The executive director of Laser Zentrum Hannover (LZH), Dr Dietmar Kracht, has accepted the call to become a university professor of applied laser physics at Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) and the LZH as of 1 May, 2024.

“At LZH, we conduct research in cutting-edge fields of applied laser physics,” says Dietmar Kracht. “I am excited to bring this expertise to the next generation of scientists in my new role as a university professor.”

Prof Volker Epping, president of Leibniz University Hanover, adds: “With the new professorship, we are strengthening the field of optical technologies. Our programs in optical technologies benefit from the joint professorships with LZH in engineering and now also in the natural sciences.”

The newly established professorship is located at the faculty of mathematics and physics. Dr Kracht has been lecturing in laser physics at LUH since 2007.

Dietmar Kracht studied physics at Christian Albrecht University in Kiel, Germany. He received his doctorate in 2003 from the University of Lübeck on the topic “Diode-pumped solid-state laser system for the generation of Q-switched microsecond laser pulses in the green spectral range”. Since 2002, he has been working at LZH, first as a project leader for diode-pumped solid-state lasers and ultrashort-pulse fiber lasers. From 2004 to 2005, he was head of the solid-state photonics group, and then head of the laser development department until 2008. Dr Kracht has been scientific technical director of LZH since 2008 and was appointed as the executive director in 2009.