On October 26th, 2022, the dean of Faculty 8 (Mathematics and Physics), Professor Ingo Steinwart, presented the Artur-Fischer Prize to the former master's student David Bernhard Beyer, who has meanwhile been accepted as a doctoral student at the Department of Physics and is working on his doctoral project with the topic "Computer Simulations of Weak Polyelectrolyte Hydrogels."
David Beyer is part of the scientific staff at the Institute of Computational Physics; the institute's director, Professor Christian Holm, also the supervisor of the master's thesis, has nominated his scientific work for an Artur Fischer Award. The thesis also persuaded the jury, which is constituted of four professors from different faculties of the University of Stuttgart; it was honored with a prize money of 2,500 €.
David Beyer summarizes the topic of his master's thesis – also understandable for non-experts – as follows:
“The thesis deals with the simulation of complex chemical reaction equilibria in two‐phase systems of pH‐responsive, charged polymers. Such systems are governed by a complex interplay of multiple effects, both energetic and entropic in origin, and thus inherently challenging to describe theoretically. On the side of applications, they are promising candidates for "smart materials" in areas such as medicine, biotechnology and hygiene.“
