Professor Gert Bernhard Retires

News of March 29, 2012

Dr. Vinzenz Brendler überreicht das Geburtstagsgeschenk des HZDR-Instituts für Ressourcenökologie an Prof. Dr. Gert Bernhard
Dr. Vinzenz Brendler, Acting Director of the Institute of Resource Ecology as of April 1, 2012, presents the institute’s birthday present to Prof. Gert Bernhard.
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Prof. Dr. Gert Bernhard, Director of the HZDR’s Institute of Resource Ecology, has retired as of end of March 2012. He looks back on a very successful career at Dresden-Rossendorf spanning forty years. These are just some of his career highlights:

  • Development and establishment of the AMOR fission molybdenum production facility in the former Central Institute for Nuclear Research (ZfK)
  • Founding Director of the Institute of Radiochemistry at the Forschungszentrum Rossendorf (FZR) in 1991
  • Since 2002: Position as Director of the Institute of Radiochemistry which was newly founded under the name Institute of Resource Ecology at the HZDR on January 1, 2012
  • Together with Dr. Gerhard Geipel and Dr. Samer Amayri, Prof. Bernhard was awarded the 2005 Kurt Schwabe Prize by the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities for the discovery of a previously unknown chemical form of uranium in the seepage water of mining dumps.

Gert Bernhard’s achievements are also reflected in the 2008 report of the German Council of Science and Humanities (WR): “The Institute of Radiochemistry at the FZD is the place in Germany for uranium and transuranium chemistry in biosystems. Due to its superb scientific performance, the Institute of Radiochemistry is a very popular partner throughout Europe in virtually all related research projects.”

An honorary colloquium was held for Professor Bernhard on the occasion of his 65 birthday on January 12, 2012. In his welcome speech, Professor Roland Sauerbrey, the HZDR’s Scientific Director, thanked Gert Bernhard on behalf of the entire Helmholtz-Zentrum for his professional achievements which he had dedicated to the Institute of Radiochemistry, the Institute of Resource Ecology, and the HZDR.

Gert Bernhard will leave his post as the Institute Director on March 31, but he will continue to carry out his duties at the TU Dresden for quite a while yet. We would like to wish him all the best for the future!