Robert Schlögl (born 23 February 1954 in Munich) is a German chemist known for research in catalysis.^[1] Currently, he is the Director and Scientific Member of the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion in Mülheim an der Ruhr. He became president of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2023.

Life and work

Robert Schlögl (left) and Andreas J. Heinrich (right) during the awarding of the 2023 Humboldt Prize in Germany.

Schlögl studied chemistry at the University of Munich, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1979 and his doctorate in 1982. After postdoctoral studies at University of Cambridge under Sir John Meurig Thomas, at University of Basel under Hans-Joachim Güntherodt, and at the Fritz Haber Institute under Gerhard Ertl, he completed his Habilitation in Chemistry at the Technical University of Berlin in 1989. This was followed by a call to the University of Frankfurt as Professor of Inorganic Chemistry. Schlögl returned to Berlin and has been Director and Scientific Member of the Fritz Haber Institute since 1994. In 2011 he was also founding director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion.^[1]

Schlögl is a researcher in catalysis who has made crucial contributions to the elucidation of the structural dynamics and functionality of heterogeneous catalysts based on inorganic solids. The focus of his work is on the investigation of polycrystalline copper, molybdenum and vanadium oxides for selective oxidation.

Honors and awards

Schlögl received numerous awards and distinctions. He was awarded the Otto Bayer Award^[2] and the Schunk Prize for innovative materials. In 2015 he received the Alwin Mittasch Prize,^[3] in 2017 the Ruhr Prize for Art and Science. For 2019 Schlögl was awarded the Eduard Rhein Prize. He is also a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and honorary professor at Technical University of Berlin and Humboldt University of Berlin. Schlögl has been a member of the Leopoldina since 2011 and is a member of the German Academy of Engineering Sciences (Acatech).

Personal life

In April 2023, Schlögl was one of the 22 personal guests at the ceremony in which former Chancellor Angela Merkel was decorated with the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit for special achievement by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Schloss Bellevue in Berlin.^[4]

Publications (selection)

• als Herausgeber mit Jürgen Renn und Hans-Peter Zenner: Herausforderung Energie: ausgewählte Vorträge der 126. Versammlung der Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Ärzte e.V., Berlin : Ed. Open Access 2011, ISBN 978-3-8442-0500-8.
• (Hrsg.): Chemical energy storage, Berlin; Boston, Mass.: De Gruyter 2013, ISBN 978-3-11-026407-4.

External links

• Literature by and about Robert Schlögl in the German National Library catalogue
• Homepage at Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
• Biografische Daten bei Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin
• Der Chemiker Robert Schlögl will mit Spitzenforschung das deutsche Energieproblem lösen
• Reaktionspotenzial, Interview mit Maria Andrea Mroginski und Robert Schlögl

References