URL: http://www.uni-jena.de/en/News/PM180618_Mappes_en.pdf

Optical Expert Named New Professor for History of Physics at University and Founding Director of German Optical Museum

Dr Timo Mappes to assume new role on 1 July 2018 / jointly appointed by University of Jena and German Optical Museum

Dr Timo Mappes has been appointed Professor for the History of Physics with a focus on scientific communication at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany). He will also be the founding Director of the new German Optical Museum in Jena. Mappes will assume his new duties on 1 July 2018.

Scientist, manager and scientific communicator

"The highly complex job profile for this professorship meant the search committee faced a difficult task. We were very fortunate to find an applicant with so many of the necessary qualifications," says Prof. Dr Gerhard G. Paulus, Chairman of the search committee, adding: "If the committee had been asked to create its ideal candidate, it would have produced someone that resembled Dr Mappes." Mappes has a strong background in science and the industrial research and development of optical applications, and over the last twenty years has become very well-respected in the documentation and history of microscope construction from 1800 onwards. Last but not least, he has management skills and experience in sharing his knowledge with the general public, and with students in particular.

All of this will be very beneficial for the German Optical Museum. The new concept and the extensive renovation of the traditional Optical Museum in Jena will make way for the new German Optical Museum, a research museum and forum for showcasing the history of optics and photonics. It will join the ranks of the key scientific collections and museums of the Friedrich Schiller University in order to promote the history of science and scientific communication in Jena and beyond. At the same time, the hope is that the new museum will provide a meeting point with a diverse range of educational offerings and become a major tourist attraction for visitors to the city and the region. The German Optical Museum will be sponsored by the foundation of the same name, which will ensure it receives the necessary funding. The initiators of the foundation are the Ernst Abbe Foundation, Carl Zeiss AG, the Carl Zeiss Foundation, Friedrich Schiller University and the city of Jena.

The Board of Trustees of the German Optical Museum Foundation welcomes the search committee's decision. "We are delighted to have selected someone like Timo Mappes, who is a scientist with exceptional management experience under his belt which he acquired by holding different management positions in research and science. This provides him with an excellent foundation for addressing the upcoming transformation process. We have no doubt that he possesses the skills that come with being curator of a scientific collection, and he can forge

Optical Expert Named New Professor for History of Physics at University and Founding Director of German Optical Museum 1 excellent links between our museum and the procurement of external funds for its further development," says Prof. Dr Thomas Deufel, Member of the German Optical Museum Board of Trustees and President of the Ernst Abbe Foundation.

Scientific links between museum, research and teaching

After completing his doctorate (Dr-Ing), Mappes began his career in 2006 in Karlsruhe as a member of the concept team to merge the University of Karlsruhe with the Karlsruhe Research Center to form the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). After completing his post-doc, the scientist became the head of an independent junior research group and spokesman of the Young Investigator Network, and gives lectures there to this day. In 2012 he joined ZEISS; his most recent role was at Carl Zeiss Vision International GmbH, where he headed the departments Technology and Innovation, and Information Technology - an R&D team spread across four continents. His duties as Director of the German Optical Museum and Professor for the History of Physics at the University of Jena include forging close scientific networks between the museum, research and teaching.

"I very much look forward to shaping the future of the German Optical Museum. The aim is to enable our visitors to discover the physical principles of optics and understand how new technologies are used. At the same time, the German Optical Museum aims to conduct holistic research into the history of optics. Jena is the birthplace of modern optics and one of the most respected sites for research into optics and photonics today. Let's leverage the benefits of this site and give the Museum the chance to become one of the world's leading institutions. I aim to work with the Museum's employees and its partners, both old and new, to bring our vision to life," say Mappes about his commitment to the Museum.

Meldung vom: 18.06.2018 11:00 Uhr

Dr Timo Mappes to assume new role on 1 July 2018 / jointly appointedby University of Jena and German Optical Museum 2