DESY researcher Franz Kärtner has been honoured by the UNIPRENEURS initiative for his entrepreneurial spirit. Kärtner heads the Ultrafast Laser and X-ray Physics group in the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) at DESY, is a professor at the University of Hamburg and has founded a successful deep-tech start-up, Cycle GmbH. The UNIPRENEURS award is considered the highest recognition in Germany for outstanding commitment to entrepreneurship from within academia. 

Kärtner received the award for his developments in the field of ultra-precision synchronisation and the successful transfer of the resulting research results into a company. Cycle GmbH develops precision time and frequency distribution systems based on femtosecond lasers that help customers in science and industry to precisely control and synchronise large systems such as free-electron lasers, large ultrafast laser systems and radar telescopes. A femtosecond is a quadrillionth of a second.

Franz Kärtner emphasized the importance of cooperation between science and industry: "Spin-offs are important for translating the results of cutting-edge research into innovations, thereby strengthening Germany as an industrial location and retaining the best-qualified specialists and innovators in the long term."

UNIPRENEURS is an initiative of the investors Matthias Hilpert and Martin Schilling, the Donors' Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany (Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft), the Federal Association of German Startups (Bundesverband Deutsche Startups), the industry association Bitkom and the company Startupdetector. The patronage has been assumed by Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck and Federal Minister of Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger.

A total of 20 professors were honored, selected from 700 nominations by a board of trustees made up of experts. “We want to strengthen the start-up activity at our universities,” said Stark-Watzinger. “Professors play a central role in this. They make a significant contribution to the start-up culture at universities and are important sources of impetus for Germany's innovative strength and future viability.”

The Commissioner for Digital Economy and Startups at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, Anna Christmann, added: “The awarded professors of UNIPRENEURS embody the outstanding combination of academic excellence and entrepreneurial spirit. Their services to the transfer of innovations into the economy are invaluable for Germany as a location for innovation and deserve the highest recognition.”

 

• More information on UNIPRENEURS: www.unipreneurs.de
• More information on CYCLE: www.cyclelasers.com