Milad Asgarimehr, GFZ section Space Geodetic Techniques, receives the German Research Foundation DFG's Bernd Rendel Prize 2020 for "early success in the geosciences".

Milad Asgarimehr deals with signals from global navigation satellite systems reflected at the sea surface, which are also used for Earth and extreme weather monitoring. Asgarimehr analyses the signal distortion caused by wind and precipitation in order to further develop the measuring system for these parameters. According to the DFG, he impressed the jury with the number of scientific publications he has written since starting his PhD in 2017, four as first author and two as co-author. He has furthermore published two international papers on the basis of his master's thesis. In addition, he is committed to disseminating his research topic to the public through popular science publications and has "impressed with his clear perspective for his further scientific development and for the use of the prize money for a research stay at the University of Michigan".

Until the end of 2019, Milad Asgarimehr was a member of the Young Academy of the geoscientific research network Geo.X for Berlin and Brandenburg. It aims to support young geoscientists in developing their research profiles.

The DFG has been awarding the Bernd Rendel prize annually since 2002 to graduates in the geosciences who have not yet received a PhD for "promising and original geoscientific research". The decision was made by a jury of members of the DFG's geoscientific Review Boards. The prize is endowed with 2,000 euros from funds of the Donors' Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany, which is administered by the Bernd Rendel Foundation. Due to the corona pandemic, the prize will not be awarded until 2021, at the annual conference of the German Geological Society - Geologische Vereinigung. The prize money is mainly intended to enable participation in international congresses and conferences. The Bernd Rendel Foundation was founded by his family in memory of the geology student Bernd Rendel, who died young. (ak)

Further Information:

• More information by the DFG
• More information on the Geo.X Young Academy