Yara's Birkeland Prize awarded to Dr. Jabir Ali Ouassou

Physicist Jabir Ali Ouassou receives the Birkeland Prize 2020 in physics for his thesis Manipulating superconductivity in magnetic nanostructures in and out of equilibrium, for which he was awarded the degree of Philosophiae Doctor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 2019.

“It is an honor to win the Birkeland award. I am surprised and happy that you have chosen me. Winning the prize is a motivation for me to continue my academic work”, says Dr. Jabir Ali Ouassou.

“Every year we hand out the Birkeland Prize. An award named after a remarkable scientist, given to another remarkable scientist.”

The Birkeland Prize is awarded by Yara to a PhD project at a Norwegian university, alternating between chemistry and physics.

“Every year we hand out the Birkeland Prize. An award named after a remarkable scientist, given to another remarkable scientist. The quest for more sustainable farming is driven by knowledge and technology. Every piece of new knowledge supporting this fundamental transition of the food system is extremely valuable. In this respect the thesis of Dr. Ouassou represents a great example of technology that furthers our knowledge”, said Vice President Technology in Yara, Per Knudsen, in his speech when the prize was handed out in Oslo on September 21st.

Dr. Ouassou’s thesis fulfills well the conditions of the statutes of Yara’s Birkeland Prize, which says that the prize shall be awarded to the “doctoral work that best fulfills Birkeland’s spirit of research”.

The jury wrote of Ouassou’s work that it is basic research at its best, with a clear prospect for the knowledge gained to contribute to the development of practical products, possibly of great technological utility.