The Charles Haenny Prize for Physics is supported by an endowment of Prof. Charles Haenny (1906-1999), professor at the University of Lausanne from 1943 to 1972.
Charles Haenny, born in Bassins (Vaud) on 19 April 1906, was a pioneering Swiss particle and nuclear physicist, as well as an advocate for scientific ethics. He graduated as a chemical engineer from the Ecole d’ingénieurs de Lausanne in 1927, followed by a doctorate in science from the University of Lausanne in 1928. Continuing his studies in Paris and London, he got involved in nuclear physics and joined the CNRS in Paris as a research fellow.
Concurrently, he became privat-docent at the University of Lausanne in 1935, where he introduced the first courses on radioactivity, later becoming a professor in physical and nuclear chemistry in 1943. His research focused on neutron physics and cosmic radiation. In a seminal 1939 communication to the Académie des Sciences, he demonstrated that nuclear fission emits neutrons—a cornerstone for nuclear chain reactions. He later co-signed the first French patent on nuclear energy with Halban, Joliot, and Kowarski.
Appointed professor at the École Polytechnique de l’Université de Lausanne (EPUL) in 1951, Charles Haenny led the Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Electrochemistry, and Nuclear Research, as of 1953. He developed research in nuclear and particle physics, inexistent in Lausanne at the time, in particular photographic emulsions to detect elementary particles. When the laboratory was divided into three institutes in 1966, he became director of the Institute for Nuclear and Particle Physics associated to the University of Lausanne, dedicated to the study of nuclear reactions induced by neutrons on light nuclei and the study of particles produced by cosmic rays or by accelerators, using trace detectors.
Prof. Haenny held key roles in scientific institutions like the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Atomic Science Commission, and contributed to founding the Plasma Physics Laboratory in Lausanne, precursor to the Swiss Plasma Center. Very concerned about ethical issues, he warned of nuclear energy’s dangers and, after retiring in 1972, established the Groupe Université-Tiers Monde questioning the objectives of scientific research when dealing with development challenges.
In 1996, demonstrating his confidence in new generations of physicists, he created the Charles Haenny Prize Fund to promote ethically conscious research in physics. He passed away on 22 December 1999, without having been able to attend the first award on 3 December 1999 of the prize he had established.
Prize history
The endowment of Prof. Haenny has been made to the Société Académique Vaudoise (SAV) who manages the funds. Initially, the Association Vaudoise des Chercheurs en Physique (AVCP) was put in charge of distinguishing deserving young physicists with a Prix Charles Haenny.
Six prizes were awarded in the period 1999-2005:
- 1999: G. Amelino-Camelia (UNINE/CERN)
- 2001: D. Challet (UNIFR), F. Vigliotti (Unil)
- 2003: F. Bouquet (UNIGE), V Scarani (UNIGE)
- 2005: P. Mayor (EPFL)
The AVCP having become inactive, the Institute of Physics of EPFL has taken the organisation of the prize over to honour the will of Prof. Haenny.