“I've always looked up to the previous award winners and didn't think I was as good as they were”

Ettlingen / September 27, 2024

Karin Stein is the first woman in NATO history to receive the von Kármán Medal, the most prestigious distinction awarded by the defense alliance's Science and Technology Organization (STO). The award recognizes the head of the Signatorics department at Fraunhofer IOSB for her more than 30 years of academic work and leadership in defense research, her extraordinary scientific contributions to NATO, and her life's work. In an interview marking the occasion, Karin Stein talks about how she came to physics, the sense of responsibility she feels toward society, and her enthusiasm for the natural sciences.

Karin Stein Von-Kármán-Medaille — © Fraunhofer IOSB
From left to right: Assistant Secretary Alexander Schott, Director of Research and Innovation at the Federal Ministry of Defence; Dr Stein; and Dr Bryan Wells, NATO Chief Scientist, at the award ceremony for the Von Kármán Medal in Stockholm in September 2024.

Ms. Stein, thank you for taking the time to talk to us. Did you expect to receive this award?

I knew I had been nominated, but I still hadn't reckoned on the award. I've always looked up to many of the previous award winners and didn't think I was as good as they were. That's a typically female trait, not to be so self-confident.

What led you to become a physicist?

It was actually a lucky coincidence. I was very interested in mathematics at school, but not at all in physics. I always wanted to do something with languages. But I have the same birthday as Albert Einstein, and on his 100th birthday I thought: “Who is this Einstein, with whom you share a birthday?” So I read everything about him, and suddenly I was fascinated by physics. I found it incredibly exciting how 20th-century physics had revolutionized thinking, and I devoured everything I could find about it. At school, I went from 5 points in physics, or grade D, to 15 points, or A+, in one year and decided that I really wanted to study physics.

Since everyone told me that women don't study this kind of thing, I did it all the more. That was actually the reason. Even as a child, it was the greatest thing for me when I was allowed to stay up and watch “Raumschiff Orion” or later “Star Trek”. I also fondly remember the first moon landing, which I followed as a child. Every time the space shuttle took off, my mother came to get me from the sandbox and said, “Karin, they're taking off again! Come inside quickly!” And then we watched it together.

Last modified: September 27, 2024

“In recognition of outstanding contribution to STO / NATO”: The text of the certificate

Since 1992, Dr. rer. nat Karin Stein has provided outstanding contributions to a diverse range of activities organized by the NATO Science & Technology Organization (STO). During more than 30 years of service, she has demonstrated a record of leadership across multiple functions, including as a chair, a mentor, an innovative researcher, and a bridge-builder between military end-users and technical experts.

Dr. Stein has actively participated in more than 40 STO research activities, most notably through the Sensors & Electronics Technology (SET) Panel and the Systems Concepts and Integration (SCI) Panel, where she served as Panel Chair for 4 years and was appointed Member at Large for Camouflage, Concealment and Deception (CCD) in 2013.

For her leadership, dedication, and commitment to excellence in her numerous contributions to the NATO STO and defence scientific community, Dr. Karin Stein is awarded the 2024 von Kármán Medal. Dr. Stein is the first female recipient of this award.
Signed by Dr. Bryan Wells, NATO Chief Scientist

But even though you were interested in space travel and research as a child, it was only Einstein's 100th birthday that prompted you to stop working with languages and devote yourself to the natural sciences?

Yes, I think that physics is often not taught properly in schools. Physics classes are not very interesting because they are too abstract. Children lose interest in physics and science because of all the theory. You should first get children interested in the subject and only later explain the mathematical principles to them when they have already developed an interest.

I was with my five-year-old nephew at the science and technology museum “Experimenta” in Heilbronn. It's great what they offer for children there. They can really experiment, touch and try things out. It inspires children, and I would introduce something like that as a compulsory program in school – more experimentation in the classroom and, above all, learning to be amazed!

After graduating, what brought you to defense research and Fraunhofer?

When I graduated and successfully completed my PhD in 1991, there weren't that many opportunities. The position I applied for was limited to eight months, and there were 200 applicants. It's hard to imagine today.

Even then, defense research was not very popular, but I thought and still think that this research is extremely important. The department was already concerned with atmospheric effects on optical systems and, above all, with the protection of soldiers. Even after the end of the Cold War, I didn't think that this would mean the end of all conflicts - the world wouldn't suddenly become peaceful. That's why I think it's important to have a strong defense alliance. I see my work as an important contribution to that.

During my undergraduate studies at the University of Darmstadt, I took many philosophy courses, including one on the responsibility of the scientist to society. Gernot Böhme, who was the head of the university at the time and was a student of Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, placed a great deal of value on a philosophical orientation in physics. That is why I see it as my responsibility to our society to conduct this research. It is better when people who are actually interested in protection and defense conduct defense research than when those who use research for aggression do so.

As the history of the von Kármán Medal shows, the scientific community is mainly shaped by your male colleagues. What was it like for you to assert yourself as a woman in this male domain?

When the NATO Chief Scientist gave me the news, he said: “You are a role model. You are opening doors.” Of course, that makes me incredibly proud, because it was no easy road to gain respect. Among colleagues, especially among physicists, I was always seen as a person and a researcher. In society, women scientists are still seen as something of an exotic species.

I find it appalling that in Germany many people flirt with the idea that they were bad at math and physics. You're considered uneducated if you don't know Goethe's Faust, but it's perfectly okay not to know Newton's law. I love and read Goethe, but I think science is just as important.

That's why it's important to me to get children interested in science as early as possible. In my Signatorics department, we offer courses at the Hector Children's Academy for children in the first four years of school. We focus on girls in order to spark their interest in these topics. At school, the role models in subjects like physics or mathematics are usually male, so it is important to show girls that these subjects are for girls too, because “you cannot be what you cannot see.”

What advice would you give to young people, and particularly to women, who are considering a career in science?

You should never stop dreaming, never stop trying to get closer to the stars (which, by the way, was Joseph von Fraunhofer's slogan). Always stay curious. And don't get discouraged. And I would advise women to always be visible, never to let yourself be pushed into the background.

I share a passion for science fiction with many of my colleagues. I believe that if you can imagine it, you will eventually be able to implement it – even if you fail a hundred times along the way. You must not be afraid to fail.

NATO honors Dr. Karin Stein as the first woman to receive the von Kármán Medal in 2024 (press release dated May 15, 2024)

Signatorics Department at the Fraunhofer IOSB

Optimizing the performance of electro-optical systems – that is the focus of Dr. Karin Stein's department. Further information can be found on the department's website.

To the SIG department

Interview with Karin Stein on receiving the von Kármán Medal