The Chinese Chemical Society (CCS) has named two leading members of the GDNÄ as honorary members. GDNÄ Vice President Professor Ferdi Schüth and Professor Katharina Kohse-Höinghaus, a member of the GDNÄ Board of Directors, received the honor for their contributions to Chinese chemistry and to the exchange between the Chinese Chemical Society and international organizations, according to a CCS statement. 

The CCS is the counterpart to the German Chemical Society. The scientific society was founded in Nanjing in 1932 and has around 120,000 personal and more than 180 institutional members. “Honorary Fellow of the Chinese Chemical Society” is the highest status awarded by the CCS to international scientists in the field of chemistry. The society’s website currently lists 103 honorary fellows worldwide, including eleven Germans. 

Professor Katharina Kohse-Höinghaus has advanced combustion diagnostics using laser-induced fluorescence, cavity ring-down spectroscopy and emission spectroscopy, according to a CCS statement, which continues: “She has led groundbreaking research on the combustion of biofuels, uncovered mechanisms of combustion reactions and pollutant formation, and developed novel low-temperature combustion techniques.” She has, writes the CCS, established long-term partnerships with Chinese institutions, trained academic leaders in combustion research, and advised China on science and innovation policy. Furthermore, Katharina Kohse-Höinghaus is a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 

Professor Dr. Ferdi Schüth has made significant contributions to the development of new catalytic materials, the conversion of biomass, and the production and storage of hydrogen, writes the CCS. He is doing pioneering work in mechanochemical approaches to catalyst production and is committed to more environmentally friendly, energy-efficient chemical technologies. Professor Schüth has actively promoted academic exchange with China. “His long-standing cooperation and frequent visits to Chinese universities and research institutes have enabled numerous joint projects and initiatives to develop talent,” writes the CCS.

Alwin Mittasch Prize 2025 goes to Ferdi Schüth

Professor Ferdi Schüth, Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research in Mülheim an der Ruhr, is to receive the Alwin Mittasch Prize 2025 for his outstanding work in catalysis research. The German Catalysis Society (GeCatS) is honouring his work as a creative initiator and driving force behind new catalysis concepts, as well as a pioneer in transfer of new findings in catalysis research into commercial applications. Ferdi Schüth is currently vice president of the GDNÄ; in 2027 he will take over the presidency.

The Alwin Mittasch Prize is awarded for outstanding research work that has led to a deeper understanding or an expansion of the fundamentals of catalysis and its industrial application. The prize, endowed with 10,000 euros, is supported by BASF. The award ceremony will take place on 13 March 2025 during the Annual Meeting of German Catalysis Scientists in Weimar. 

Ferdi Schüth is an internationally outstanding chemist working in the field of heterogeneous catalysis, in particular in the field of catalysis materials. His work laid the foundation for many groundbreaking discoveries, such as nanostructured catalysts with controlled porosity and targeted placement of functional units for various applications. In the field of mechanocatalysis of gas-phase reactions, Ferdi Schüth was able to synthesise ammonia at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. He was also one of the pioneers of high-throughput experimentation (HTE) using modern methods, which led to the founding of hte GmbH in 1999. In a sense, this was a continuation of the research of Alwin Mittasch, who used “manual” high-throughput approaches to conduct thousands of experiments with various solids. 

Paul Alwin Mittasch (1869-1953) was a German chemist and historian of science of Sorbian origin. He gained great recognition for his pioneering and systematic research into the development of catalysts for ammonia synthesis using the Haber-Bosch process. The prize named after him has been awarded since 1990. 

The German Catalysis Society (GeCatS) is the platform for the entire German catalysis community in the field of research and application. It has around a thousand members from industry and academic institutions. GeCatS promotes the exchange between industry, universities, research institutions and research policy organisations and represents the interests of the catalysis community at national and international level.

The biochemist and former president of the GDNÄ received the University Medal for her services to the University of Göttingen 

Professor Eva-Maria Neher, founder and long-standing director of the XLAB – Göttingen Experimental Laboratory for Young People, was honoured for her special commitment at the University of Göttingen’s 2023 Academic Year Celebration.  She received the University Medal Aureus Gottingensis for her services to the promotion of young scientists and equal opportunities. The biochemist was President of the GDNÄ in 2015 and 2016. 

In her laudatory speech, University Vice President Dr Valérie Schüller particularly highlighted the founding of the XLAB in 2000. With its “hands-on science” concept, the experimental laboratory had inspired numerous young people, young adults and teachers in Göttingen to take an interest in science. “Even 23 years later, we are still convinced of this concept and are proud that the XLAB has now become a permanent fixture within our university structure,” said Schüller. 

Eva-Maria Neher headed the XLAB until 2018 and has since been Chairwoman of the XLAB Foundation for the Promotion of Natural Sciences, which she founded. The XLAB Science Festival, which has been held in Göttingen since 2004, is also based on her initiative.

© Universität Göttingen/Peter Heller

At the Annual Academic Celebration in the Göttingen University auditorium: Professor Eva-Maria Neher with University Vice President Dr Valérie Schüller (right).

Eva-Maria Neher is a “determined project leader and manager who leads things to success with great ambition and tight organisation”, said the laudator. The honouree has shaped, held together and promoted many important things in and for Göttingen. This makes her one of the personalities whom the University would like to thank with the Aureus Gottingensis medal.

Computer scientist Professor Wolfgang Wahlster, was inducted into the Hall of Fame of German Research on 12 October at the New Institute in Hamburg. The Society of German Natural Scientists and Physicians (GDNÄ) congratulates its former President and long-time Board member on this high honour. Since its foundation in 2009, only 30 personalities, including nine Nobel Prize winners, have been appointed to the Hall of Fame. With their lifetime achievements, they have made an outstanding contribution to the further development of research and strengthened Germany as a business location in international competition.

The President of the Society of German Natural Scientists and Physicians, Professor Heribert Hofer, warmly congratulates Professor Wolfgang Wahlster on his induction into the Hall of Fame of German Research. “We are very pleased about this high honour for Wolfgang Wahlster, who was President of the GDNÄ in 2017 and 2018.” Hofer echoes the words of Professor Margret Wintermantel, who described Wolfgang Wahlster in her laudation as a scientist who saw and strengthened the connection between computer science and human sciences, especially to psychology and linguistics, at a very early stage. “His understanding of human-computer interaction has opened up new perspectives and shaped our thinking about the many benefits of AI,” said the laudator at the ceremony in Hamburg.

“The appointment to the Hall of Fame is a great honour and I thank the initiators, the jury and the laudator very much for this great recognition of my scientific work over the last 45 years,” said Wolfgang Wahlster, founding director and long-time CEO of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). He added: “Especially in today’s world, it is important that in the topic that has fascinated me as a researcher for decades, machine language processing, such an honour underlines the importance of deep understanding capabilities for speech dialogue systems. Human-technology interaction should reach a level where humans and machines not only work hand in hand, but can also conduct dialogues at eye level. AI will increasingly flow into decision-making processes. These decisions must be able to be questioned and explained reliably and comprehensibly by computers in dialogue.”

A GDNÄ president has already received this honour once: biochemist and science manager Professor Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker – who headed the GDNÄ in 1999 and 2000 – has been a member of the German Research Hall of Fame since 2017.

The plaque shows Lorenz Oken, the founder of the GDNÄ, and an excerpt from the founding document.

On 18 September 1822, the Society of German Naturalists and Physicians was founded by free-thinking personalities at the invitation of the naturalist and physician Lorenz Oken (1779 to 1851). The first meeting was held in Grimmaische Straße in Leipzig. Today, at this very spot, the President of the GDNÄ, Professor Heribert Hofer, together with the Executive Director of the Jubilee Conference, Zoo Director Professor Jörg Junhold and GDNÄ Secretary General Professor Michael Dröscher, presented a commemorative plaque to the public.

 “With this plaque, we commemorate the founding of our society and the outstanding personality Lorenz Oken, who, in the time of restoration and repression at the beginning of the 19th century, had the courage and the creative will to invite a free assembly for exchange among scientists to get to know and appreciate each other and united to bring the sciences forward,” said Professor Heribert Hofer. “The plaque is at the same time a reminder of the big anniversary celebration with 800 participants in the Congress Hall at the Zoo in September 2022,” said the host of the anniversary assembly, Professor Jörg Junhold. General Secretary Professor Michael Dröscher thanked the owner of the building for permission to place the plaque at the founding site, corner of Reichstraße Grimmaische Straße.

Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim honoured with Lorenz Oken Medal

© David Ausserhofer/Wissenschaft im Dialog

Connected via video: Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim at the 2022 Festival Assembly in Leipzig.

© David Ausserhofer/Wissenschaft im Dialog

The laudatory speech was given by Professor Metin Tolan, physicist, President of the University of Göttingen and Communicator Award winner.