In memoriam

In memoriam: Maria Würth (1999-2025)

The Chair of Laser Physics mourns the loss of Maria Würth, who tragically lost her life in a hiking accident in September 2025. After completing her bachelor’s degree in physics at TU Berlin, she transferred to FAU for her master’s program. She had been a member of our Chair as a master’s student since late 2024. For her master’s thesis, she worked with full dedication and great enthusiasm for physics on a project concerned with strong-field physics at metal needle tips.

With her cheerful, inspiring, eager-to-discuss, and quick-witted nature, Maria was a colleague who was universally respected and beloved. We will miss her dearly both as a physicist and as a colleague, and we will always honor her memory. Our sincere condolences go out to her family and loved ones.

As a physicist, Maria was fascinated by the concept of the conservation of energy – that is, the physical principle that in a closed system, energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but only converted between different forms. Maria was a person full of energy, both for physics and beyond – and so, in a metaphorical sense, drawing on the principle of energy conservation, we can say that Maria will always be with us in the form of our memories of her and her time at the Chair of Laser Physics.

The team at the Chair of Laser Physics at FAU