Zhongbo Kang, a professor of physics and astronomy at UCLA, has received the prestigious Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The award recognizes scholars who have made outstanding research contributions and who are expected to continue producing influential work in their fields. Each year, about 20 Bessel Awards are granted worldwide across all academic fields.
The award honors Kang’s contributions to high-energy nuclear and particle physics, particularly his work on quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and the strong interaction, which governs the structure and dynamics of visible matter in the universe.
As part of the award, Kang will be invited to carry out an extended research stay in Germany. He plans to conduct collaborative research at DESY, Germany’s premier laboratory for particle physics, accelerator science and photon science, hosted by Markus Diehl. He will also visit professor Werner Vogelsang at the University of Tübingen to pursue related research.
“I am deeply honored to receive this recognition,” Kang said. “The Bessel Award provides a wonderful opportunity to strengthen international collaborations and to pursue new directions in strong interaction physics.”
Kang is also a faculty member of UCLA’s Mani L. Bhaumik Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Center for Quantum Science and Engineering.
