AWARDS

• Prosper Ngabonziza was honored in 2013 with the S2A3 Bronze Medal by the Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science (S2A3). This prestigious award recognizes the most outstanding master’s dissertation in a science department at South African universities. Ngabonziza received this accolade for his master’s thesis in experimental physics at the University of Johannesburg, where he graduated cum laude in 2012

• In 2015, while pursuing his PhD, Prosper Ngabonziza was honored to be selected among a distinguished group of young scientists from around the world to attend the prestigious 65th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Lindau, Germany. This renowned gathering brought together 70 Nobel Prize winners and offered a unique platform for scientific exchange across generations. During the meeting, Ngabonziza made several notable contributions, including delivering a talk during a Master Class chaired by Nobel Laureate Prof. Albert Fert. He also participated as a panelist in a press discussion on African science and took part in the African Breakfast, where he engaged in meaningful conversation with Nobel Laureate Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Prof. Stefan H.E. Kaufmann of the Council for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, and former President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Horst Köhler.

                 Giving a talk during a Master Class conducted by Prof. Albert Fert at the 65th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting                            

Picture/Credit: Christian Flemming/Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings   

• African Breakfast with Laureate Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Stefan H.E. Kaufmann and Horst Köhler, former President of Germany; and Press Talk on the African Science at the 65th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting.

Picture/Credit: Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings 

Other Notable Awards:

• Best MSc Oral Presenter at the 57th Annual Conference of the South African Institute of Physics (June, 2012).

Congratulations to: sethulakshmi sajeev

Sethulakshmi is a third-year graduate student in our research group. At the end of the Spring 2025 semester, she was honored with the Prestigious Coates Research Travel Award. For her Ph.D. project, Sethulakshmi is focusing on the epitaxial growth of thin films of layered ruthenates and investigating the complex magnetism exhibited by these important quantum materials.