Bernhard Mehlig chosen for Guest Professorship at the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Germany
Bernhard Mehlig, professor of physics at the University of Gothenburg, has been selected for a guest professorship—a Gauss Professorship—by the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Germany. This guest professorship will involve several stays at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Göttingen during 2025 and the beginning of 2026, where Bernhard will participate in research and teaching.
"The work takes center stage—the idea is that I will work in Göttingen for a total of three months. They conduct world-class research, so for me, it’s very exciting to get invited. It’s an opportunity to join in and contribute, and it’s an honor that they believe I can bring something valuable as well!"
Bernhard Mehlig is a theoretical physicist, but during the Gauss Professorship, he will primarily collaborate with experimentalists at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization. He describes the upcoming collaborations as a way to make theoretical research relevant and as an opportunity to test theories.
Unique atmospheric experiments
"They have two fantastic, unique experiments that are connected to our research. One measures how particles move in stationary air, such as ice crystals in a cloud or atmospheric microplastics, using high-speed cameras in a controlled environment. The other experiment uses a tethered balloon to enable in-situ measurements in clouds, with lasers and high-speed cameras. This is extremely interesting for us as we’ve been studying how water droplets move, shrink, and grow in turbulent clouds."
Theories relevant in climate research
Bernhard began researching these phenomena as entirely theoretical questions more than 20 years ago. Now, it turns out that the research is relevant to atmospheric and climate science.
When it comes to teaching, Bernhard Mehlig at home in Gothenburg runs a popular course on neural networks and machine learning—a topic that has risen significantly in prominence in recent years. However, it’s not certain that these will be the subjects he teaches in Göttingen.
"It might be selected topics within computational biology, dynamical systems, or random matrix theory instead. Or I might reprise my machine learning course that I gave there a year ago, but slightly updated since the field has progressed further since then. It’s up to them!"
The first trip to Göttingen as part of the Gauss Professorship will take place in April 2025.
Text: Carolina Svensson