Scientific Curriculum Vitae

Gottfried Kirchengast

Academic education

University of Graz, Austria (studies 1984–1991)

• 1st diploma (B.Sc. level) in Physics, Meteorology, and Geophysics, 1986.
• 2nd diploma (M.Sc. degree, with highest honors) in Geophysics, 1988.
• Dr.rer.nat (Ph.D. degree, with highest honors) in the Natural Sciences/Geophysics, 1992.
• 2nd diploma (M.Sc. level, with highest honors) in Physics, 1995.

Professional development

• 2016–present: Honorary Professor at the National Space Science Center/Chinese Academy of Sciences (NSSC/CAS), Beijing, China (collaborating via the Joint Lab on Occultations for Atmosphere and Climate of Uni Graz and NSSC/CAS)
• 2016–present: Director of Science (and Executive Director jointly with Prof. Sun Yueqiang) of the Joint Lab on Occultations for Atmosphere and Climate (JLOAC) of University of Graz and NSSC/CAS Beijing
• 2008, 2011: Elected in 2008 member ("Junge Kurie") and in 2011 lifetime member ("Korrespondierendes Mitglied") of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), representing the fields geophysics and climate science.
• 2006, 2012: Awarded with the "GRAWE Award 2006" (awarded every five years only for science) for exceptional climate change research and leadership, and with the "Forschungspreis des Landes Steiermark 2012" (top state research prize of Styria/Austria) for pioneering work on monitoring the climate.
• 2005–??????: Director of the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change (WEGC) at the University of Graz, Austria; since 2012 also Adjunct Professor at the Geospatial Sciences School of the RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.
• 2003–present: Full Professor at the University of Graz Geophysics Chair (Alfred Wegener's Chair, originally held by Alfred Wegener 1924-1930). (This appointment was preceded by a highly selective candidate search and down-selection process since 2001, including several stages of peer review.)
• 2002–2004: Lead Investigator, together with Per Hoeg (Denmark), of the ESA Atmosphere and Climate Explorer (ACE+) satellite mission development. (ACE+ was selected by ESA, from 25 proposed missions after rigorous scientific and technical peer review, as top priority opportunity mission for phase A study.)
• 1999: Awarded with the "Josef-Krainer Würdigungspreis 1999" ("for exceptional performance in the field of meteorology and geophysics"; the prize-winners are selected among scholars from all disciplines by an interdisciplinary "Josef Krainer Gedenkwerk"-Jury after careful peer review.)
• 1998: Awarded with the "START Preis 1998" ("START" and "Wittgenstein" prizes, the prize-winners being selected each year by an esteemed international START/Wittgenstein-Jury after very stringent peer review, are Austria´s most prestigeous and best endowed discretionary research fund awards.)
• 1998–present: Visiting Scientist/Professor at various institutions in Europe, USA, and Australia, such as at MPI for Meteorology Hamburg, UCAR/NCAR Boulder, Univ. of Arizona Tucson, GFZ Potsdam, Univ. of Hawai'i Manoa/Honolulu, RMIT Univ. Melbourne (typically 2-3 months summer visits)
• 1992–2002: Tenure-track appointment as Assistant Professor (1992–1997), reception of the venia docendi ("Lehrbefugnis/Habilitation") in Geophysics (May 1997), then appointment as Associate Professor (1997-2002), at the Institute for Meteorology and Geophysics, University of Graz, Austria.
• 1992–1994: Max-Planck Postdoc Fellow at MPI for Aeronomy, Lindau/Göttingen, Germany.
• 1988–1995: Graduations at Univ. Graz, including M.Sc. degree Geophysics (1988), Ph.D. degree Natural Sciences/Geophysics (1992), M.Sc. Physics (1995) (all graduations with highest honors)