06.10.2015|Berlin: Today two GFZ young scientists, Eleanor Berryman and Benedikt Soja, were awarded the Bernd Rendel Prize. The Prize was handed over at the GeoBerlin 2015, the joint annual conference of the German Geological Society – Geological Association DGGV and the German Mineralogical Society DMG.

The German Research Foundation DFG awards this Prize to young geoscientists whose research shows an international scientific potential and who do not hold a doctorate. Criteria are the quality and originality of a research project that may still be in progress.

Eleanor Berryman, PhD student in GFZ section Chemistry and Physics of Earth Materials, is awarded for her research on the crystal chemistry of the mineral tourmaline as a petrogenetic indicator. She applies high pressure, high temperature experiments to develop a deeper understanding of fluid-mineral interactions in the Earth’s crust and mantle. The experimental work is complemented by the exploration of rock samples from the Western Tauern region to gain insight into the history of fluid-rock interactions that drive Alpine metamorphism.

PhD student Benedikt Soja, GFZ section GPS/Galileo Earth Observation, is awarded the prize for his research in the field of geodetic very long baseline interferometry (VLBI). This technique uses radio emissions from distant galaxies, detected by earth-bound telescopes, to identify their exact positions. Benedikt Soja also applies the observational data to study the amount of water vapour in the Earth’s atmosphere. Furthermore, he was able to infer characteristics of the Sun’s atmosphere and its electron density, which varies strongly depending on solar activity, from the VLBI data as a world first.

Eleanor Berryman was furthermore awarded with the Paul Ramdohr Prize 2014 of the German Mineralogical Society (DMG). This prize honores outstanding presentations at the DMG annual meeting.