI-FKF) in Stuttgart as the recipient of the 2026 Gaede Prize. The award honors her “pioneering work on light–matter interaction at the atomic scale, particularly the luminescence of single molecules.” The prize will be presented at the DPG Spring Meeting in Dresden in March 2026.
Anna Rosławska investigates how light interacts with matter at the smallest possible scale — processes central to photosynthesis, organic optoelectronics, and photochemistry. Her group employs a powerful combination of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and optical spectroscopy, complemented by high–time-resolution photon detection. This unique methodology allows insights that were long considered out of reach.
Her key scientific achievements include: resolving single-molecule luminescence at the atomic scale, performing photochemical reactions with sub-nanometer precision, tracking the dynamics of individual charge carriers, essential for ultrafast optoelectronic processes.
These discoveries open new avenues for understanding natural energy-conversion mechanisms and for developing next-generation nano- and optoelectronic technologies.
Anna Rosławska studied physics and nanotechnology in Gdańsk, worked at MPI-FKF early in her career, completed her PhD in 2019 at EPFL Lausanne, and then continued her research as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow at the IPCMS Strasbourg. She returned to Stuttgart in 2023, where she now leads the Emmy Noether Group “Atomic Scale Optics.”
With the Gaede Prize, the DPG recognizes not only her outstanding scientific achievements but also her visionary approach to making light–matter processes visible and controllable down to the level of single molecules.
The entire Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research warmly congratulates Dr. Anna Rosławska on this prestigious award and is proud to have such an exceptional scientist among its researchers.
