Sune Svanberg

Prof. Sune Svanberg is the chairman of the Nobel Committee for Physics.

He received his PhD in physics in 1972 from at Chalmers University (Sweden). After a post-doc year at Columbia University, New York and initial work on atomic laser spectroscopy he continued laser-based spectroscopy at Chalmers up till 1980, when he became professor and head of the Atomic Physics Division at Lund Institute of Technology. In Lund a vigourous program of laser spectroscopy, including basic atomic physics and applications to energy, environmental and medical research has been pursued. Basic studies include studies of radiative properties of atoms and ions as well as superintense laser/matter interactions. Applications include laser radar sounding of pollutants in the atmosphere and hydrosphere, laser diagnostics of combustion processes, and laser-based detection and treatment of cancer and cardio-vascular disease. In 1995 he was appointed director of the newly established Lund Laser Centre, which also gained the EC status of a European Large Scale Facility.

He is a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences (and chairman of its Nobel Committee for Physics) and the Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Optical Society of America and is the recipient of the first EPS Quantum Electronics Prize (1996) and recepient of the first Azko Nobel Science Award (1999). 2004 he was awarded the SKAPA Innovation Prize, and in 2005 the W.E. Lamb Award in Quantum Electronics. He is the coauthor of about 500 scientific papers and more than 20 patents and patent applications, and he helped in the formation of several spin-off companies.