Emeritus Scientific Members
PROF. GERHARD ERTL
Director at the Institute 1986 - 2004
Physical Chemistry Department
Main areas of research: chemical processes occurring at the interface of solids and gases or liquids (electrolytes), mechanisms of heterogeneously catalyzed reactions, coupling of (nonlinear) reaction kinetics with transport process, such as surface diffusion of adsorbed species or migration of ions in an electrolyte.
2007 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Member of the Leopoldina, German National Academy of Sciences
PROF. HAJO FREUND
Director at the Institute 1995 - 2019
Chemical Physics Department
Main areas of research: physics and chemistry of solid surfaces, structure and dynamics of oxide surfaces, model systems for heterogeneous catalysis, nanostructures and clusters
1995 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
Member of Berlin-Brandenburgische Academy of Science
PROF. MATTHIAS SCHEFFLER
Director at the Institute 1988 - 2020
Theory Department
Main areas of research: Theoretical physics, electron structure theory, materials science, big data
Member of the Leopoldina, German National Academy of Sciences