Career
He was chairperson of the National Youth Science Forum in Australia, and is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Quantum Science, Research School of Physics and Engineering at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Professor Bachor holds many academic awards and distinctions, including the Humboldt Research Prize (1999), Fellow of the Institute of Physics (United Kingdom), the Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) and the Optical Society of America (The Optical Society). Professor Bachor was born in Wolfenbüttel, Germany in 1952.
He studied Physics in Hannover, Germany, where he received his diploma and doctorate, supervised by Professor
Doctor Manfred Kock. He took up a position at the Australian National University in 1981. Professor Bachor established experimental quantum optics in Australia and created a widely known group for optics and laser physics, exploring the possibilities of harnessing the quantum nature of light.
He has pioneered techniques for sensitive measurements beyond the quantum noise limit, for the improvement of optical sensors, interferometers, optical communication and data storage. In addition to the large volume of high impact scientific research, Professor Bachor has mentored and graduated a number of Australia"s leading scientists.
His former graduate students include Professor Ping Koy Lam (CQC2T), Professor Timothy Ralph (UQ), and Professor Andrew White (UQ).
Professor Bachor was Head of the Department of Physics at the Australian National University in the late 90"s, and took a leading role in teaching and inspiring undergraduate students. He has worked, and is frequently invited to teach, in the United States of America, Germany, France and Denmark. He has also written the widely used and cited textbook " A guide to experiments in quantum Optics", with Professor
Timothy Ralph.