The Gentner-Kastler Prize 2024 awarded to Isabelle Kleiner

The Gentner-Kastler Prize is awarded jointly by the DPG and the Société Française de Physique. It is awarded annually for particularly valuable scientific contributions to physics, alternately to a physicist living and working in Germany or France.

The Gentner-Kastler Prize 2024 is awarded to Isabelle Kleiner for her theoretical work in the field of high-resolution spectroscopy of isolated molecules. Her research has significantly contributed to the understanding of the structure and internal movements of molecular systems, with wide-ranging applications in astrophysics, planetary atmospheres, and biology.

Dr. Kleiner's research, conducted through various international and European collaborations, particularly within the Franco-German partnership, has resulted in numerous publications in the area of high-resolution molecular spectroscopy. Having completed her doctoral thesis at the « Université Libre de Bruxelles » in Belgium and pursued post-doctoral work with Dr. Jon T. Hougen at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) in the USA, Dr. Kleiner currently holds the position of CNRS Exceptional Class Research Director at Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques (LISA) at University Paris-Est Créteil and University Paris Cité.

Her important contributions to the field of molecular physics include the development of quantum chemistry models for calculating molecular spectra, which were subsequently translated into computer codes. This groundbreaking work has enabled the accurate recording of the complex interaction of rotation and torsional motion in numerous molecules, leading to precise predictions of spectra in the microwave and infrared spectral domains.

The theoretical models and pioneering software’s that Isabelle Kleiner developed together with Jon Hougen allow to describe the gas phase spectra of floppy molecules exhibiting large amplitude motions such as internal rotation of methyl groups and inversion. Her suite of sofwares are used worldwide to model the large amplitude internal rotation of methyl group(s) dynamics and to “fit” the experimental microwave, millimeter, THz or infrared data recorded with high resolution.
Notably, some molecular species have been discovered in space as a result of Dr. Kleiner's research.

Isabelle Kleiner has developed many collaborations with German teams, especially with the RWTH University of Aachen where she was the PI of a Hubert Curien Partnership (PHC) « PROCOPE ». In 2022 she was awarded the Ioannes Marcus Marci Medal of the «Ioannes Marcus Marci Spectroscopic Society » from the Czech Republic.
In addition to her research accomplishments, Dr. Kleiner has been deeply involved in the training of young researchers in molecular spectroscopy, organizing several high-level and international thematic schools, selected by the French-German University (Deutsch-Französische Hochschule, Université Franco-allemande DFG-UFA) and by the CNRS to further the advancement of this field.

More information about the Prize and the past laureates : clic here