The Von Seeliger Award

The First-Ever Awardee! (© Parth Nayak)

As Master's Student Representatives, we wanted to acknowledge the contributions of the many inspiring lecturers and supervisors at our institute. We observed a unique opportunity to recognize the exemplary lectures offered at USM as these courses, including our fantastic lab, are not typically considered for the general teaching prize awarded by GAF.

After careful consideration, we are proud to announce the establishment of the "Von Seeliger Award". Named in honor of Hugo von Seeliger, the esteemed former director of USM and a mentor to prominent figures such as Karl Schwarzschild, this award seeks to celebrate the legacy of excellence in astrophysics education. In the future, students will have the opportunity to cast their vote to spotlight outstanding lecturers and supervisors. The aim of the award is to highlight particularly well-executed teaching events among the many excellent ones we have.

Our deepest gratitude extends to Chair Professor Daniel Grün, Dr. Tadziu Hoffmann, Dr. Rhea-Silvia Remus, Dr. Oliver Friedrich, Dr. Stella Seitz, Dr. Anik Halder, Julian Sommer, Leon Ecker, and others for their valuable feedback and support in shaping this award. In this inaugural event, we opted to present only one award instead of the two we plan to offer in the future, commemorating a special dedication towards teaching and mentoring students. By celebrating educators, we hope to foster a culture of appreciation for the art of teaching.

The first Von Seeliger Award was presented to Dr. Joachim Puls for his lifelong commitment to teaching and mentoring students at the USM! A few years ago, he delivered highly successful lectures on numerical methods, statistics, and stellar atmospheres. Before retiring, he served as a counselor for the Master's program in Astrophysics and was responsible for overseeing the lab courses. As part of the numerical and basic astrophysical practicals, he covered Monte Carlo methods and winds of massive stars respectively.