Gregor Eugen Morfill (born 23 July 1945 in

Oberhausen, Germany Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...

) is a German physicist who works in basic astrophysical research and deals with complex plasmas and plasma medicine.

Early life and career

Gregor Morfill moved to England in 1961. There, he completed his school education and began studying physics at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

in 1964. In 1967, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science. In 1968, he received a diploma from

and in 1971 he received a PhD with his work Satellite studies of energetic particles above the atmosphere. He then went to the

Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics The Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics is part of the Max Planck Society, located in Garching, near Munich, Germany. In 1991 the Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics split up into the Max Planck Institute for Extraterr ...

Garching Garching bei München (, ''Garching near Munich'') or Garching is a city in Bavaria, near Munich. It is the home of several research institutes and university departments, located at Campus Garching. History Spatial urban planning Garching was ...

. In 1977, he did his

post-doctorate A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

. In 1975, he received a professorship at the

Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics The Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik ("MPI for Nuclear Physics" or MPIK for short) is a research institute in Heidelberg, Germany. The institute is one of the 80 institutes of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (Max Planck Society), an independent, ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. In 1983, he headed the Theoretical Astronomy Program at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

. In 1984, he became director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. Since 2011, he has been on the scientific advisory board of Bauman University in Moscow. In the same year, he was co-founder of the company ''terraplasma'' in Garching near Munich, which develops devices and processes that use cold plasmas for wound healing, among other things.

Scientific contributions

Morfill is the author and co-author of over 500 scientific publications and a popular science book on

chaos theory Chaos theory is an interdisciplinary area of Scientific method, scientific study and branch of mathematics. It focuses on underlying patterns and Deterministic system, deterministic Scientific law, laws of dynamical systems that are highly sens ...

. In addition to his astrophysical work, Gregor Morfill makes important contributions to the subject of " dusty complex plasmas" (with application to

space plasmas Astrophysical plasma is plasma outside of the Solar System. It is studied as part of astrophysics and is commonly observed in space. The accepted view of scientists is that much of the baryonic matter in the universe exists in this state. When m ...

and the explanation of the structure of

Saturn rings Saturn has the most extensive and complex ring system of any planet in the Solar System. The rings consist of particles in orbit around the planet made almost entirely of water ice, with a trace component of rocky material. Particles range from ...

), to the discovery of plasma crystals as a solid state of aggregation of dusty plasmas (discovered in 1994) and to microscopic analysis of the melting process in plasma crystals. He also participates in space plasma experiments with the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

(ISS), such as the experiment PKE-Nefedov (2001–2005) in cooperation with the

Russian space agency The State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", commonly known simply as Roscosmos (), is a state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space flights, cosmonautics programs, and aerospace research. Originating from ...

and the Institute for High Energy Densities (IHED, JIHT) in Moscow. Morfill also researches applications of plasma in medicine such as in the treatment of

chronic wound A chronic wound is a wound A wound is any disruption of or damage to living tissue, such as skin, mucous membranes, or organs. Wounds can either be the sudden result of direct trauma (mechanical, thermal, chemical), or can develop slowly over t ...

Honors and awards

* 1998: Bavarian Prime Minister's recognition award * 1998: of the

Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft – or Stifterverband for short – is a registered not-for-profit association that is based in Essen and which also has a capital city office in Berlin. Its work is focused on education, science and in ...

* 1999: Member of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

* 2003: Honorary doctorate from the

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin; also known as Berlin Institute of Technology and Technical University of Berlin, although officially the name should not be translated) is a public university, public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was the first ...

* 2007: of the Russian space agency

Roscosmos The State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", commonly known simply as Roscosmos (), is a State corporation (Russia), state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space science, space flights, List of space agencies, c ...

* 2010: Fellow of the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based not-for-profit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, physics research, research and applied physics, application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide ...

* 2011:

James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, I ...

from the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

for "''pioneering, and seminal contributions to, the field of

dusty plasma A dusty plasma is a Plasma (physics), plasma containing micrometer (10−6) to nanometer (10−9) sized particles suspended in it. Dust particles are charged and the plasma and particles behave as a plasma. Dust particles may form larger particles ...

s, including work leading to the discovery of plasma crystals, to an explanation for the complicated structure of

Saturn's rings Saturn has the most extensive and complex ring system of any planet in the Solar System. The rings consist of particles in orbit around the planet made almost entirely of water ice, with a trace component of rocky material. Particles range fro ...

, and to microgravity dusty plasma experiments conducted first on parabolic-trajectory flights and then on the

.''" * Patten Prize * Gagarin Medal * URGO Foundation for Advances in Dermatology Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morfill, Gregor Eugen 1945 births Living people 20th-century German physicists Plasma physicists Alumni of Imperial College London People from Oberhausen 21st-century German physicists