Humboldt Research Award and Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award winners in our faculty

Prof. Hans-Christian Pape, President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, honoured the Humboldt Research Award Winners in Bamberg at the 47th welcome event.

The awards are granted to outstanding researchers with the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award being granted to scholars who completed their doctorates less than 18 years ago, whereas the Humboldt Research Award is given to more senior scholars. Important are a researcher's achievements throughout their entire career: his or her fundamental discoveries, new theories, or insights must have had a significant impact on their own discipline and are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements in the future.

Academics from abroad, regardless of their discipline or nationality, may be nominated for these prestigious research awards, and the nomination of qualified female academics is particularly encouraged.

Humboldt Research Award (60,000 €) and Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award (45,000 €) winners can use the awarded funds  to spend a period of up to one year cooperating on a long-term research project with specialist colleagues at a research institution in Germany.

The Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy is very pleased that among this year's prize winners were three chemists, who are now working on their research for the period of several months at the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy in Würzburg. All three scientists work in the field of molecular chemistry:

• Prof. Shigehiro Yamaguchi, Nagoya University, Japan (Humboldt Research Award). Prof. Yamaguchi is an organic chemist and is dedicated to the incorporation of heteroatoms, especially boron, into pi systems.
• Prof. Antoni Llobet, Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia, Tarragona, Spain (Humboldt Research Award). Prof. Llobet is an inorganic chemist and develops transition metal catalysts for photocatalytic water splitting.
• Dr. Kazunori Sugiyasu, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan (Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award). Dr. Sugiyasu works at the interface of organic and macromolecular chemistry and deals with self-organization processes

 
While in Würzburg, Prof. Yamaguchi will be hosted by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Todd B. Marder and Prof. Dr. Holger Braunschweig whereas Prof. Llobet and Dr. Sugiyasu are being hosted by Prof. Dr. Frank Würthner.
Both Profs. Marder (himself a previous Humboldt Research Award winner) and Würthner were present at the awards symposium in Bamberg as hosts of the award winners, and Prof. Marder led a roundtable discussion during the symposium.
We note that Profs. Marder and Braunschweig continue to host periodic visits from Dr. Emmanuel Lacôte (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France) who previously won a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award.

The Humboldt Research Award

See: Humboldt-Foundation
The award is granted in recognition of a researcher's entire achievements to date to academics whose fundamental discoveries, new theories, or insights have had a significant impact on their own discipline and who are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements in the future.
Academics from abroad, regardless of their discipline or nationality, may be nominated for a Humboldt Research Award. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation particularly encourages the nomination of qualified female academics.
Award winners are invited to spend a period of up to one year cooperating on a long-term research project with specialist colleagues at a research institution in Germany. The stay may be divided up into blocks.
The Humboldt Foundation grants up to 100 Humboldt Research Awards annually.
Nominations may be submitted online by established academics in Germany. Nominations may also be initiated by award winners of the Humboldt Foundation working abroad, provided that the nomination is made jointly with a colleague working in Germany. Direct applications are not accepted. The award is valued at €60,000.

The Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award

Scientists and scholars from abroad, internationally renowned in their field, who completed their doctorates less than 18 years ago and who in future are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements which will have a seminal influence on their discipline beyond their immediate field of work, are eligible to be nominated for a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award.
Award winners are honoured for their outstanding research record and invited to spend a period of up to one year cooperating on a long-term research project with specialist colleagues at a research institution in Germany. The stay may be divided up into blocks.
The Humboldt Foundation grants about 20 Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Awards annually.
Nominations may be submitted online by established academics in Germany. Nominations may also be initiated by award winners of the Humboldt Foundation working abroad, provided that the nomination is made jointly with a colleague working in Germany. Direct applications are not accepted. The award is valued at €45,000