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Promotion sub auspiciis praesidentis for Anna Niggas

Anna Niggas has received a special distinction that is only awarded to a few doctoral students: the “promotio sub auspiciis praesidentis”.

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© Klaus Ranger

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Anna and Prof. Dirk Praetorius

On October 9, 2024, Anna Niggas and four other graduates of the doctoral programme were awarded a doctorate in technical sciences “under the auspices of the Federal President”. The requirements for this honor are extremely high: In addition to distinctions in the entire upper secondary level of the AHS, the Matura (high school leaving examination) must also be passed with distinction and all academic achievements in the subsequent studies must be completed exclusively with the best available mark “Sehr gut”.

In her dissertation “On the interaction of slow highly charged ions with free-standing two-dimensional materials”, supervised by Richard Wilhelm, Anna investigated the interaction of ions with surfaces. Using 2D materials, she studied the fundamental processes that occur by observing ions after they have penetrated the thinnest existing material. The motivation behind her research was and is purely basic research, but it forms an essential basis for mastering future challenges, such as in nanolithography, where highly charged ions are already used today as a state-of-the-art technology.

Career

Born in Vienna, Anna Niggas began studying Technical Physics at TU Wien after completing her high school education. She completed her PhD studies in 2023. She is the author of numerous publications and has worked as a tutor in various lectures and tutorials. Anna Niggas is currently a Senior Scientist at TU Wien at the Faculty of Physics at the Institute of Applied Physics in the Atomic and Plasma Physics research unit.

“For me, the doctorate sub auspiciis praesidentis is a great honor and a special highlight of my time at school and university. Above all, however, it symbolizes for me that it is the enthusiasm and motivation for a research topic that ultimately leads to success. My goal was never just to get good grades, but to understand fundamental principles and interrelationships. I am very grateful to my family, my circle of friends, my colleagues at university and in research, as well as the teachers at my school and at TU Wien for supporting me on my path and encouraging my enthusiasm for the natural sciences,” says Anna Niggas, summing up her joy.