Young Canadian scientist awarded 2005 Lee Osheroff Richardson prize

Concord, MA – The 2005 Lee Osheroff Richardson Prize has been awarded to Dr Christian Lupien, Universite’ de Sherbrooke. Established in 2004 to support young scientists conducting research employing low temperature and/or high magnetic fields in North America, the Lee Osheroff Richardson prize is named after the joint winners of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of superfluidity in 3He, and is sponsored by Oxford Instruments Superconductivity.

The award was made on the basis of the case laid out by each nominator, and supported by expert referees whose advice was sought, for evidence of exceptional scientific achievement by a candidate seven or fewer years from their doctoral degree. The overall criteria of the selection covered the quality and originality of the research; the impact and likely future impact of the research; and the leadership role played by the nominee in the research being recognised.

Dr Lupien is the inaugural 2005 recipient of the Lee Osheroff Richardson prize. He is recognized for a record of sustained achievement covering his postgraduate and postdoctoral research, in which he worked at the forefront of experimental low temperature metals physics. The most recent of these activities, at Cornell University, resulted in groundbreaking low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy measurements, which elucidated the nature of a new charge ordered state in a transition metal oxychloride.

The Lee Osheroff Richardson Prize Committee is chaired by Professor Bruce Gaulin from McMaster University, and five senior professors from North American Universities. The Lee Osheroff Richardson Prize winner receives $8,000, a trophy and certificate along with the opportunity to present their research at a relevant conference of their choice.

Dr Lupien will be awarded the prize, and present a lecture on "Low Temperature STM observation of a checkerboard electronic crystal in lightly hole-doped cuprate Na-CCOC" at the pre-APS March Meeting reception "Socialize with Science", hosted by Oxford Instruments Superconductivity. This award complements the other prizes sponsored by Oxford Instruments, the Sir Martin Wood Prize (Japan), Nicholas Kurti Prize (Europe) and the Fritz London Memorial Prize, to be awarded at this years International Low Temperature Conference LT24.