Dieter Schmalstieg Receives Alexander von Humboldt Professorship

Global expert in virtual and augmented reality is to join the Visualization Research Center at the SFB-TRR 161 site in Stuttgart.
December 5, 2022; Christina Warren

Dieter Schmalstieg, an elite researcher in virtual and augmented reality, receives one of the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Professorships. He is to transfer from the Graz University of Technology to the Visualization Research Center at the University of Stuttgart to take up the professorship. The research prize is endowed with EUR 5 million.

Schmalstieg is a leading global expert in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). His technical systems function in real time and enable human–computer interaction – even for complex processes. After heading the Institute of Computer Graphics and Vision at the Graz University of Technology, he is to continue his internationally successful research in visual computing at the University of Stuttgart.

For the SFB-TRR 161, Dieter Schmalstieg has been an important cooperation partner for several years. Aside from co-authoring publications by SFB-TRR 161 members, he was keynote speaker at the SFB-TRR 161 workshop on Situated Analytics in November 2021. “Having Dieter Schmalstieg join our site in Stuttgart will further strengthen our expertise in immersive technologies and open the way for new and exciting collaborations,” says Daniel Weiskopf, spokesperson of the SFB-TRR 161 and co-director of the Visualization Research Center.

Dieter Schmalstieg at the SFB-TRR 161 workshop on Situated Analytics in November 2021.

“I am delighted to be awarded the Humboldt Professorship and look forward to continuing my work at the University of Stuttgart. The Visualization Research Center of the University of Stuttgart is an internationally renowned research institution in the field of visual computing, and it is a great honor for me to be accepted here”, says Dieter Schmalstieg.

Schmalstieg was selected for the Humboldt Professorship in November 2022. The professorship will be awarded to him in 2023 if he successfully completes appointment negotiations with the University of Stuttgart, which nominated him.

About Prof. Dr. Dieter Schmalstieg
Dieter Schmalstieg, a native of Austria, received his doctorate and habilitation from the Vienna University of Technology. In 2004, he took up a professorship at the Graz University of Technology. Since 2012, he has headed the Institute of Computer Graphics and Vision, which has grown considerably under his leadership. He is a Fellow of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and was awarded the IEEE Virtual Reality Technical Achievement Award in 2012, and the START-Preis, Austria’s most highly endowed and recognized science award for young researchers.

About the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship
The Alexander von Humboldt Professorship is Germany’s most highly endowed international research award, which honors internationally leading scientists and scholars who have previously worked abroad. The award is granted by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. It gives German universities the opportunity to attract top international researchers to their institutions, to offer internationally competitive framework conditions, and to raise their profile in the face of global competition.