The Paul Niggli Medal is Switzerland’s most prestigious award for young earth scientist who made outstanding contributions in the research fields of mineralogy, geochemistry, petrology, resource geology or solid-earth geophysics. The Paul Niggli Medal honours and supports young ambassadors of Swiss geoscience, who are either Swiss citizens or obtained at least two of their academic degrees in the Swiss university system (BSc or MSc and usually their PhD).

The Board of the Paul Niggli Foundation decided in their session of 7 June 2019 to award the Paul Niggli Medal for the year 2019 to Jonas Ruh, in recognition of his outstanding research contributions in the area of subduction processes and formation of accretionary wedges.

Maria Schönbächler (ETH Zürich)

On behalf of the Foundation Council of the Paul Niggli Stiftung

After his birth and basic schooling in Lucerne, Jonas obtained his BSc and MSc in geology at the ETH Zürich. There, he recognized his strong passion for tectonics, geodynamics and numerical modelling. He continued his academic education by conducting a cross-disciplinary observation- and numerical modeling-based PhD project in the field of geodynamics of accretionary wedges at ETH Zürich, which resulted in several influential peer-reviewed papers and an excellent PhD thesis “Towards understanding long-term accretionary wedge dynamics: An integrated modelling and field study” for which he received the ETH Silver Medal for outstanding doctoral theses in July 2015. Jonas then was selected as the best candidate for a prestigious postdoc position at the University Paris VI opened in the framework of an international EU-funded Marie Curie International Training Network “ZIP—Zooming in Between Plates”, where he performed an outstanding study of deep subduction processes. Jonas was then awarded an SNSF Advanced PostDoc Fellowship and worked at the Institute of Earth Sciences “Jaume Almera” in Barcelona, where he combined field geology and numerical models to deepen his understanding of accretionary systems. Since his heart remained with Switzerland, he returned to ETH Zürich in 2019 as an Oberassistent in the Structural Geology and Tectonics group.

Jonas Ruh’s scientific interests are very broad and aim at understanding coupled geodynamical and tectonic processes on both local and regional scales by using a truly cross-disciplinary approach combining field observations with laboratory studies and numerical modeling. In particular, Jonas developed a novel quantitative tectonic model for the growth of the Simply Folded Belt of the Zagros Mountains and showed that their basement behaves as a rigid floor. He was also the first to numerically model dynamics of accretionary wedges in three dimensions (3D), thereby pioneering a new very challenging geodynamic modeling research direction and developing a first quantitative 3D model for the evolution of the tectonic boundary between Zagros and Makran regions. Jonas Ruh was also the first to systematically model and explain physical controls of deep oceanic crust slicing in subduction zones—a process of global significance, which was previously hypothesized on the basis of geological and petrological data. He was the first to systematically investigate in 3D the effect of subducting seamounts on the tectonic structure of coastal regions and triggering large submarine avalanches. His recent pioneering work explained quantitatively the development of “minibasin”-type structures in shales. In addition, Jonas contributed to the development and testing of novel geodynamical modeling tools combining long-term tectonics and landscape evolution.

We congratulate Jonas for being a world leading young geoscientists, who attacks first order problems to provide us fundamental insights. On 22 November, 2019, Jonas received the truly deserved Paul Niggli Medal during the 17th Swiss Geoscience Meeting in Fribourg. We wish you continuing joy, enthusiasm, innovation and success, Jonas, in your life and your future research!

Taras Gerya and Jean-Pierre Burg (ETH Zürich)

I am greatly honored and very fortunate to receive this year’s Paul Niggli Medal awarded by the Swiss Society of Mineralogy and Petrology. Considering the list of former recipients of this prestigious medal, its importance for the development of a young researcher’s career cannot be overestimated. I would like to thank the committee of the Paul Niggli Foundation for having taken into consideration the nomination and for its decision to award me with this invaluable medal. I gratefully take the following paragraphs as an opportunity to thank and acknowledge a wealth of colleagues and friends that have accompanied and supported me along my joyful career thus far.

First and foremost, I am deeply indebted to Taras Gerya and Jean-Pierre Burg for their generous citation and unconditional support since the beginning of my PhD thesis back in 2010. I recognize that not all early career researchers have the incredibly good fortune of two excellent and trusting mentors as I do. After having completed my master’s degree in geochemistry at the ETH, I was very lucky that Jean-Pierre was looking for a potential PhD student that was keen to spend long field seasons investigating the dynamics of the Makran accretionary wedge in southeastern Iran. During months of field work and hundreds of coffees in E-floor, Jean-Pierre not only taught me to be precise and patient, but I also learned about the importance of principles and their meaning in a scientific environment. An important part of my PhD project was to precisely date syn-kinematic sedimentary sequences by magnetostratigraphy. From the first day on, I felt warmly welcomed at the Laboratory of Natural Magnetism of the ETH led by Ann Hirt. Despite hundreds of difficult measurements, she kept my motivation high by providing a great, positive atmosphere in the laboratory, which ultimately led to a successful joint publication. Already during the first two-month-long field season in Iran, Jean-Pierre discussed with me the potential and importance of numerical modelling for understanding the complex structural evolution of the Makran. Soon after returning from the field, I sat together with Boris Kaus, who taught me one of the most important concepts during my PhD: After several weeks of trying to fix a bug in the numerical code, I finally dared to write him that I could not find the error. His answer was “write me again in 2 weeks”. One week later I solved the issue by myself. I learned what is most important when carrying out a PhD thesis: self-confidence. Later into my PhD, I had the chance to work with Taras and to learn and apply his three-dimensional code to investigate the mechanics of fold-and-thrust belts. It was and still is a great privilege to have access to such amazing scientific tools that stand at the forefront of our discipline.

After four wonderful years as a PhD student in structural geology, I was offered a Marie Currie fellowship as a numerical modeler to work on subduction zones with Evgenii Burov, Laetitia Le Pourhiet and Philippe Agard at the UPMC in Paris. I want to thank all of them for the time in Paris that opened my eyes in both personal and scientific ways. It was a great pleasure to be part of this cross-disciplinary project with the possibility to travel across the world investigating subduction zones and always come back to the wonderful Paris enjoying Absinthe with Laeti or see a concert at the Limonaire with Philippe. As a secondment within the fellowship, I had the chance to spend 6 months at the Institute of Marine Sciences in Barcelona together with Valentí Sallarès and César Ranero to work on seamount subduction. I thank them for welcoming me with open arms and allowing me to realize and test my own ideas with absolute support.

From early 2016 on, I joined Jaume Vergés and his group at the Institute of Earth Sciences in Barcelona with an advanced SNSF PostDoc fellowship. During maybe the best 3 years of my life, this fellowship allowed me to migrate independently across disciplines to eventually find my way back to structural geology. Whether strolling around satellite images looking for minibasins with Jaume, spending hours in the magnetic laboratory with Luis or discussing cross-sections with Pablo, they all set the foundation for long-lasting collaborations.

In January 2019, I returned as an Oberassistant to the Structural Geology and Tectonics group at the ETH, now led by Whitney Behr. It is a privilege to work in such a prosperous environment with this young and motivated group of researchers and I thank Whitney for entrusting me with undergraduate teaching and for letting me deploy my own scientific ideas.

Last but not least, there are of course many people that were not mentioned above that I would like to thank for their unconditional support throughout the last years. My parents, family members, friends from home, Zurich, Paris, Barcelona and all over the world and members of all institutes I was happy enough to work and spend time with.

Jonas Ruh (ETH Zurich)

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Jonas Ruh receives the 2019 Paul Niggli Medal. Swiss J Geosci 113, 6 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s00015-020-00359-1

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• Published: 28 April 2020

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s00015-020-00359-1

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乔纳斯·鲁（Jonas Ruh）获得2019年保罗·尼格里（Paul Niggli）奖牌

保罗·尼格里（Paul Niggli）奖章是瑞士最负盛名的青年地球科学家奖，他在矿物学，地球化学，岩石学，资源地质学或固体地球物理学方面做出了杰出贡献。保罗·尼格里（Paul Niggli）勋章旨在表彰和支持年轻的瑞士地球科学大使，他们是瑞士公民，或者在瑞士大学系统中至少获得了两个学位（BSc或MSc，通常是博士学位）。

保罗·尼格里基金会董事会在2019年6月7日的会议上决定将2019年的保罗·尼格里奖章授予乔纳斯·鲁（Jonas Ruh），以表彰他在俯冲过程和增生楔形物领域的杰出研究贡献。

MariaSchönbächler（苏黎世联邦理工学院）

代表Paul Niggli Stiftung基金会理事会

在卢塞恩出生并接受基础教育之后，乔纳斯在苏黎世联邦理工学院获得了地质学学士学位和理学硕士学位。在那里，他认识到他对构造，地球动力学和数值建模的强烈热情。他通过在苏黎世联邦理工学院增生楔的地球动力学领域进行跨学科的基于观察和数值建模的博士学位项目来继续他的学术教育，该项目产生了几篇颇具影响力的同行评审论文和出色的博士学位论文“增生楔形动力学：一个综合的建模和实地研究”，为此他于2015年7月获得了ETH银奖，以表彰他们的杰出博士论文。然后，乔纳斯（Jonas）被选为巴黎第六大学（University Paris VI）著名博士后职位的最佳人选，该大学是在欧盟资助的国际居里夫人居里国际培训网络“ ZIP-Zooming in Plates”的框架下开展的，他在那里进行了出色的深俯冲过程。然后，乔纳斯（Jonas）被授予SNSF高级博士后奖学金，并在巴塞罗那的地球科学学院（Jaume Almera）工作，在那里他结合了现场地质学和数值模型，加深了对增生系统的理解。由于他的心仍然留在瑞士，因此他于2019年回到苏黎世联邦理工学院（ETHZürich），担任结构地质与构造研究组的高级助手。然后，乔纳斯（Jonas）被授予SNSF高级博士后奖学金，并在巴塞罗那的地球科学学院（Jaume Almera）工作，在那里他结合了现场地质学和数值模型，加深了对增生系统的理解。由于他的心仍然留在瑞士，因此他于2019年回到苏黎世联邦理工学院（ETHZürich），担任结构地质与构造研究组的高级助手。然后，乔纳斯（Jonas）被授予SNSF高级博士后奖学金，并在巴塞罗那的地球科学学院（Jaume Almera）工作，在那里他结合了现场地质学和数值模型，加深了对增生系统的理解。由于他的心仍然留在瑞士，因此他于2019年回到苏黎世联邦理工学院（ETHZürich），担任结构地质与构造研究组的高级助手。

乔纳斯·鲁（Jonas Ruh）的科学兴趣非常广泛，其目的是通过使用结合了现场观察，实验室研究和数值模拟的真正跨学科方法，来了解本地和区域尺度上的地球动力学和构造过程。特别是，乔纳斯（Jonas）为扎格罗斯山脉的简单褶皱带的生长开发了一种新颖的定量构造模型，并表明它们的地下室表现为坚硬的地面。他还是第一个对三维增生楔动力学进行数值建模的人（3D），从而开创了新的极具挑战性的地球动力学建模研究方向，并为Zagros和Makran地区之间的构造边界演化开发了第一个定量3D模型。乔纳斯·鲁（Jonas Ruh）也是第一个系统化地建模和解释俯冲带深海地壳切片物理控制的人，这是一个具有全球意义的过程，以前曾根据地质和岩石学数据对其进行过假设。他是第一个系统地以3D方式研究俯冲海山对沿海地区构造结构和引发大型海底雪崩的影响的人。他最近的开拓性工作定量地解释了页岩中“微型盆地”型结构的发展。此外，乔纳斯（Jonas）为结合长期构造学和景观演化的新型地球动力学建模工具的开发和测试做出了贡献。他是第一个系统地以3D方式研究俯冲海山对沿海地区构造结构和引发大型海底雪崩的影响的人。他最近的开拓性工作定量地解释了页岩中“微型盆地”型结构的发展。此外，乔纳斯（Jonas）为结合长期构造学和景观演化的新型地球动力学建模工具的开发和测试做出了贡献。他是第一个系统地以3D方式研究俯冲海山对沿海地区构造结构和引发大型海底雪崩的影响的人。他最近的开拓性工作定量地解释了页岩中“微型盆地”型结构的发展。此外，乔纳斯（Jonas）为结合长期构造学和景观演化的新型地球动力学建模工具的开发和测试做出了贡献。

我们祝贺乔纳斯（Jonas）成为世界领先的年轻地球科学家，他们通过攻击一阶问题为我们提供了基本见解。2019年11月22日，乔纳斯在弗里堡举行的第17届瑞士地球科学会议上获得了当之无愧的Paul Niggli勋章。希望乔纳斯（Jonas）在您的生活和未来的研究中继续保持喜悦，热情，创新和成功！

Taras Gerya和Jean - Pierre Burg（苏黎世联邦理工学院）

我很荣幸也很幸运收到瑞士矿物学和岩石学学会颁发的今年的Paul Niggli奖章。考虑到这一久负盛名的勋章的获奖者名单，其对于年轻研究人员职业发展的重要性不可低估。我要感谢Paul Niggli基金会的委员会考虑了提名，并决定授予我这枚宝贵的勋章。我非常感激以下几段，以借此机会感谢和感谢迄今为止我在快乐事业中一直支持和支持我的众多同事和朋友。

首先，我深深感谢塔拉斯·吉里亚（Taras Gerya）和让·皮埃尔·伯格（Jean-Pierre Burg）自2010年博士论文发表以来的慷慨引用和无条件支持。和我一样信任导师。在获得了ETH的地球化学硕士学位之后，我非常幸运，Jean-Pierre正在寻找一名潜在的博士生，他渴望在野外度过长时间的实地调查伊朗东南部Makran增生楔的动力学。在几个月的野外工作和在E地板上喝几百杯咖啡的过程中，让·皮埃尔（Jean-Pierre）不仅教会我精确和耐心，而且还了解了原理及其重要性在科学环境中的重要性。我的博士项目的一个重要部分是通过地磁地层学准确地确定了运动学上的沉积序列。从第一天起，我在安·希特（Ann Hirt）领导下的ETH天然磁性实验室受到热烈欢迎。尽管进行了数百次困难的测量，但她通过在实验室中提供良好的积极氛围来保持我的动力，最终促成了成功的联合出版物。让·皮埃尔已经在伊朗头两个月的野外季节中，与我讨论了数值模型对于理解Makran复杂结构演化的潜力和重要性。从田野归来后不久，我和Boris Kaus一起坐了下来，Boris Kaus在博士期间教了我一个最重要的概念：经过数周的尝试修复数字错误之后，我终于敢写信给我，我找不到错误。他的回答是“请在2周内再次给我写信”。一个星期后，我自己解决了这个问题。我学习了博士学位论文时最重要的是：自信。后来获得博士学位，我有机会与Taras合作，学习并应用他的三维代码来研究折叠和推力皮带的力学。拥有一直站在我们学科前沿的如此出色的科学工具，曾经是而且现在仍然是一种极大的荣幸。我有机会与Taras一起工作，学习并应用他的三维代码来研究折冲皮带的力学原理。拥有一直站在我们学科前沿的如此出色的科学工具，曾经是而且现在仍然是一种极大的荣幸。我有机会与Taras合作，学习和应用他的三维代码来研究折冲皮带的力学原理。拥有一直站在我们学科前沿的如此出色的科学工具，曾经是而且现在仍然是一种极大的荣幸。

在获得结构地质博士学位的四年后，我获得了玛丽·居里奖学金，作为数值建模师，与埃夫根尼·布罗夫（Evgenii Burov），Laetitia Le Pourhiet和菲利普·阿加德（Philippe Agard）一起在俯冲带工作。我要感谢所有人在巴黎度过的时光，这些时间以个人和科学的方式让我大开眼界。很高兴能成为这个跨学科项目的一员，有机会环游世界探索俯冲带，并总是回到美妙的巴黎，与Laeti一起享受苦艾酒，或者与Philippe一起在Limonaire观看音乐会。作为研究金的借调，我有机会与ValentíSallarès和CésarRanero一起在巴塞罗那海洋科学研究所度过了6个月，从事海山俯冲工作。

从2016年初开始，我以高级SNSF PostDoc奖学金加入了巴塞罗那的地球科学研究所的JaumeVergés及其团队。在我生命中最好的三年中，这种奖学金使我能够跨学科独立迁移，最终找到回到结构地质的道路。无论是与Jaume漫步在卫星图像中寻找迷你流域，还是与Luis在磁性实验室中度过数小时，还是与Pablo讨论横截面，都为长期合作奠定了基础。

在2019年1月，我作为现任惠特尼·贝尔（Whitney Behr）领导的ETH的结构地质学和构造学组的高级助手返回。在如此繁荣的环境中与这个年轻且有进取心的研究人员一起工作是一种荣幸，并且我感谢惠特尼（Whitney）将我委托给本科生教学并让我运用自己的科学思想。

最后但并非最不重要的一点是，当然有许多以上未提及的人，我要感谢他们在过去几年中的无条件支持。我的父母，家人，来自家里，苏黎世，巴黎，巴塞罗那以及世界各地的朋友以及所有机构的成员，我很高兴与他们共事并度过时光。

Jonas Ruh（苏黎世联邦理工学院）

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乔纳斯·鲁（Jonas Ruh）获得2019年保罗·尼格里（Paul Niggli）奖牌。瑞士ĴGeosci 113， 6（2020）。https://doi.org/10.1186/s00015-020-00359-1

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• 发表时间：2020年4月28日

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