Nanosciences

Awards and Distinctions

The remarkable achievements of our CENIDE members and their teams make impressive reading. Although it may not be possible to present them all here, we would like to highlight a representative selection of just some of their awards and distinctions. 

In 2014, Prof. Dr. Christof Schulz was the winner of the most important German research funding award, the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize. The former long-standing scientific director of CENIDE has made crucial contributions to the principles and technology of high-resolution laser diagnostic measurement techniques and their application in the experimental characterization of technical combustion and particle synthesis processes. Dr. Gabi Schierning was likewise delighted to receive the NRW Innovation Award in 2014 in the “Young Researcher” category for her work on the development of a thermoelectric generator made of environmentally friendly material. 

The recovery of noble metals such as gold, palladium or platinum from waste water using textiles has earned a team of researchers from the Deutsches Textilforschungszentrum Nord-West (DTNW) and the Institute of Energy and Environmental Technology (IUTA e.V.) multiple recognition: their scientists not only won the German Raw Material Efficiency Award and the UMSICHT Science Prize in 2014, in 2015 they were also awarded the prestigious Paul Schlack Honorary Prize.

Optimized nanocrystals as the basis of visionary automotive concepts are the subject of engineer Dr. Ekaterina Nannen’s impressive dissertation titled “All-inorganic White Light Emitting Devices Based on ZnO Nanocrystals”, for which she received the Volkswagen Woman DrivING Award in 2014. Also in 2014, Prof. Dr. Dr. Reinhard Zellner was honored with the 2014 DECHEMA Medal of the Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology for his outstanding scientific commitment to climate protection and protecting the earth’s atmosphere. 

A variety of prize-winning doctoral and final dissertations, lectures and poster presentations at international conferences together with excellent creative teaching further testify to the expertise and dedication of our scientists and researchers. CENIDE again presented a number of Best Paper Awards in 2014 and 2015 in recognition of outstanding interdisciplinary scientific publication achievements. Successful interdisciplinary cooperation within the CENIDE network was additionally honored in 2014 with the Cooperative Research Award.