Prof. Dr. Mario Chemnitz, a physicist at the Leibniz IPHT and Friedrich Schiller University Jena, has been awarded a prestigious WE Heraeus Research Fellowship. The Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Foundation supports young researchers who contribute new scientific insights in physics. The fellowship was presented at the WE Heraeus Forum on November 6, 2025, in Berlin.  

Chemnitz is developing a new approach to computation that uses light instead of electrical currents in computer chips. He aims to develop optical neural networks that use light waves to process data patterns similarly to how nerve cells process signals in the brain. 

In his Smart Photonics research group, he studies optical fibers and photonic chips in which ultrashort light pulses interact. These interactions, known as nonlinear effects, change the spectral composition and shape of the pulses. This allows computational steps to be carried out directly within the light signal, eliminating the need for electronic processors to translate the data. 

“Modeling Neural Signal Pathways with Light” 

“I am very grateful for this recognition,” Chemnitz says. “Right now, new breakthroughs are urgently needed to handle the enormous volumes of data generated in medicine and data centers. Our goal is to understand how to precisely control the dynamics of light waves so that information can be processed directly in the optical signal. The fellowship gives us the freedom to pursue fundamentally new ideas that, due to their interdisciplinary nature, are difficult to support through conventional funding channels in Germany.” 

Increasing the efficiency of data processing is central to this work. “These systems could enable faster, lower-energy processing of large datasets, such as in medical diagnostics,” Chemnitz explains. “Modern microscopes can generate terabytes of sensitive image data in a very short time. Storing and analyzing these data poses technical and regulatory challenges. If processing can take place directly in the optical domain, many of these bottlenecks can be eliminated.”  

Chemnitz and his team have already demonstrated that a single optical fiber can perform functions that currently require complex electronic architectures. This reduces technical overhead, minimizes the need for intermediate storage, and lowers energy consumption—an increasingly important consideration as AI applications expand across society.  

Scientific Training in Jena, Cambridge, and Montréal 

Chemnitz studied physics at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and continued his research at the University of Cambridge in the field of laser-based measurement techniques. He earned his doctorate with distinction at the Leibniz-IPHT under Prof. Dr. Markus Schmidt, researching light pulses in liquid-core fibers. He then conducted postdoctoral research at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS) in Montreal, supported by a Banting Fellowship. In 2022, he returned to Jena and founded the Smart Photonics research group at the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz-IPHT). Since late 2023, he has been a junior professor of intelligent photonic systems at Friedrich Schiller University Jena.