The silicon chips developed by Robert Klanner and his colleagues at that time achieved a breakthrough in high-energy physics: High-precision sensor technology enabled scientists to undertake detailed investigations of decays of hadrons made up of heavy quarks for the first time. The technology also laid the foundations for high-resolution strip detectors which are now used in the ATLAS and the CMS experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
The Julius Wess Award, which is named after the theoretical physicist who was a Director at the MPP from 1990 – 2002, is made for outstanding theoretical or experimental scientific achievements by the KIT Elementary Particle and Astroparticle Physics Center. Robert Klanner will be presented with his award on 3 March 2017.