Foerster Award

The Foerster Prize aims at junior scientists in the field of physics or physical chemistry. It involves excellent, creative and application-oriented papers with an interdisciplinary approach finished within the last 3 years in Tübingen. Subsequent to the annual call of the prize, professors have the opportunity to suggest their supervised master theses, doctorates and publications of young scientists. A committee will then decide upon the award. The award ceremony takes place annually during the Kepler Lecture in the Physics Colloquium of the Physics Department. In 1983, Dr. Friedrich Foerster set up the Dr. Friedrich-Foerster-Foundation at the Universitätsbund Tübingen.

© Förster

Prof. Dr. phil. Dr.-Ing. h.c. mult. Friedrich Foerster was an outstanding innovator, scientist and entrepreneur. He was one of the originators for electromagnetic non-destructive material testing. He developed about 150 patents and published 200 scientific papers.

Born near Magdeburg as the son of a pastor in 1908, he studied physics in Goettingen. In 1932, at the age of 24, he finished his PhD at the Institute for Applied Electricity. From 1935 until 1945 he worked at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institute for Metal Research in Stuttgart, where he developed electromagnetic methods and device. Due to its military relevance, in 1945 Dr. Foerster was interned in France.

After his release in 1948, he founded the Institut Dr. Friedrich Foerster Prüfgerätebau GmbH in Reutlingen, today's FOERSTER Group

The Foerster probe developed by Dr. Foerster is used for quality control of metal products for their correct composition, heat treatment, thickness, layer thickness as well as for locating superficial cracks, for instance in pressure tubes of huge industrial plants. Almost the entire metallurgical manufacturing worldwide uses these non-destructive application procedures. In addition, the Foerster probe is used for metal detection. It also is implemented in space probes for measuring the direction of the Earth's magnetic field, and Mariner II investigated the magnetic field of Venus with it. The X-ray satellite ROSAT was fine-adjusted with the Foerster probe, and it is even stationed on the moon.

Dr. Foerster received several honorary doctorates, the Federal Cross of Merit, the highest distinction of NASA, the Diesel medal plus many more medals mof merit. In 1999, Dr. Förster died in Reutlingen.

Faessler, A. (2016). Försterpreis in Erinnerung des Dekans bei der Vereinbarung. Tübingen, Personal communication.
Morgner, W. (2008). In memoriam Friedrich Förster. Festvortrag zum 100. Geburtstag F. Försters. Hundisberg, Regionaler Arbeitskreis der DGZfP.