Research

Main research interests: Theoretical Physics – Statistical Physics, Brownian motors

Peter Hänggi is distinguished for having made salient contributions in the area of statistical physics in and far from equilibrium and for driven quantum mechanics. Partly he has achieved these key works at the Polytechnic Institute of New York and at the University of Augsburg. He is known worldwide for his key contributions to reaction rate theory, driven quantum mechanics, quantum dissipation, relativistic Brownian motion, relativistic thermodynamics, and his discoveries of universal quantum fluctuation relations.

Apart from making guiding contributions to the phenomenon of Stochastic Resonance, he is particularly known for his discovery of coherent destruction of tunnelling and his initiation of the field of Brownian Motors, Quantum Fluctuation Relations and “Phononics”: Manipulating heat flow with electronic analogues and beyond.

Career

• since 1986 Professor (Ordinarius C4/W3) for Theoretical Physics (Emphasis: Statistical Physics), Institute of Physics, University Augsburg, Germany
• 1983-1987 Associate professor (with tenure), Polytechnic Institute of New York, New York, USA
• 1980-1983 Assistant professor of physics, Polytechnic Institute of New York, New York, USA
• 1979-1980 Postgraduate research associate, University of California, San Diego, USA
• 1978-1979 Guest Professor, University of Stuttgart, Germany
• 1977-1978 Research Associate University of Illinois, Urbana, USA
• 1977 Ph. D. in theoretical physics, University of Basel, Switzerland
• 1974 Diploma in physics, University of Basel, Switzerland
• 1970-1974 Studies of physics at the University of Basel, Switzerland

Functions

• 2011-2016 Editor-in-chief, European Physical Journal B (EPJ-B)
• 2004-2011 Editor/Co-editor, ChemPhysChem
• 2003-2011 Editor/Co-editor, Physica A, Chemical physics
• 2003-2011 Editor/Co-editor, Physical Biology
• 2003-2009 Editor/Co-editor, Physical Review E
• 2000-2003 Chair of division of “Dynamics and Statistical Physics”, German Physical Society (DPG)
• 2001-2009 Board member, “Statistical and Nonlinear Physics” of the European Physical Society (EPS)
• 1998-2008 Editor/Co-editor, New Journal of Physics
• 1997-2007 Editor/Co-editor, Europhysics Letters
• 1994-2012 Editor/Co-editor, Chemical Physics
• 1994-2010 Member of the board of the DPG
• Editor/Co-editor: Lecture Notes of Physics, EPJ-ST (Special Topics), Scientific Reports (Nature Publ. Group), Ukrainian J. Physics, Intern. Review of Electrical Eng., IREE, Intern. Review of Physics, IREPHY, The Open Journal of Chemical Physics
• Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) for European Physical Journal (EPJ): A, B, C, D, E, Appl. Phys.

Honours and Memberships

• 2023 Lars Onsager Prize, American Physical Society (APS), College Park, USA
• 2019 Senior Member Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM)
• 2018 Honorary Professor from Huaqiao University, Xiamen, China
• 2018 Marian-Smoluchwoski-Emil-Warburg-Prize
• 2018 Blaise Pascal Medal, European Academy of Sciences (EURSAC)
• 2016 Dr. honoris causa from Lobachevsky University, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
• since 2015 Foreign honorary member to the Academiei Române, Romania
• 2015 Elected outstanding reviewer status, Elsevier publications
• 2014 Distinguished scientist award and medal, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
• since 2014 Elected member, European Academy of Sciences (EURSAC)
• 2011 Lars Onsager Medal and Lars Onsager Lecture Prize
• 2010 Lindhard Lecture Prize 2010, University of Aarhus, Denmark
• 2010 Selected for ISIHighlyCited.com
• 2010 Dr. honoris causa from the Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kiev, Ukraine
• 2009 Elected Outstanding Referee of the American Physical Society (APS)
• 2009 Invited Distinguished Lecture Series at Asian Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics (APCTP)
• 2009 Dr. honoris causa from the Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
• 2008 Dr. honoris causa rer. nat. from the Humboldt University Berlin, Germany
• 2007 Award of honorary professor at Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
• since 2007 Ordinary member of the Academia Europaea, Physics and Engineering Section
• 2006 Dr. honoris causa from the National Academy of Ukraine, Ukraine
• 2006 Dr. honoris causa from Tartar State University of Humanities and Pedagogical Sciences, Kazan, Russia
• 2005 Elected foreign fellow: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
• 2005 Dr. honoris causa from the University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
• 2005 Dr. honoris causa from the Universidad de Barcelona, Spain
• 2005 Dr. honoris causa from the University of Camerino, Italy
• since 2003 Member, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
• 2003 Eminent Scientist Award, Riken, Japan
• 2002 Humboldt Honorary Research Award of the Foundation of Polish Science
• 2001 Elected external member of the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems Dresden and member of the Max-Planck Society
• 1999 Fellow and Chartered Scientist Award (CSciCPhys/FInstP) Inst. of Physics
• 1998 Michael Professorship, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
• 1995 Nicolas Cabrera Professorship, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain
• 1988 Fellow of the American Physical Society