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Otto-Stern Award
In honour of Otto Stern, whose work on the detection of spin quantisation created the fundamental prerequisites for the use of magnetic resonance, and to honour the professional life's work of internationally outstanding personalities in the field of magnetic resonance, the GDCh Division Magnetic Resonance established the Otto Stern Award in 2020. The award is presented at irregular intervals, at most once a year. It includes an award certificate, a trophy and invitations to a keynote speech at the Division conference and to a festive dinner. A committee appointed by the Division Board decides on the awarding of the prize.
Guidelines for awarding the Otto-Stern Award
Submission deadline: 5 January 2026
Objective
Since 2020, the GDCh Division Magnetic Resonance has been awarding the Otto-Stern Award at irregular intervals, at most once a year, to honour the professional life's work of internationally outstanding personalities in the field of magnetic resonance. The prize is awarded in memory of Otto Stern, whose work on the detection of spin quantisation laid the foundations for the use of magnetic resonance.
The prize
The award comes with an award certificate, a trophy and an invitation to a festive dinner. The award ceremony will take place during the 47th FGMR Annual Discussion Meeting (14-17 September 2026 in Mainz). Following the award ceremony, the prizewinner will give a keynote speech. The Division Board will decide on the awarding of the prize.
Nomination
Nominations can be made for people who have made extraordinary scientific contributions to magnetic resonance in their life's work. All members of the Division are entitled to make nominations; self-nominations are not possible. All nominations consist of an informal acknowledgement of special professional merits and a curriculum vitae (including contact details). Each nomination will be considered for the current call year and two subsequent years.
The Magnetic Resonance Division of the German Chemical Society awarded the Otto-Stern Award 2025 to Prof. Dr Paul Heitjans on 18 September 2025 in Bonn:
"In recognition of his fundamental work on ion dynamics and diffusion in solids using NMR and the establishment of β-NMR for the study of mobility in solid ionic conductors.Using an arsenal of complementary NMR methods, Professor Heitjans has systematically researched diffusion processes in detail over large time scales and achieved groundbreaking results, particularly on lithium ion conductors, long before their enormous importance as battery materials became apparent.He also did pioneering work in β-NMR, in particular using 8Li as an ideal nuclear spin probe for relaxation processes for the first time to comprehensively study ion mobility. Overall, he has pursued magnetic resonance over many decades with exceptional breadth and depth and an interdisciplinary approach in a highly topical field of research."
On 12 September 2024 in Rostock, the Magnetic Resonance Division of the German Chemical Society awarded the Otto-Stern Award 2024 Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Horst Kessler:
"In honour of his fundamental contributions to the conformational analysis of proteins such as the spider silk protein and cyclic peptides using NMR spectroscopy, which made the successful design of diagnostics and therapeutics for medical applications possible.Horst Kessler made a fundamental contribution to the understanding of exchange processes using NMR and inspired a whole generation of NMR spectroscopists with his contributions to multidimensional NMR spectroscopy. He uniquely combined new NMR spectroscopic methods with the design of mostly cyclic peptides and medicinal chemistry research. Highlights are the RGD peptides designed on the basis of NMR-based conformational analysis and optimised for bioavailability, which modulate the function of integrins. The Otto-Stern Award commemorates the discovery of directional quantification in spin "up" and "down". Horst Kessler has used NMR spectroscopy with the aim of constantly obtaining and realising new ideas for better drugs and diagnostics."
On 15 April 2023, the Magnetic Resonance Division of the German Chemical Society presented the Otto-Stern Award 2023 in Brussels to Prof. Dr Jean Jeener (1931-2023):
"Professor Jeener invented two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy and first formulated the two-pulse experiment which was named COSY by Richard Ernst later on. Together with Richard Ernst, he developed the NOESY and EXSY experiments both theoretically and experimentally. After more than 50 years, polarisation transfer via J couplings, as well as transfer via relaxation phenomena and exchange are still cornerstones of NMR spectroscopy for chemical analysis and for life and materials sciences. Professor Jean Jeener's work shaped the NMR spectroscopy that we know today."
Video of the award ceremony (YouTube)
The Division Magnetic Resonance of the German Chemical Society awarded the Otto-Stern Award 2022 to Prof. Dr Jörg Kärger on the occasion of the 43rd FGMR Annual Discussion Meeting in September 2022 in Karlsruhe:
"In recognition of his fundamental contributions to the application of pulsed field gradient NMR spectroscopy in the analysis of molecular transport processes in porous materials.Based on NMR investigations of transport processes, Prof. Dr Kärger has influenced NMR spectroscopy in a broad and interdisciplinary way: He has advanced the establishment of fundamental physical models of mass transport at the molecular level. This includes multidomain diffusion, the consideration of adsorption processes, and also the experimental demonstration of one-dimensional diffusion. His work on mass transport and sorption of complex nanoporous materials has far-reaching implications for materials science and engineering. The knowledge gained from his work on molecular processes is highly relevant for technical applications such as molecular separation processes and heterogeneous catalysis. His work thus demonstrates in an exemplary manner how magnetic resonance at the highest level, consistently methodically advanced, can serve to solve current challenges, e.g. in the areas of sustainability, climate and energy."
The first Otto-Stern Award of the Division Magnetic Resonance was presented to Prof. Dr h.c. mult. Tony Keller (1937-2023) was awarded:
"In recognition of his fundamental and extraordinary contributions to the development of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy - from noise decoupling and the introduction of pulse Fourier spectroscopy in commercial spectrometers to superconducting magnets and fully digitised spectrometers to cryo-heads and ultra-high field spectrometers - which opened up NMR spectroscopy to broad scientific application in Germany and the world and thus contributed to the establishment of NMR spectroscopy in chemistry, biology and materials science. The Otto-Stern Award 2020 commemorates the discovery of directional quantisation into the spin states "up" and "down". Tony Keller has led the development of NMR spectroscopy in the "up" direction."
| Year | Place of award | Name | Reason for the award |
| 2025 | Bonn | Prof. Dr Paul Heitjans | Fundamental work on ion dynamics and diffusion in solids using NMR and establishment of β-NMR for the study of mobility in solid ionic conductors |
| 2024 | Rostock | Prof. Dr Dr Dr h.c. Horst Kessler | Fundamental contributions to the conformational analysis of proteins such as the spider silk protein and cyclic peptides using NMR spectroscopy, which enabled the successful design of diagnostics and therapeutics for medicine |
| 2023 | Brussels, BE | Prof. Dr. Jean Jeener† | Invention of two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy and first formulation of the two-pulse experiment |
| 2022 | Karlsruhe | Prof. Dr. Jörg Kärger | Fundamental contributions to the application of pulsed field gradient NMR spectroscopy in the analysis of molecular transport processes in porous materials |
| 2020 | Spiez, CH | Prof. Dr h.c. mult. Tony Keller† | Contributions to the development of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy |