Dr. Tim Holch was awarded the H.E.S.S. prize for his many contributions to different elements of HESS operations and data analysis. From the start of his PhD project within HESS Tim was an essential member of the data acquisition team. In this capacity he has implemented remote observing with the HESS telescopes from a control room in Zeuthen, safeguarding operations in the challenging times of the Covid pandemic. He had been the key person in tracking data transfer to Europe. Besides his contributions to HESS operations, Tim has participated to the efforts of improving the understanding of the instrumental response and data quality. He contributed to the efforts in validating Monte Carlo simulations from the individual components to the whole array against the data. Based on this project, Tim is now leading the development of a novel algorithm for data analysis to correct for atmospheric variation improving the accuracy of many measurements and thus enhancing the amount of data that is available for scientific analysis.
H.E.S.S. Prize Hall of Fame
The H.E.S.S. Prize
With the H.E.S.S. Prize, the collaboration acknowledges young scientists (PhD, postdoc, junior staff) who made outstanding service contributions to the experiment. Such contributions might range from hardware maintenance to various aspects of data handling including outstanding analyses (the development of a new analysis technique allowing a measurement not possible before) or a key contribution to an important scientific discovery. The prize is awarded at every collaboration meeting through a confidential vote by the Collaboration Board.
List of H.E.S.S. Prize Winners
Sylvia Zhu
Dr. Sylvia Zhu was awarded the H.E.S.S. prize for her contribution to efficient H.E.S.S. operations, the diligent and careful oversight of the H.E.S.S. data acquisition system (DAQ), coordination of the H.E.S.S. GRB team, and numerous science communication and outreach activities. Sylvia is a postdoctoral researcher who has acted as DAQ lead since 2019 and significantly contributed to the upgrade of the system in 2019/2020. In this role, she is the main contact for shift personnel in troubleshooting problems — a particularly important task during the challenging Corona pandemic when only remote support was possible. She also helped establish the first H.E.S.S. remote operations control room. As GRB coordinator she continues to shape the GRB science program and its multi-wavelength activities. Her continued strong commitment to science communication and outreach efforts elevated the visibility of H.E.S.S. and, in particular, its early-career scientists.