Research

Main Research Interests: Catalysis, Elementary reactions in Chemistry and Physics

Career

• 2008-2017 President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
• 2005 Visiting Professor Université Louis Pasteur Strasbourg, France
• 1999-2001 Visiting Professor Université Pierre et Marie Curie Paris, France
• 1997 Visiting Professor Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris, France
• 1996 Erwin Schrödinger Guest Professor, University of Innsbruck, Austria
• 1996 Visiting Foundation Fellow of the University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
• 1996 Visiting Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Kyoto, Japan
• 1994 Visiting Fellow, Australian National University Canberra, Australia
• 1988/1989 Visiting Professor, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Austria
• 1986 Visiting Professor Israel Institute of Technology Haifa, Israel
• 1983 Forchheimer Professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
• 1982 Visiting Professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
• 1981 Overseas Fellow, Churchill College Cambridge, UK
• 1979 Visiting Professor, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Austria
• since 1978 Professor at the TU Berlin , Germany
• 1974 Habilitation at the TU Berlin, Germany, in Chemistry
• 1972 Ph. D. (Dr. rer. nat. with Prof. F. Bohlmann at TUB, Germany)

Functions

• 2010-2015 Member of the Presidium of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
• since 2010 Board of Governors, University of Bonn, Germany
• since 2010 Board of Trustees: Einstein Foundation Berlin, Germany
• 2009-2014 Trustee of Max-Planck-Institute of Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
• since 2008 Board of Trustees: Ernst Reuter Foundation for Advanced Study, Berlin, Germany
• since 2005 Member of the International Scientific Board of the Ruđer Bošković Institut, Zagreb, Croatia
• 2001-2007 Vice President of the German Research Foundation (DFG)
• 2001-2007 Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the German-Israeli Research Programme, DIP
• 2001-2006 Member of the International Scientific Board of the J. Heyrovski Institute of Physical Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
• since 1998 Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Lise-Meitner-Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry, Jerusalem / Haifa, Israel
• 1998-2003 Vice President of the Berlin-Brandenburg (formerly Prussian) Academy of Sciences
• 1994-2010 Member of the Board of the Otto Bayer Stiftung
• 1993-2011 Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Fonds of the Chemical Industries
• 1993-1999 Chairman of the Advisory Board of the German National Scholarship Programme
• 1989-1990 Dean of Faculty of Sciences, TU Berlin, Germany

Honours and Memberships

• 2023 Gerhard Ertl Lecture Award, Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin
• 2021 Leonardo da Vinci Award 2021 of the European Academy of Sciences
• 2021 Goldene Medaille of the Humboldt-Gesellschaft
• 2018 The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, Japan
• 2018 Foreign Member of the US National Academy of Sciences
• 2017 Honorary Member, Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna, Italy
• 2015 Eni Award, Category “New Frontiers of Hydrocarbons Prizes“
• 2015 Karl Ziegler-Preis
• 2015 Schrödinger Medal
• 2015 Honorary Member, Polish Chemical Society
• 2013 Honorary Doctor, Academy of Sciences, Moldova
• 2013 Honorary Doctor, Hanyang University Seoul, Korea
• 2011 Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts
• 2010 Honorary Doctor, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland
• 2009 Distinguished Schulich Lectureship Award of the Faculty of Chemistry at the TECHNION Haifa, Israel
• 2008 Honorary Doctor, Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel
• 2008 Erwin Schrödinger Award
• 2006 Honorary Doctor, University of Innsbruck, Austria
• 2003 Otto Hahn Award for Chemistry and Physics, German Chemical Society and German Physical Society
• 2002 Elected Foreign Fellow of the Estonian Academy of Sciences
• 2002 Elected Member of the German Academy of Engineering
• 2001 F. H. Field and J. L. Franklin Award, American Chemical Society
• 2000 Honorary Doctor, Israel Institute of Technology TECHNION Haifa, Israel
• 2000 Prelog Medal in Gold, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland
• 1999 Elected Foreign Honorary Member of the Learned Society of the Czech Republic
• 1998 Liebig Medal, German Chemical Society
• 1997 Member of the Academia Europaea
• 1997 Election to the Göttingen Academy of Sciences, Germany
• 1994 J. J. Thomson Medal in Gold, International Mass Spectrometry Society
• 1992 Election to the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Berlin, Germany
• 1992 Honorary Doctor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
• since 1992 Member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
• 1991 Max Planck Research Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
• 1990 Leibniz Research Award, German Research Foundation (DFG)