The German Research Foundation (DFG) admitted 18 researchers to its Heisenberg Programme in the final quarter of 2024. They include Dr. Ko Sanders of the Institute of Analysis at Leibniz University Hannover’s Faculty of Mathematics and Physics. His research focuses on the mathematical characteristics of the stress tensor in quantum field theory in curved spacetimes.
The Heisenberg funding enables researchers to continue their own high-calibre projects at the location of their choice in order to prepare, over a period of up to five years, for a leadership position in research. The programme is open to researchers who fulfil the requirements for appointment to a tenured professorship.
Ko Sander’s significant success in securing the Heisenberg funding will enable him to pursue his mathematical physics research under optimal conditions. His main research interest, quantum field theory in curved space times, provides a foundational framework which connects the principles of quantum mechanics with the laws of the general relativity theory. This field of knowledge opens up profound insights into the nature of the universe. The native of the Netherlands, who has researched and taught at LUH since last year, focuses on mathematical and conceptual questions predominantly in the area of semi-classic gravity, the thermodynamics of black holes and Hawking radiation, and other questions related to quantum field theory in curved spacetimes.
