Dr. Paul Corkum named co-winner of Wolf Prize in Physics

Dr. Paul Corkum is the co-recipient of the prestigious international Wolf Prize in Physics for 2022. He shares the prize with European physicists Ferenc Krausz and Anne l'Huillier.

Dr. Corkum is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Ottawa, Principal Research Officer at the NRC, and co-director of the NRC-uOttawa Joint Centre for Extreme Photonics.

Dr. Corkum is a pioneer in the development of a specific type of physics, attosecond science—an attosecond lasts one billionth of a billionth of a second.

Dr. Geneviève Tanguay, Vice-President, Emerging Technologies at the National Research Council of Canada, expressed pride that Dr. Corkum was recognized for this prestigious honour in physics.

"His ground-breaking research, which launched the field of attosecond science, began at the NRC decades ago and continues to transform our understanding of the world around us. Dr. Corkum developed the tools for producing the shortest man-made flashes of light—attosecond pulses—which are used to study the fastest processes that are relevant to our world: the motion of electrons in molecules and atoms. These dynamical processes underlie chemical reactions and biological processes on the molecular level such as the ability to see".

The acclaimed Wolf Prize is awarded to outstanding scientists and artists from around the world, (regardless of nationality, race, colour, religion, sex or political views) for achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations amongst peoples. The prize in each field consists of a certificate and a monetary award of $100,000. To date, 345 scientists and artists from all over the globe have been honoured. The prize presentation will take place at a special ceremony at the Knesset (Israel´s Parliament), in Jerusalem.