Video portrait Hector Fellow Prof. Dr. Jürg Leuthold

How physics and electri­cal engineer­ing contribute to the devel­op­ment of a new eye detector

Prof. Dr. Jürg Leuthold has been Profes­sor of Photon­ics and Commu­ni­ca­tion and Head of the Insti­tute for Electro­mag­netic Fields at ETH Zurich since 2013. In 2010, he was awarded the Hector Science Award. At the time of the award, he was still a profes­sor at the Karlsruhe Insti­tute of Technol­ogy (KIT). Since 2013, he has been a member of the Hector Fellow Academy, a network of top profes­sors in engineer­ing, natural sciences, medicine and psychology.

Jürg Leuthold researches new concepts and methods of optical signal process­ing at highest data trans­mis­sion rates. His fields of inter­est are photon­ics, plasmon­ics and microwave photon­ics with research focus on appli­ca­tions in commu­ni­ca­tion and sensor technol­ogy. Jürg Leuthold's work has been recog­nized with numer­ous awards. He is a member of Swiss Academy of Engineer­ing Sciences, among others.

In the Hector Fellow Academy, he is leading an inter­dis­ci­pli­nary project together with Hector Fellow Eberhard Zrenner from the Univer­sity of Tübin­gen entitled "RetinaSen­sor: Novel Electronic Retinal Implants for the Blind". The goal of the project is to develop a new gener­a­tion of retinal implants that will improve the vision of visually impaired people. The bridg­ing between the disci­plines of physics, electri­cal engineer­ing and medicine is unique here.

In Jürg Leuthold's team, junior scien­tist Shadi Nashashibi contributes signif­i­cantly to the "RetinaSen­sor" project. His doctoral position is funded by the Hector Fellow Academy. The devel­op­ment of new eye detec­tors is a great challenge for Shadi Nashashibi. At the same time, he is highly motivated: he is aware that his research can contribute to helping visually impaired people see better again.

The Hector Fellow Academy is a young science academy that was founded in 2013 with the aim to create a network for Hector Science Award winners. The Hector Science Award is given to profes­sors from Germany for their outstand­ing research and teach­ing in engineer­ing, natural sciences, medicine or psychol­ogy annually. The Hector Fellow Academy offers its members a platform for exchange and facil­i­tates joint inter­dis­ci­pli­nary research projects. To promote young scien­tists, it finances doctoral positions and announces the Hector Research Career Devel­op­ment Award, which supports young scien­tists on their way to profes­sor­ships. By connect­ing outstand­ing scien­tists from differ­ent disci­plines and insti­tu­tions, the Hector Fellow Academy creates impulses for innov­a­tive projects, initi­ates socio-polit­i­cal discourses and contributes to the solution of global challenges. At the same time, it strength­ens Germany as a research place.