The dissertation award was presented during a ceremony at Freie Universität Berlin on November 27, 2024. Each year, the Physical Society of Berlin (German: PGzB) honors the four best dissertations in physics completed at universities in Berlin and Brandenburg. The award is endowed with 1,500 euros and is sponsored by SPECS GmbH.

After studying physics at Freie Universität Berlin, Florian Brünig joined Prof. Dr. Roland Netz’s research group “Theory of Structure and Kinetics of Biological Soft-Matter Systems.” He became a doctoral student in the Integrated Graduate School of Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1078, “Protonation Dynamics in Protein Function.”

During his PhD studies, Florian Brünig worked intensively on innovative theoretical methods for modeling infrared signatures, particularly those of protons and solvation effects. He contributed to several CRC subprojects and collaborated closely not only with Professor Netz but also with Prof. Dr. Karsten Heyne, Prof. Dr. Hartmut Oschkinat, and Prof. Dr. Igor Schapiro. This collaboration resulted in several publications in respected scientific journals, including Nature Communications and Nature Chemistry, which were incorporated into his cumulative dissertation.

“I am very happy about this special award! It marks a wonderful great conclusion to my long time at Freie Universität Berlin, where I also completed my Bachelor's and Master's degrees,” said the awardee.

„Florian´s result constitute a milestone in the theoretical description of the spectral signature of proton-transfer processes, “ commented his doctoral advisor, Prof. Dr. Roland Netz.

After successfully completing his doctorate, Dr. Florian Brünig continued his scientific work at the University of Luxembourg. He is currently involved in a new research project on machine learning for molecular dynamics simulations in the group of Prof. Dr. Alexandre Tkatchenko.