Kurt Becker is an international expert in the areas of the experimental and theoretical study of electron-driven processes in plasmas. He was part of a group of pioneering scientists who determined the ionization cross sections for atoms and molecules, which are critical to understanding the charge carrier formation in plasmas.

1982, Dr. Eduard-Martin Prize for Excellence in Research from the Vereinigung der Freunde der Universität des Saarlandes, Germany 1982-83, Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Germany 1992, Election to Fellowship in the American Physical Society 2001, Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award (with E. E. Kunhardt) from the Research and Development Council of New Jersey 2007, Honorary Professorship, Leopold Franzens Universität Innsbruck, Austria

Fellow, American Physical Society Member, IEEE Member, German Physical Society Member, Materials Research Society