Early Career Prize for the History of Physics for 2025

Dr. Barbara Hof

“The 2025 IUPAP Early Career Prize in the History of Physics recognizes Dr Barbara Hof’s scholarship building rich connections between the history of physics and histories of computing, education, international diplomacy, and political activism. The prize further recognizes Hof’s editorial and community-building activities.”

Barbara Hof completed her PhD at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, in 2021, where her research focused on the motivations behind training programs at nuclear research laboratories during the Cold War and the reasons these programs were shared internationally. Currently, she holds a postdoctoral research position at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and serves as a guest lecturer at Leuphana University, Germany.

She has authored several peer-reviewed chapters and articles that explore the social, political, and diplomatic dimensions in the history of physics. Her work includes studies on CERN's history around 1970, notably an article examining why this multinational laboratory offered free public lectures on “science for all” to its staff, as well as a co-authored piece on the protests at CERN during the Vietnam War. Additionally, she has conducted research on the expansion of East-West exchanges in physics, facilitated by the IUPAP Commission on High-Energy Physics (now the Commission on Particles and Fields), and on the history of fusion science in Europe. 

With a sustained interest in the intersection of science and international affairs, Barbara Hof is currently investigating data-sharing practices in physics, exploring why CERN became the birthplace of the World Wide Web.