For his work on microalgae, Byron Perez Simba received the Young Scientist Award at the World Food Congress in Hong Kong. In this interview, he discusses the potential of these organisms for future food systems and what the award means to him.
Since 1959, over 2,800 members of Optica have become Fellows. Among the Society’s Fellow Class of 2027 is Giacomo Scalari, whose research group in the Department of Physics investigates light-matter interaction at mid-infrared and terahertz frequencies in devices such as quantum cascade lasers and metamaterials.
ETH Zurich professor Vera Traub (D-INFK) has received the 2026 Frederick W. Lanchester Prize for her book on approximation algorithms for the travelling salesperson problem, co-authored with Jens Vygen of the University of Bonn.