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Appointments                           ​  

since 07/2016   ​  

RWTH Aachen University, Germany

Full Professor (W3)

2013 - 2016

RWTH Aachen University, Germany

Professor (W2)

2010 - 2013

​ETH Zürich, Switzerland

Assistant Professor (non-tenure track)

Education
 

2008 - 2010

University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Feodor Lynen Postdoctoral Fellow in the group of Prof. K. N. Houk

2004 - 2008

WestCHEM Research School, Glasgow, UK

PhD in the group of Prof. John A. Murphy

2001 - 2004 

Technical University Berlin, Germany and University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
Undergraduate Studies in Chemistry

Awards 

​​​​​

  • 2025 EJ Corey Award for Outstanding Original Contribution in Organic Synthesis by a Young Investigator

  • 2024 Thieme-IUPAC Prize

  • 2023 IPMI Carol Tyler Award

  • 2022 Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award

  • 2020 Klung-Wilhelmy-Wissenschafts-Preis 

  • EROS Best Reagent Award 2020

  • ERC Consolidator Grant (2020-2025)

  • ERC Starting Grant (2015-2020)

  • 2014 ORCHEM Prize 

  • 2014 Dozentenpreis, Fonds der Chemischen Industrie

  • 2014 JPOC Award for Early Excellence in Physical Organic Chemistry 

  • 2012 ADUC Prize (in 2013)

  • Research Award: NRW Returning Scholars Program (in 2013)

  • Thieme Chemistry Journal Award (in 2012)

  • Feodor Lynen Fellowship, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2008-2010)

  • GSK Talk Prize from the RSC Organic Reaction Mechanisms Group (in 2006)

  • Sir George Beilby Memorial Medal (in 2004)

  • Klaus-Koch Prize (in 2003)

  • Erasmus Scholarship (2003-2004)​

Lectureships 

​​​

  • 2024 Musgrave Lecture, Durham University, UK

  • 2024 Novartis Chemical Sciences Lectureship, Indiana University, USA

  • 2024 Merck Lectureship, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA

  • 2024 AbbVie Lectureship, University of Chicago, USA

  • 2023 Novartis Lecture, Scripps Research Institute, USA

  • 2022 Merck Sharp & Dohme Lectureship at University of Cambridge, UK

  • 2021 Streitwieser Lecture at UC Berkeley, USA

  • 2019 Boehringer-Ingelheim-MIT Lecture, USA

  • 2019 Merck Lecture at Boston College, USA

  • 2018 Steinhofer Lectureship, University of Freiburg

  • Novartis Chemistry Lectureship, 2016-2017

  • 2015 Alphora Lectureship, University of Toronto

  • 2014 Marcial Moreno Lectureship by the Spanish Royal Chemical Society

Other (selected)

​​

  • Head of the Institute of Organic Chemistry at RWTH Aachen 2022 - 2024 & 2019 - 2020 & 2017 - 2018

  • Associate Editor for Journal of the American Chemical Society (since 2021)

  • Member of RWTH Aachen Senate (2022 - 2024)

  • Member of the Kuratorium des Fonds der Chemisches Industrie (since 2020)

  • Advisory Board Member of J. Org. Chem. (since 2016), Helvetica (since 2016), ACS Central Science (since 2022), Acc. Chem. Res. (since 2023), ACS Catalysis (2017-2023), Org. Lett. (2019 - 2021)

  • Editor for Synthesis (2019-2021)

  • Editorial Board Member of Angewandte Chemie (2020-2021)

Talks

​​​

  • University of Durham, UK (10/2024)

  • University of Chicago, USA (09/2024)

  • University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA (09/2024)

  • University of Indiana, Bloomington, USA (09/2024)

  • 26th IUPAC international conference on physical organic chemistry, China (08/2024)

  • ACS Symposium "Catalysis for Organic Synthesis", Austria (07/2024)

  • 1st Bern Symposium on Radical Chemistry, Switzerland (06/2024)

  • Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Germany (06/2024)

  • 57th Bürgenstock Conference, Switzerland (04/2024) 

  • Visions in Chemistry - the Torkil Holm Symposium 2024, Denmark (01/2024)

  • 6th International Mini-Symposium Molecular Machine Learning (01/2024)

  • WIPOS 2024, Hawaii (12/2023) 

  • Göttingen University, Germany (12/2023)

  • Marburg University, Germany (11/2023)

  • Bayer Symposium, Bayer, Germany (11/2023)

  • Strathclyde University, UK (10/2023)

  • Edinburgh University, UK (10/2023)

  • European Symposium on Organic Reactivity, Amsterdam (09/2023)

  • Ken Houk 80th Birthday Symposium at ACS (08/2023) 

  • Scripps Research Institute, Novartis Lecture (08/2023)

  • Genentech, San Francisco, USA (08/2023)

  • OMCOS, Vancouver, Canada (07/2023)

  • 23rd ISFC, Quebec, Canada (07/2023)

  • University of Hannover, Germany (05/2023)

  • Bristol Synthesis Meeting (04/2023)

  • 3rd Synthesis in Drug Discovery and Development Symposium (04/2023)

  • ETH Zürich, Switzerland (03/2023)

  • 11th Asian-European Symposium on Metal-Mediated Organic Synthesis, Israel (02/2023)

  • 21st CSCB Symposium Dublin, Ireland (12/2022)

  • Cambridge University, UK (11/2022)

  • University of Rennes, France (11/2022)

  • Ischia Advanced School of Organic Chemistry, Italy (09/2022) 

  • Tetrahedron Symposium, Portugal (06/2022)

  • Berkeley University (Streitwieser Lecture), USA (02/2022)

  • UCLA (Houk-Jung Lecture), USA (02/2022)

​​

*Covid-pandemic break on symposia & travelling*

​

  • ACS Symposium (digital, 04/2020)

  • Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Künste (03/2020)

  • Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (02/2020)

  • Symposium on synthetic chemistry and catalysis at NTU Singapore (01/2020)

  • 'New Frontiers in Synthetic Chemistry' RSC Symposium, UK (11/2019)

  • Journées de Chimie Organique, Palaiseau, France (10/2019)

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (10/2019)

  • Boehringer Ingelheim, USA (10/2019)

  • Merck Symposium in Organic Chemistry at Boston College, USA (10/2019)

  • Columbia University, USA (10/2019)

  • 26th International Symposium on Synthesis in Organic Chemistry, Cambridge, UK (07/2019) 

  • 9th Pacific Symposium on Radical Chemistry, USA (06/2019)

  • GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Stevenage, UK (06/2019)

  • ETH Zürich, Switzerland (05/2019)

  • Boehringer Ingelheim, Biberach, Germany (03/2019)

  • LMU Munich, Germany (01/2019)

  • Sheffield Stereochemistry meeting, UK (01/2019)

  • University of Regensburg, Germany (01/2019)

  • University of Oldenburg, Germany (01/2019)

  • TU Munich, Germany (11/2018)

  • University of Vienna, Austria (11/2018)

  • 8th annual Organic Chemistry Symposium, Madrid, Spain (10/2018)

  • 10th Asian-European Symposium on Metal-Mediated Efficient Organic Synthesis, Taiwan (09/2018)

  • Symposium 'Physical-Organic Chemistry at its Best', Halle, Germany (09/2018)

  • Syngenta, UK (08/2018)

  • 16th Belgian Organic Synthesis Symposium (BOSS XVI), Belgium (07/2018)

  • 'Computational Catalysis for Sustainable Chemistry', Tarragona, Spain (06/2018)

  • 2nd International Symposium on Organic Reaction Mechanisms, China (05/2018)

  • Universität Freiburg (04/2018)

  • 'Journées de la Catalyse de Paris Saclay', Gif-sur-Yvette, France (04/2018)

  • Goethe-Universität Frankfurt (2/2018)

  • Universität Köln (01/2018)

  • Universität Heidelberg (01/2018)

  • Dechema, Frankfurt (01/2018)

  • Bayer Berlin, Germany (12/2017)

  • Bayer Wuppertal, Germany (11/2017)

  • University Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris, France (11/2017)

  • Sanofi, Germany (11/2017)

  • Lilly (Erl Wood 50th Celebratory Symposium), UK (10/2017)

  • 16th European Symposium on Organic Reactivity, Durham, UK (09/2017) 

  • EFMC International Symposium on Advances in Synthetic & Medicinal Chemistry, Austria (08/2017)

  • ACS Symposium, Washington, USA (08/2017)

  • Organic Reactions and Processes Gordon Research Conference, USA (07/2017)

  • 20th European Symposium on Organic Chemistry (ESOC 2017), Cologne, Germany (07/2017)

  • Johnson Matthey, UK (06/1017)

  • Uni Darmstadt (06/2017)

  • 23rd Lakeland Heterocyclic & Synthesis Symposium, Grasmere, UK (05/2017)

  • University of Manchester, UK (05/2017)

  • ICBMS Lyon, France (02/2017)

  • Novartis, Basel, Switzerland (02/2017)

  • 5th Lilly Chemistry Symposium, Spain (10/2016)

  • 7th biennial ‘Celebration of Organic Chemistry’ Symposium, Syngenta, UK (09/2016)

  • Johnson Matthey, UK (09/2016)

  • GEQO Meeting, Girona, Spain (09/2016)

  • ORCHEM, Germany (09/2016)

  • Merck, NJ, USA (08/2016)

  • Novartis, Cambridge, USA (08/2016)

  • University of Delaware, USA (08/2016)

  • Lehigh University, USA (08/2016)

  • Pre-ISHC in Osaka & ISHC in Kyoto, Japan (07/2016)

  • National Spanish Meeting of Organic Chemistry, Huelva, Spain (06/2016)

  • University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK (05/2016)

  • Humboldt University Berlin, Germany (05/2016)

  • 'Predictive Catalysis: Transition-Metal Reactivity by Design', Girona, Spain (04/2016)

  • Pacifichem 2015, Hawaii (12/2015)

  • University of Cambridge, UK (11/2015)

  • Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung, Mülheim, Germany (11/2015)

  • Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), Tarragona, Spain (10/2015)

  • Janssen Pharmaceutica/ Johnson & Johnson, Belgium (10/2015)

  • University of Toronto, Canada (09/2015)

  • York University, Canada (09/2015)

  • McGill University, Montreal, Canada (09/2015)

  • 'Challenges in Computational Homogeneous Catalysis - 2015', Sweden (09/2015)

  • XXI EuCheMS Conference on Organometallic Chemistry, Slovakia (07/2015)

  • ​OMCOS 18, Spain (06/2015)

  • 18. Steinheimer Gespräche, Germany (06/2015)

  • Universität Würzburg, Germany (05/2015)

  • Universität Münster, Germany (04/2015)

  • ACS, Denver, USA (03/2015) 

  • University of Geneva, Switzerland (02/2015)

  • Unicat, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany (01/2015) 

  • Siegen University, Germany (01/2015)

  • University of Namur, Belgium (11/2014)

  • 2nd International Conference on Organometallics and Catalysis, Japan (10/2014)

  • ORCHEM, Weimar, Germany (09/2014)

  • 22nd IUPAC International Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry, Canada (08/2014)

  • TU Graz & University of Graz Summer School, Austria (07/2014)

  • 35th Reaction Mechanisms Conference, UC Davis, USA (06/2014)

  • Freie Universität Berlin, Germany (05/2014)

  • Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany (01/2014)

  • University of Hamburg, Germany (11/2013)

  • 2nd International Conference on Bimetallic Complexes, KIT, Germany (09/2013)

  • Summer School in Organic Chemistry & Catalysis, Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland (08/2013)

  • Heron6, Heron Island, Queensland, Australia (07/2013)

  • Physical Organic Chemistry Gordon Research Conference, New Hampshire, USA (06/2013)

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA (06/2013)

  • 'Challenges in Computational Homogeneous Catalysis - 2013', Stockholm, Sweden (06/2013)

  • University of Oxford, UK (05/2013)

  • Short Talk/JSP Fellowship, 48th Bürgenstock Conference, Brunnen, Switzerland (04/2013)

  • Chemiedozententagung, Berlin, Germany (03/2013)

  • Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU), Munich, Germany (11/2012)

  • International Conference "Catalysis in Organic Synthesis", Moscow, Russia (09/2012)

  • 21st IUPAC International Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry, Durham, UK (09/2012)

  • EPFL, Switzerland (07/2012)

  • Aachen, Germany (03/2012)

  • Chemiedozententagung, Freiburg, Germany (03/2012)

  • Inorganic Chemistry Symposium, Basel (01/2012)

  • RWTH Aachen, Institute Seminar (11/2011)

  • SCS-Syngenta Symposium: Modern Catalysis for Sustainable Chemistry, Switzerland (10/2011)

  • Universität Basel, Institute Seminar (10/2011)

  • 47th Symposium for Theoretical Chemistry (STC 2011), Sursee, Switzerland (08/2011)

  • 23rd International Congress on Heterocyclic Chemistry (ICHC 2011), Glasgow, UK (08/2011)

  • Young Faculty Meeting 2011, Bern (06/2011)

  • IBM, Switzerland (01/2011)

  • ETH Zürich, Inaugural lecture (12/2010)

  • Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU), Munich (05/2009)

  • Minisymposium in Phys. Org. Chemistry, ETH Zürich, Switzerland (05/2009)

  • UCB Awards Symposium for Excellence in Postgraduate Chemistry at UCB, Cambridge, UK (09/2007)

  • XI. European Symposium on Organic Reactivity (ESOR XI) in Faro, Portugal (07/2007)

  • 2nd WestCHEM Research Day, Glasgow, UK (05/2007)

  • Roche Symposium for Leading Scientists of the Next Decade at Roche, Basel, Switzerland (03/2007)

  • RSC Organic Reaction Mechanisms Group Post Graduate Conference at GlaxoSmithKline, Tonbridge, UK (09/2006)

  • 21st Postgraduate Heterocyclic Symposium at AstraZeneca, Loughborough, UK (14/09/2006)

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