For her excellent research on ultrafast processes in condensed matter physics, Prof. Dr. Hélène Seiler receives the Karl Scheel Prize 2026 of the Physikalische Gesellschaft zu Berlin. Her work uses femtosecond electron diffraction to gain unique insights into electron-phonon and phonon-phonon interactions in systems such as two-dimensional materials, lead-halide perovskites and molecular crystals. The award ceremony of the Karl Scheel Prize 2026 will take place at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Berlin on 26 June 2026, where Prof. Seiler will give her award lecture entitled “Tracking atomic motions in real-time with femtosecond electron diffraction”. Details may be found here.

The Karl Scheel Prize is the most important prize of the Physikalische Gesellschaft zu Berlin, Regionalverband Berlin/Brandenburg der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft (PGzB), and is usually awarded to a member for an outstanding scientific achievement in the years immediately following a doctorate and predominantly at a research institution in the states of Berlin or Brandenburg. The prize, which is usually endowed with € 5,000, has been awarded to more than 80 scientists since 1958.