The Association of Friends and Supporters of the GFZ 8 th Call for the Friedrich-Robert-Helmert-Award Vereinigung der Freunde und Förderer des GFZ e. V.

for the best doctoral dissertation of the year 2021

With view to the extensive research acti- Call for entries – Short evaluation of the work by the su- vities and the resulting scientific achie- The Friedrich-Robert-Helmert-Award is pervisor at the GFZ vements the doctoral students at the awarded on an annual basis and will be – Curriculum vitae and list of publications Helmholtz Centre , GFZ German conferred for the seventh time in 2020. Research Centre for Geosciences play a The deadline for submission of applica- Selection process key role in contributing to an improved tions is 11 June 2021. All doctoral candi- The decision on the award winner is understanding of System Earth and to dates whose outstanding doctoral disser- made by the FF GFZ Board on the basis the overall success of research work car- tation has been supervised by a scientist of expert recommendations. ried out at the GFZ, ’s national from the GFZ and is primarily based on research center for the solid Earth Scien- research work carried out at the GFZ are Please submit your applications to: ces. With the Friedrich-Robert-Helmert- eligible to apply. The doctoral procedure Association of Friends and Sponsors of Award, the Association of Friends and should – in the Helmert sense – be stron- the GFZ e. V. Supporters of the GFZ (FF GFZ) honours the gly application oriented and must have Dr. Ludwig Stroink best doctoral thesis of the year at the GFZ. been completed during the previous year Telegrafenberg or before the deadline of the current year 14473 Potsdam Award of application. The winner is awarded a cash prize of We wish you every success in your 1,500 € together with a certificate and Application documents to be submitted application for the a one-year honorary membership in the – Short summary of the doctoral thesis Friedrich-Robert-Helmert- FF GFZ. The prize money is not bound to (max. 2 DIN-A4 pages) Award. specific purposes. The award ceremony – Proof of completion of the doctoral pro- will be publically announced. cedure (copy of the doctoral certificate)

Robert Hel ich me r rt ed -P i r Fr e i s Helmert, , Friedrich Robert, born 31th July 1843 in (Saxony), died 15th June 1917 in Potsdam; from 1869-1870 observer at the Hamburg Observatory, in 1872 appointed Professor for in , in 1887 appointed Professor for Advanced Geodesy in , from 1886-1917 Director of the Royal Prussian Geodetic Institute (Königlich Preußischen Geodätischen Institut) on the Telegrafenberg. As a pioneer of the mathematical and physical theories of modern geo- P desy, Helmert rendered Potsdam the world centre for scientific geodesy. ro Z m GF In 1876 Helmert identified the chi-square distribution (Helmert distribution), oti FF onspreis des which was named after him and used in mathematical statistics, as the basis for the equilibrium calculation according to the least squares method. Helmert‘s 7-para- meter transformation between three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate systems is applied worldwide for the distortion-free transformation of geodetic reference frames. Furthermore, Friedrich Robert Helmert made a major contribution to the development of methods for geoid determi- nation. The Potsdam absolute value of the Earth‘s gravitational pull, the so-called „Potsdam gravity value“, was the www.ff-gfz.de international reference value from 1909 to 1971.