Pawel Pieranski – crystallographer of liquids and Alfred-Saupe-prize laureate 2019

Abstract

Commemorating Alfred Saupe, an outstanding pioneer of liquid crystal research, the Alfred-Saupe-Foundation and the German Liquid Crystal Society bestow the Alfred Saupe Prize to honour outstanding work in the field of liquid crystals. On 28 March 2019, Prof. Dr Pawel Pieranski received this prize, which includes the Alfred SaupeMedal (Figure 1), in recognition of his outstanding works in the field of liquid crystal research and its application. Pawel Pieranski has worked extensively in many different areas of liquid crystal (LC) research, such as the static and dynamic behaviour of nematic LCs [1–8], chiral smectic and especially ferroelectric LCs [9–11], colloidal crystals [12– 19], cholesteric and blue phases [20–32], wetting and anchoring [33–36], application of atomic force microscopy (AFM) to LCs [37–41], freely suspended LC films [42–52], shapes of single crystals [53–61], cellulose derivatives [62– 65], and various aspects of order, structure, symmetry, defects and topology in certain mesophases or special geometries [66–74]. Many times, he raised new scientific questions, developed experimental methods, started and established a topical research area, explored and reviewed the basic physics. Often, he pointed out that the method used, the subject studied or the cognition achieved can be applied to other systems, exhibits an analogy to a different problem in science or has an impact on another research field, so that the liquid crystal may serve as a model system that facilitates studying and visualising more general phenomena at comparably moderate conditions. Born in Liskow (Poland), Pawel Pieranski studied Physics in Poland and France. He received the degree Magister of Physics at the University Adam Mickiewicz in Poznan. In Paris, he encountered the spirit by Pierre-Gilles de Gennes [74] and received the Diplôme d’Études Approfondies de Physique des Solides at the Université Paris-Sud in Orsay. Based on his extensive research with Etienne Guyon at the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides in Orsay, he finished his Thèse de 3éme cycle (1972), became Chargé des Recherches at CNRS (1973) and finished his Thèse d’Etat (1976). After post-doc research with R.B. Meyer at Brandeis University (USA, 1979) and independent research at the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides in Orsay, he became Directeur des Recherches at CNRS (1984). Apart from his early work published together with E. Guyon [3–6], Pawel Pieranski hitherto collaborated extensively with Patricia Cladis [1,2,21–26] and Maria H. Godinho [62–65,71–73] and occasionally published, for example (in chronological order) together with Maurice Kléman [1], with his brother Piotr Pieranski [10,17,18], with Pierre-Gilles de Gennes [7], Jaques Friedel [12], Robert B. Meyer [8], Gerd Heppke [29–31], Richard Hornreich [35], John Goodby [42], Patrick Oswald [51,75,76], Slobodan Žumer [62] and other distinguished researchers.