Roland Wiesendanger (born 5 October 1961 in Basel) is a German physicist, specializing in nanoscience. Since 1993 he has been a full professor at the University of Hamburg, Germany.

He has been awarded three times in a row with the ERC Advanced Grant of the European Research Council as first scientist in Europe.

Early life and education According to the CV published on his department website, Wiesendanger was born in Basel.

He grew up in Lörrach, Germany, where he attended high-school, the Hans-Thoma-Gymnasium from 1972 to 1981. He started studying physics, mathematics, and astronomy at the University of Basel, Switzerland in 1981. Since 1984 he had been working in the field of scanning tunneling microscopy. In 1986, he graduated in physics with highest distinction and in 1987, he received his PhD with "summa cum laude" in experimental physics for his work on "Scanning Tunneling Microscopy on Non-Crystalline Solids".

Career Until his Habilitation degree in 1990, he set up a unique Surface Science Instrument ("NANOLAB-I") which allowed for the simultaneous investigation of the structure, electronic and magnetic properties of surfaces at the atomic scale.

In 1992 Wiesendanger received an offer for a full professor position for Experimental Physics at the University of Hamburg, connected with the Foundation of the Microstructure Advanced Research Center Hamburg. He established a National Center of Competence in Nanotechnology.

Work Wiesendanger is author or co-author of more than 600 scientific publications as well as several books.

In February 2021, he released a working paper and preprint, non-peer-reviewed publication suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 had escaped from a lab in Wuhan, a story which was picked up by many German news services including TV. Wiesendanger himself does not see his "study" as a formal scientific publication, but it "is intended to serve as information for a broad public in Germany".Lars Wienand: Der Physikprofessor, Wuhan und die Biowaffen. Telefoninterview T-Online, 20. Februar 2021.

Memberships and service Since 2000 Wiesendanger is a member of the National Academy Leopoldina, since 2005 member of the Academy of Sciences in Hamburg, and since 2008 member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech). In 2012 he became Honorary Professor of the Harbin Institute of Technology (China) and in 2015 he received an Honorary Doctor degree from the Poznań University of Technology (Poland).

He has organized numerous international conferences like the International Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM’97) Conference in Hamburg (1997) or the 1st Otto Stern Symposium in Hamburg (2013). He has been a speaker at more than 500 international conferences, workshops and colloquia worldwide.

Selected awards and honors 1992: Gaede-PrizeList of prize winners. Website of Gaede Prize. retrieved on 26 August 2019. of the German Vacuum Society 1992: Max Auwärter PrizeHamburger Physiker wird Max-Auwärter-Preis verliehen. Press release nanoscience.de. retrieved on 26 August 2019. 1999: Karl Heinz Beckurts-PrizeList of prize winners. Website of Karl Heinz Beckurts-Prize. retrieved on 26 August 2019. 2000: Member of the National Academy LeopoldinaList of members. Website of Leopldina. retrieved on 26 August 2019. 2003: Philip Morris Research PrizeList of prize winners 2007. Website of Philip Morris Research Prize. retrieved on 26 August 2019. 2005: Member of the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg 2008: Member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) 2008: 1st ERC Advanced GrantPhysikprofessor der Universität Hamburg bei europäischer Exzellenzinitiative erfolgreich. Press release of the University of Hamburg. retrieved on 26 August 2019. 2010: Nanotechnology Recognition Award of the American Vacuum Society 2012: Fellow of the American Vacuum Society 2012: Honorary Professor of the Harbin Institute of Technology, ChinaWiesendanger erhält Ehrenprofessur von chinesischer Elite-Uni. Press release on pro-physik.de. retrieved on 26 August 2019. 2013: Foreign Member of the Polish Academy of SciencesProf. Roland Wiesendanger received an honorary doctorate from Poznań University of Technology. Press release on scienceinpoland.pap.pl. retrieved on 26 August 2019. 2013: 2nd ERC Advanced GrantProf. Dr. Roland Wiesendanger erneut bei europäischer Exzellenzinitiative erfolgreich. Press release of the University of Hamburg. retrieved on 26 August 2019. 2014: Heinrich Rohrer Grand MedalErster internationaler Heinrich Rohrer Preis geht an Professor Roland Wiesendanger. Press release of the University of Hamburg. retrieved on 26 August 2019. 2015: Honorary Doctor of the Poznań University of Technology, PolandAn honorary doctorate degree for a specialist in nanotechnology. Press release of Poznan. retrieved on 26 August 2019. 2015: Hamburg Science PrizeHamburger Wissenschaftspreis 2015: 100.000 Euro für Physikprofessor Roland Wiesendanger. Press release of the University of Hamburg. retrieved on 26 August 2019. 2015: International Fellow of the Surface Science Society of Japan 2016: Julius Springer Prize for Applied PhysicsDer Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics 2016 geht an Roland Wiesendanger und Xiang Zhang. Press release of Springer. retrieved on 26 August 2019. 2018: 3rd ERC Advanced GrantPhysikprofessor der Universität Hamburg zum dritten Mal bei europäischem Exzellenz-Wettbewerb erfolgreich. Press release of the University of Hamburg. retrieved on 26 August 2019. 2019: Honorary Medal „De Scientia et Humanitate Optime Meritis" of the Czech Academy of SciencesHonorary Medal an Roland Wiesendanger verliehen. Press release of the University of Hamburg. retrieved on 26 August 2019.

References

External links Literature from and about Roland Wiesendanger Website of the research group of Roland Wiesendanger (http://www.nanoscience.de)