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Prof. Dr. Ferdi Schüth

Professor Ferdi Schüth is senator of the Helmholtz Association for the research field Matter and director at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mühlheim an der Ruhr.

Image: Frank Vinken für MPI für Kohlenforschung

Ferdi Schüth accomplished his academic education at the University of Münster not only with a doctorate in the field of physical chemistry, but also passed the First State Examination in Law. Following one year of research at the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Minneapolis, USA, he spent five years as a research assistant at the University of Mainz. After a five months research stay as Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, he habilitated in Mainz in 1995 and subsequently followed the call as Professor for Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Frankfurt. Since 1998 he has been Director and Scientific Member at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohleforschung in Mühlheim an der Ruhr.

The chemist was Vice President of the Max Planck Society from 2014 to 2020 for a term of six years. Furthermore he is a member of acatech - German Academy of Science and Engineering, the Leopoldina and the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences. In the Energy Systems of the Future (ESYS) project, an initiative of the German Academies of Sciences for a sustainable, secure and affordable energy supply, he has, among other things, chaired the working group on "Interactions in the Energy System" and been involved in the "Coupling different energy sectors" working group.

Ferdi Schüth has received numerous grants and awards. For example, he was awarded the Leibniz Prize of the DFG in 2003 and the "Advanced Grant of the European Research Council (ERC)" in 2010. The Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker Prize honored Mr. Schüth's achievements for "contributions to the scientific treatment of socially important challenges" by the Leopoldina and the Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft.

Ferdi Schüth is an expert for numerous research funding organizations. Among other things, he was chairman of the review panel for the Helmholtz program "Renewable Energies" and in this function a member of the Helmholtz Senate Commission for the Research Field Energy.

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