Schuster History of Physics Prize awarded to Dr. Michael Eckert

For most of his career Michael Eckert contributed to the history of physics at the research institute of the Deutsches Museum. Among his projects were studies on the history of solid state physics and scientific biographies (such as those on the atomic theorist Arnold Sommerfeld and the fluid-dynamicist Ludwig Prandtl).

The prize was named after Peter Maria Schuster, a honorary member of the Austrian Physical Society, following his death in 2019 and is considered the only award in Europe for outstanding work on the history of physics. The award ceremony took place (in the absence of the winner) on May 30th, 2025 during the 5th Int. Conference on the History of Physics. The ceremony was moderated by Heinz Krenn (OEPG), and the laudatory speech was read by Malcolm Cooper (IOP).

Together with the Institute of Physics (IOP) and the European Physical Society (EPS), the OEPG intends to raise the profile of the prize to a European level.