Press release: Göttingen research campus wins a further Alexander von Humboldt professorship
Nr. 46/2010 - 02.03.2010
(pug/MPIbpc) The University of Göttingen and Göttingen’s Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry have been successful in their nomination for the most highly endowed German research prize: the chemist Professor Dr. Alec M. Wodtke has been awarded an Alexander von Humboldt professorship. This professorship carries funding from the Federal Ministry for Education and Research amounting to five million euros over a period of five years. This means that the participating research institutions are able to make this renowned scientist an attractive offer to win his involvement in the International Centre for Advanced Studies of Energy Conversion currently in planning for the Göttingen research campus. Prof. Wodtke is to take up a professorship at the Faculty of Chemistry and a directorship at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. At present he is Professor of Biophysical Chemistry at the University of California at Santa Barbara, USA.
Alec M. Wodtke gained his PhD in 1986 at the University of California in Berkeley. He went on to conduct research at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, where he worked until 1988. Since then he has been researching and teaching as Professor of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Regarded as one of the world’s leading experts in the area of energy research, Professor Wodtke investigates how forms of energy are interactively converted at molecular level. The chemist hopes to reveal “universal rules” that steer these conversion processes. To this end, Alec Wodtke examines processes taking place on interface surfaces. In the course of this work he has discovered a previously unknown mechanism by which chemical energy is converted into electrical energy. His findings may open up new possibilities that could, for example, allow sunlight to be converted more efficiently into utilizable power.
“We are delighted that this nomination has been successful. It supports the University and the closely-linked research institutions in our common endeavours to enhance top-level research at the Göttingen Research Campus. Professor Wodtke will strengthen Physical Chemistry and the University on a lasting basis”, explained University President Prof. Dr. Kurt von Figura. Prof. Dr. Helmut Grubmüller, Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, emphasized the excellent possibilities for close cooperation at the Göttingen research location to which the joint professorial appointment gives rise. “It will be exciting to see the extent to which the energy transfer processes Professor Wodtke has discovered are also used by nature, for photosynthesis or enzyme catalysis, for instance.”
The Alexander von Humboldt Professorships are intended to enable German universities to attract outstanding personnel to Germany while giving them a long-term working perspective in this country. As a rule, the volume of funding amounts to five million euros for scientists conducting experimental research and three and a half million for those in theoretical research. Up to ten professorships of this type are awarded per year.
Contact:
Dr. Bernd Ebeling
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Stabsstelle Presse, Kommunikation und Marketing
Telefon (0551) 39-4342, Fax (0551) 39-4251
E-Mail:pressestelle@uni-goettingen.de
Dr. Carmen Rotte
Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie
Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Telefon (0551) 201-1304, Fax (0551) 201-1151
E-Mail:crotte@gwdg.de