Jürgen Müller

The 2023 Vening Meinesz Medal is awarded to Jürgen Müller for his outstanding contribution to the advancement of modern geodesy, in particular for his scientific leadership in the field of Lunar Laser Ranging.

Jürgen Müller is a world-class leader in geodetic science in terms of vision and strategy. His scientific work is highly original and unique. He inimitably bridges the gap between physics and geodesy, where groundbreaking developments are transferred into geodetic applications. Most recently, Jürgen Müller is leading a project within the International Association of Geodesy to exploit recent advances in quantum technology and optical clocks to improve measurements of the Earth’s gravity field and its changes in space and time. This project has the potential to revolutionise our understanding of the Earth’s time variable gravity field.

His impressive list of publications shows a multitude of contributions in geodetic, astronomic, physical and geophysical journals. The treated topics relate to Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) and theories of relativity, to optical clocks and quantum sensors, to satellite missions and precise orbit determination, to a variety of gravity-field related research as well as to Earth rotation and geodynamics. Jürgen Müller is one of the few world leading scientists in the analysis of LLR data. He has spearheaded activities to keep the LLR discipline in the public eye and to incentivise groups in the development of LLR ranging activity. In the community, his ability to inspire and to recognize new developments and innovations is highly appreciated. Additionally, Jürgen Müller is particularly distinguished by his leadership of many national and international committees and initiatives.

Professor Jürgen Müller deserves to be awarded the Vening Meinesz Medal for his extensive and diverse contributions to advancing the field of geodesy and to developing geodetic tests of theories of general relativity.