Dr. Tom Seifert was recently honored with the prestigious Karl Scheel Prize from the Physical Society of Berlin. The world’s oldest physical society honored his outstanding and groundbreaking research contributions to the exploration of the dynamics of magnetic phenomena on atomic length scales and within the terahertz frequency range

Dr. Seifert's scientific work focuses on the dynamics of the magnetic degrees of freedom of electrons (spins and orbitals) and their interaction with electromagnetic fields at gigahertz and terahertz frequencies. As a senior scientist at Freie Universität Berlin, the talented physicist has developed innovative experimental methods to, on the one hand, control and detect new transport channels of electron angular momentum in magnetic heterostructures on ultrafast timescales, and on the other hand, uncover the driving forces for the manipulation of atomic quantum magnets.

Tom Seifert studied physics at Freie Universität Berlin and completed his doctorate at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society. His dissertation was awarded the Tiburtius Prize in 2019 and the Innomag Dissertation Prize 2020. The young experimental physicist worked at ETH Zurich before returning to his alma mater to take on new scientific challenges.

Since 2021, Dr. Seifert has also served as a part-time director of TeraSpinTec GmbH, which offers innovative technical solutions for terahertz research projects worldwide. All products - experimental physics components, such as novel spintronic terahertz sources - were developed and patented in Prof. Dr. Tobias Kampfrath’s research group.

"I am very pleased that our research, which holds so much potential for future applications, is being recognized and appreciated by Berliners," says Tom Seifert. "Berlin is known for its excellent research and successful start-ups. Spin-offs from research are still a rarity. We hope that our example will motivate others to take this step in the future," adds the experimental physicist.