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Awards & Honors
Every two years, the Division of Sustainable Chemistry awards a prize for the best doctoral thesis in the field of sustainable chemistry. The award comes with a certificate and prize money of 2,000 euros. The prize is usually awarded in even-numbered years during the Division conference. The award is decided by a panel of experts appointed by the Division Board. The prize can be shared.
Deadline: 30 April 2026
Objective
The GDCh Division of Sustainable Chemistry awards a prize for an outstanding dissertation in the field of sustainable chemistry in even-numbered years.
The prize
The award comes with a certificate and prize money of 2000 euros. The prize will be awarded on the occasion of the GDCh SusChem 2026 Division conference to be held in Dortmund on 1-2 October 2026. The prizewinner will be invited to present the award-winning work in a short lecture at this event. A prize committee appointed by the Division Board will decide on the awarding of the prize. The prize can be shared.
Submission
Please send your proposals in electronic form and summarised in a PDF file to the GDCh Office for the attention of Maike Fries.
The PhD Award 2024 of the GDCh Division of Sustainable Chemistry was presented to Dr Philip Matthew Stanley on 12 September 2024 at the Division's annual conference in Mülheim in recognition of his dissertation entitled "Solar Fuel Production with Metal-Organic Framework and Molecular Catalyst Assemblies",
."Dr Stanley's dissertation combines materials chemistry with sustainable energy production and the underlying photophysical chemistry. He worked on the rational design of novel metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and explored their potential for future applications in artificial photosynthesis. A milestone was the increase in photon yield from light to 36%. In addition, he was able to report for the first time on long-lived electron storage from light in three-dimensional porous materials. These are decisive steps on the way to solar fuel production and milestones for sustainable chemistry."
The PhD Award 2022 of the GDCh Division of Sustainable Chemistry, sponsored by Evonik, was presented on 1 December 2022 on the occasion of the "Sustainable Chemistry Online Symposium 2022" to Dr Joel B. Mensah and Dr Ruth D. Rittinghaus .
The PhD Award 2022 of the GDCh Division of Sustainable Chemistry was presented on 1 December 2022 on the occasion of the "Sustainable Chemistry Online Symposium 2022".
Dr Joel B. Mensah: awarded in recognition of his dissertation entitled "Chemo-Catalytic and Electrochemical Deoxygenation of Bio-Derivable 3-Hydroxydecanoic Acid - Production of Drop-In Fuels and Fine Chemicals". "Dr Mensah's doctorate demonstrates in a special way the interdisciplinary development of new value chains for sustainable fuels and fine chemicals based on biomass. The focus was on the conversion of biotechnologically efficient 3-hydroxy fatty acid esters (HAAs). Mr Mensah succeeded in demonstrating both an efficient chemocatalytic and a direct electrochemical process to selectively produce either pure hydrocarbons, secondary alcohols or an oxygenate mixture from 3-HDS. The work impressively builds a bridge from biotechnology via chemo- and electrocatalysis to combustion engines along the entire value chain."
.Dr. Ruth Rittinghaus: awarded in recognition of her dissertation entitled "Iron Guanidine Complexes as Polymerisation Catalysts for ROP and ATRP". "Dr. Rittinghaus worked on biocompatible catalysts for the ring-opening polymerisation of renewable lactones into bioplastics as part of her dissertation. She not only succeeded in beating the previous industrial, toxic standard in terms of polymerisation speed. Dr Rittinghaus also demonstrated very successfully through copolymerisation experiments that her iron-guanidine catalysts both catalyse multimechanistic polymerisations and precisely control the microarchitecture of the resulting copolymers. She thus shows that intelligent catalyst design opens up completely new avenues for sustainable polymer chemistry and will enable new fields of application for tailor-made bioplastics. She has already published four papers in high-ranking journals as first author."
The 2020 PhD Award of the GDCh Division of Sustainable Chemistry, sponsored by Evonik, was awarded to Dr Kelechukwu N. Onwukamike and Dr Steffen Tröger-Müller
.Dr. Kelechukwu N. Onwukamike: "In recognition of his dissertation entitled "Sustainable Cellulose Solubilization, Regeneration and Derivatization in a DBU-CO2 Switchable Solvent System". Dr. Onwukamike investigated the modification of renewable raw materials in his thesis. By using switchable ionic liquids, he achieved a homogeneous modification of cellulose for the first time. He was able to render solubilisation of the cellulose much more sustai-nable, and he obtained novel materials with promising properties. Dr. Onwukamike's thesis is characterised by excellent science and convinces due to high degrees of diversity and interdisciplinarity. His work is clearly oriented towards sustainable chemistry. Dr Onwukamike also succeeded in publishing five articles in high-ranking journals as the first author during his doctoral period. The thesis work was conducted in the framework of a European Horizon 2020 project, mainly in the working group of Prof. Dr. M.A.R. Meier at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, but also at the University of Bordeaux."
Dr Steffen Tröger-Müller: "In recognition of his dissertation entitled "Truly Sustainable Imidazolium Ionics". Dr Tröger-Müller focused on the development of sustainable energy storage systems as part of his dissertation. He succeeded in synthesising imidazolium compounds from environmentally friendly starting materials and testing their applicability, for example in membranes. Dr Tröger-Müller not only dealt with the scientific and technical facets of sustainability. Rather, he also incorporates the social dimension and builds a bridge from chemistry as a science to the major task facing society as a whole of harmonising our lifestyle with the planetary boundaries. Within the astonishingly short doctoral period of two and a half years, he has already published four articles in high-ranking journals as first author. The dissertation was written in the working group of Dr Clemens Liedel at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Golm."
| 2024 | Dr Philip Matthew Stanley, Munich |
| 2022 |
Dr. Joel B. Mensah, Aachen Dr Ruth D. Rittinghaus, Aachen |
| 2020 | Dr Kelechukwu N. Onwukamike, Karlsruhe/Bordeaux Dr Steffen Tröger-Müller, Golm |
| 2018 | Dr. Thomas Seidensticker, Dortmund |
| 2016 | Dr Johannes Huwer, Saarbrücken |
| 2014 | Dr Josef C. Meier, Düsseldorf |
| 2012 | Dr Hatice Mutlu, Karlsruhe |