[1] Jensen shared half of the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics with Maria Goeppert-Mayer for their proposal of the nuclear shell model.

Harteck and his teaching assistant Wilhelm Groth made contact with the Reichskriegsministerium (RKM, Reich Ministry of War) on 24 April 1939 to tell them of potential military applications of nuclear chain reactions.

Military control of the German nuclear energy project, also known as the Uranverein (Uranium Club), began on 1 September 1939, the day that Nazi Germany initiated World War II by invading Poland.

Jensen's main thrust was on double centrifuges for separation of uranium isotopes (see the section below citing internal reports of the Uranverein).

While membership in the NSDDB was not mandatory, it was tactically advantageous, if not unavoidable, as the district leaders had a decisive role in the acceptance of an Habilitationsschrift, which was a prerequisite to attaining the rank of Privatdozent necessary to becoming a university lecturer.

When Jensen faced the proceedings, he turned to Werner Heisenberg, a prominent member of the Uranverein, for a testament to his character – a document known as a Persilschein (whitewash certificate).

Heisenberg wrote the document and convinced the authorities that Jensen had joined the Party organizations only to avoid unnecessary difficulties in academia.