Professor Dr Katharina Kohse-Höinghaus
- Section Chemistry
- Location Bielefeld, Germany
- Election year 2008
Research
Research Priorities: Diagnostics of combustion processes, in-situ analysis of reactive chemical systems
Katharina Kohse-Höinghaus is internationally renowned for her work on combustion diagnostics using laser spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. In addition to combustion chemistry, her work focuses on the production of various materials in the gas phase, and the in-situ analysis of reactive chemical systems.
She has gained international recognition for her research on topics such as the quantitative detection of various reactive intermediates in flames, the development of models for energy transfer in small radicals, as well as pollutant formation mechanisms during the combustion of conventional and biogenic fuels.
Katharina Kohse-Höinghaus has cultivated scientific cooperation with China for years. She helped establish and promote basic combustion research in the country and is committed to advising young Chinese researchers. China has honoured her with several awards, including the “National Friendship Award” and the „International Science and Technology Cooperation Award”, the highest distinctions for foreign experts.
In addition, she is a pioneer in promoting scientific education in Germany outside the traditional school system, for example by founding “teutolab”, one of the first hands-on labs for school pupils in Germany.
Career
- since 2017 Senior Professor of Physical Chemistry, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
- 1994-2017 Professor of Physical Chemistry, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
- 1993-1994 Heisenberg Fellow German Research Foundation (DFG), Germany: Research Stays, ONERA – The French Aerospace Lab, Paris, France
- 1992 Habilitation in Energy Technology, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
- 1988-1994 Group Head, Stuttgart Site, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Cologne, Germany
- 1987-1988 Sabbatical, Mechanical Engineering Department, Stanford University, Stanford, USA, and SRI International, Menlo Park, USA
- 1979-1987 Research Associate, Stuttgart Site, DLR, Cologne, Germany
- 1978 PhD in Physical Chemistry, Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), Bochum, Germany
- 1970-1975 Degree in Chemistry, RUB, Bochum, Germany
Functions
- 2024 Co-Organiser, 2nd Science for Future Conference, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina as well as Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China
- since 2021 Member and Spokesperson, Scientific Advisory Board “Clean Circles”, Technical University of (TU) Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
- since 2020 Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Programme “Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation” (EFRI), National Science Foundation (NSF), USA
- since 2020 Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Center for Nanointegration Duisburg-Essen (CENIDE), University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), Duisburg/Essen, Germany
- 2019 Co-Organiser, 1st Science for Future Conference, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina as well as Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China
- 2016-2020 Member, University Council, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
- 2012-2016 President, Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, USA
- 2012-2018 Member, Scientific Advisory Board
- since 2010 Member, International Advisory Board, Center for Combustion Energy (CCE), Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
- 2009-2012 Deputy Chairperson, Selection Committee, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn, Germany
- 2009-2010 Vice-President, German Bunsen Society for Physical Chemistry (DBG), Germany
- 2008-2013 Member, Senate, Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany
- 2007-2013 Member, International Advisory Board, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn, Germany
- 2007-2013 Member, Senate and Joint Committee, DFG, Germany
- 2007-2008 President, DBG, Germany
- 2004-2012 Member, Selection Committee, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn, Germany
- 2004-2010 Editor, Combustion and Flame
- 2002-2016 Member, Board of Directors, Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, USA
- 2002-2012 Member, Board of Trustees, Volkswagen Foundation, Hanover, Germany
Projects
- 2018-2023 Project “Homogenous gas-phase reactions in exhaust-gas tail pipes of internal combustion engines”, DFG, Germany, and National Natural Foundation of China, China
- 2016-2020 Subproject “Detailed chemistry investigation for model development for engine control” (FOR) 2401, DFG, Germany
- 2014-2019 Project “Experimental and numerical investigations of the chemical kinetics of fuel mixtures in homogeneous low-temperature reactors”, DFG, Germany
- 2010-2015 Deputy Spokesperson, Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 686, DFG, Germany
- 2010-2015 Project “New strategy for the deposition of metals by CVD and ALD: mechanistic and kinetic investigation for the growth of cobalt as model system”, DFG, Germany
- 2006-2015 Subproject “Experimental investigations and kinetic modelling of combustion instabilities in a homogeneous low-temperature reactor”, CRC 686, DFG, Germany
- 2006-2014 Project “Spectroscopic characterisation and simulation of the chemiluminescence from combustion processes”, DFG, Germany
- 2004-2012 Project “Investigation of flames of oxygenated fuels using laser spectroscopy and molecular ray mass spectrometry”, DFG, Germany
- 2001-2008 Subproject “Alternative MOVCD precursors to the deposition of AlSb, GaSb and InSb”, Priority Programme (PP) 1119, DFG, Germany
- 2001-2005 Subproject “Chemical gas-phase deposition of thin silver films from metal-organic precursors”, PP 1119, DFG, Germany
- 2001-2004 Subproject “Investigation of CVD reactions in the formation of a-Al2O3 as diffusion barrier on superalloys”, PP 1119, DFG, Germany
- 2001-2003 Project “Deposition of metals (Mn/Fe/Ni) in the gas phase: the chemically controlled deposition process and measuring of the magnetic properties of binary films”, DFG, Germany
- 2001-2003 Subproject “Investigation of the interaction of proteins with peptides using time-resolved resonance energy transfer”, CRC 549, DFG, Germany
Honours and Memberships
- since 2026 Honorary Member, Deutsche Bunsen-Gesellschaft für physikalische Chemie (DBG)
- since 2024 Honorary Fellow, Chinese Chemical Society (CCS), Beijing, China
- since 2023 Honorary Professorship, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei, China
- since 2021 Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China
- 2020 Heilbronner-Hückel Lectures, Swiss Chemical Society, Switzerland, and well as German Chemical Society, Germany
- 2020 Walther Nernst Commemorative Medal, DBG, Germany
- 2020 Distinguished Scientist, President’s International Fellowship Program (PIFI), CAS, China
- 2018 Honorary Professorship, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China
- 2018 Alfred C. Egerton-Gold Medal, Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, USA
- since 2017 Member, European Academy of Sciences
- since 2017 Honorary Senator, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
- since 2017 Member, North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts, Düsseldorf, Germany
- 2016 International Science and Technology Cooperation Award, China
- 2016 National Friendship Award, China
- 2016 Award for International Scientific Cooperation, CAS, China
- since 2016 Member, Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Göttingen, Germany
- since 2015 Member, acatech – National Academy of Science and Engineering, Germany
- 2015 Giulio Natta Medal in Chemical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Mailand, Italien
- 2012-2017 Advisory Professorship, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- 2012 Wilhelm Jost Lecture, Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities and DBG, Germany
- 2011 Award “Distinguished Woman in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering”, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC)
- since 2008 Member, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Germany
- 2008 Honorary Guest Professorship, USTC, Hefei, China
- 2007 Cross of Merit, Federal Republic of Germany
- 2006 Fellow, IUPAC
- 2002 Award, Programme “Public Understanding of Sciences and Humanities (PUSH)”, Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, Essen, Germany
- 2000 Award, Programme “PUSH”, Project „teutolab“, Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, Essen, Germany
- 1993 Baetjer Lectures, School of Applied and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, USA