Recognition for Chemnitz Physicist
PD Dr. Hans-Reinhard Berger appointed honorary professor for outstanding achievements in research and teaching.
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PD Dr. Hans-Reinhard Berger has been appointed as an honorary professor for outstanding services in research and teaching. Photo/Montage: private/Jacob Müller
At the Faculty of Natural Sciences’ faculty council meeting at Chemnitz University of Technology on 13 January 2021, PD Dr. Hans-Reinhard Berger was presented with a certificate of appointment as Honorary Professor of Theoretical Physics by the Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Dr. Thomas Seyller. "For me, the title is, on the one hand, a recognition of my achievements in teaching and in the elaboration of our current Bachelor's and Master's programs. On the other hand, it is an incentive to continue to be available for student education in selected subject areas that cannot currently be covered by the faculty," says Prof. Dr. Hans-Reinhard Berger.
Berger studied physics at the Technical University Leuna-Merseburg. He received his doctorate there in 1983 with a dissertation on "Theoretical investigations on the dynamic behavior of dilute polymer solutions." He then moved to the Academy of Sciences of the GDR, Institute of Mechanics in Karl-Marx-Stadt (today Chemnitz) as a research associate. In 1991 he received his habilitation in the field of stability theory.
Berger was honorarily appointed to various offices, including to city and district councils as well as in academic self-administration. He is a recipient of the Free State of Saxony’s Annen Medal, which is awarded for extraordinary voluntary commitment in the field of social or family work.
Until his retirement in April 2020, Berger was a research associate at the Professorship of Theoretical Physics III - Theory of Unordered Systems (Prof. Dr. Michael Schreiber) at Chemnitz University of Technology and rendered outstanding services to the Faculty of Natural Sciences and the Institute of Physics, particularly in teaching.
Among other things, Berger shaped the basic theoretical lectures at the institute for many years and covered the subject in extraordinary breadth. He offered special lectures on special and general relativity, relativistic quantum and quantum field theory, nonlinear dynamics, and the history of physics. His pedagogical and teaching skills were recognized by the students (German) when he was awarded the Physics Student Council Teaching Award (German) three consecutive times.
Berger was awarded the title of Honorary Professor in appreciation of his special achievements for the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Chemnitz University of Technology and beyond. In his role as professor, Berger is also expected to play a decisive role in the further development of the faculty, particularly in the area of teaching.
"On behalf of the Institute, I congratulate Prof. Dr. Berger on this highly deserved award and am pleased that physics can continue to benefit from his excellent teaching," says Prof. Dr. Angela Thränhardt, Managing Director of the Institute of Physics. "The elective spectrum that we can offer our students will thus be expanded by highly interesting contributions to special and general relativity, relativistic quantum theory, continuum physics, and the history of physics. We hope for a long and fruitful collaboration."
Matthias Fejes
02.02.2021
