Orazio Svelto, an internationally renowned laser and photonics scientist, was awarded the Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics for his pioneering, long-lasting and innovative work in the fields of lasers and optics. The award, accompanied by €5000 ($7300), was presented May 24 at the Laser World of Photonics Congress in Munich. Svelto's research focuses on the physics of laser resonators and techniques of mode selection, laser applications in biology and biomedicine, and the physics of solid-state lasers; in particular, ultrashort laser pulse generation. A professor of physics of matter at the Polytechnic Institute of Milan, Svelto also is responsible for the Institute of Photonics and Nanotechnologies of the Italian National Research Council - Milan section. His research has covered a wide range of activity in the field of laser physics and photonics, starting from the early beginning of these disciplines in 1962. He is the author of more than 200 scientific papers and holds three patents. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Quantum Electronics Prize of the European Physical Society and the Charles H. Townes Award of the Optical Society of America. The Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics recognizes researchers who have made an outstanding and innovative contribution to the fields of applied physics. It has been awarded annually since 1998 by the editors-in-chief of the Springer journals Applied Physics A — Materials Science & Processing and Applied Physics B — Lasers and Optics. For more information, visit: www.springer.com