We are pleased to announce that the 2025 Giulio Rampa Thesis Prize for outstanding research in General Relativity will be presented to
Dr. Thomas B. Mieling
The Committee consisting of Profs. Lars Andersson, Mauro Carfora, Claudio Dappiaggi, Gerhard Huisken, Stefano Liberati, Luciano Rezzolla, Fulvio Ricci, and Mairi Sakellariadou prepared the following laudation:
Dr. Mieling’s Ph. D. thesis,”Gupta-Bleuler Quantization of the Electromagnetic Field in Curved Spacetimes with Applications to Gravitational Photon Interferometry”,recognized by the Austrian Ministry of Sciences as one of the best PhD Theses of the year, offers a comprehensive and brilliant analysis of a new approach to the theory of gravitational photon interferometry that combines physical and geometrical insights. His work, marked by exceptional scientific originality, accounts for the quantum properties of the electromagnetic field while accurately describing the propagation of light in optical fibers in curved spacetimes. The work is a brilliant marriage of quantum field theory in curved spacetimes with classical gravitation, and it bears great relevance in current state-of-the-art experimental efforts by providing the theoretical foundation for understanding current proposals for experiments to measure the gravitationally induced phase shift in quantum states of light in optical fibers. Thomas Mieling is an outstanding scholar emerging as an excellent and active young scientist in gravitational theory, among the best early-career scientists of his generation, and we will look at his work as foundational in the field.
The prize is sponsored by the University of Pavia, the Almo Collegio Borromeo, and the Italian Society for Relativity and Gravitational Physics (SIGRAV) to honor the memory of Giulio Rampa. It is given to a graduate student every two years for outstanding research in general relativity. The prize was established in 2011 and is endowed under the terms of a donation from Nadia and Giorgio Rampa.
Each GRT prize carries a certificate and a net check for EUR 2,000. The award will be presented to Thomas Mieling at the 26th edition of the “Italian Society for General Relativity and Gravitation (SIGRAV) Conference” that will be held at the University of Milano-Bicocca (Milano), Italy, on 8-12 September 2025. This biennial conference is devoted to all aspects of gravitational physics. The Rampa Prize winner will present his work during a special conference session.