Hui Wan receives Wladimir Peter Köppen Prize

Category: Alumni, General
By: CK

For the first time the KlimaCampus at the University of Hamburg awards the Wladimir Peter Köppen Prize. This award comprises 5,000 EUR and will be awarded to Dr. Hui Wan, junior scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M), on 7 July 2009. The recognition is based on her excellent doctoral thesis about numerical weather and climate modelling. The meteorologist Wladimir Peter Köppen was significantly involved in the establishment of the German Marine Weather Service and the marine meteorology at the beginning of the 20th century.

“By investigating innovative numerical methods, Mrs. Wan has made highly significant contributions to a new generation of prediction models”, Prof. Dr. Klaus Fraedrich of the KlimaCampus explains the jury’s decision. “She did not only submit an excellent doctoral thesis but also chose a topic that is up-to-date and application-orientated.”

The young Chinese scientist was born in the province of Hubei. She studied atmospheric physics at the “Chinese Academy of Sciences” in Beijing, China, and successfully applied for a PhD scholarship at the “International Max Planck Research School on Earth System Modelling” (IMPRS-ESM) in 2004. In August 2005 she was able to start her dissertation project in the MPI-M’s working group “Global Climate Modelling”, led by Dr. Marco Giorgetta. On 30 January 2009 the University of Hamburg conferred the doctorate on Hui Wan including the rare distinction “summa cum laude”. Dr. Hui Wan has been continuing her research activities at the KlimaCampus in Hamburg.

The doctoral thesis of Dr. Hui Wan is part of the “ICON” model development project, initiated by the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology and the German Weather Service. The numerical model that has been developed by her will form the core of the future ICON atmospheric and climate model which will allow for better weather and climate projections.

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