Diels-Planck-Lecture
The Diels-Planck-Lecture is awarded annually to an outstanding scientist and established leader in the field of nano and surface science. Nominations are assessed by the members of the KiNSIS and the winner is hosted by the Kiel University. The Diels-Planck-Lectures are open to the public.
The lectures series honors the originators of the nanosciences in Kiel, the Nobel laureates Max Planck and Otto Diels.
Max Planck was born 1858 in Kiel and was appointed as professor of theoretical physics by the University of Kiel in 1885. In 1918 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his groundbreaking work on quantum theory, which is the fundamental theory to describe nanostructures.
Otto Diels was professor of chemistry at the University of Kiel from 1915 until his retirement in 1945. Together with his graduate student Kurt Alder he discovered and developed a class of chemical reactions that was later coined Diels-Alder reaction which is one of the most powerful methods to synthesize chemical compounds including nanomaterials. Otto Diels was awarded the Nobel Price in Chemistry in 1950.
2019 Professor Zhong Lin Wang, Georgia Institute of Technology (USA)
2018 Professor Maki Kawai, Director General of the Institute for Molecular Science in Okazaki (Japan)
2017 Professor Aldo R. Boccaccini, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and Imperial College London (Great Britain)
2016 Professor Sotiris Pratsinis, ETH Zurich (Switzerland)
2015 Professor Ben Feringa, Universität Groningen (Netherlands)
2014 Dr. Gerhard Meyer vom IBM Research Laboratory, Zurich (Switzerland)