The Ackermann Group
Catalysis And Organic Synthesis

About Lutz Ackermann


Lutz Ackermann studied Chemistry at the University Kiel (Germany), and performed his PhD with Prof. Alois Fürstner at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung (Mülheim/Ruhr, 2001). After a postdoctoral stay at UC Berkeley with Prof. Robert G. Bergman, he initiated his independent research career in 2003 at the Ludwig Maximilians-University München. In 2007, he became Full Professor (W3) at the Georg-August-University Göttingen. His recent awards and distinctions include an AstraZeneca Excellence in Chemistry Award (2011), an ERC Consolidator Grant (2012), a Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz-Preis (2017) and an ERC Advanced Grant (2021). The development and application of novel concepts for sustainable catalysis constitutes his major current research interests, with a topical focus on electrocatalysis and bond activation.

HCR Ribbon 2024

h-index: > 126 (WoS); 128 (Scopus), 142 (GoogleScholar)

> 550 publications; > 340 invited lectures, ResearcherID, Google Scholar, ORCID

Chemistry Tree Lutz Ackermann Family Tree

Full list of lectures/talks

Education and Research Experience



since 2023     DZHK Executive Board Member

since 2019     Founder and Director of the Woehler Research Institute for Sustainable Chemistry: WISCh

since 2017     PI at German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK)

2015-2017      Director of the Institute of Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry

2013-2015      Dean of Research, Faculty of Chemistry, Georg-August-University Göttingen

2011-2013      Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry, Georg-August-University Göttingen

since 05.2007     Chair and Full Professor (W3) at the Georg-August-University Göttingen

06.2003-04.2007   Assistant Professor, Emmy Noether-Fellow (DFG): Independent research at the LMU München (Prof. Dr. P. Knochel)

07.2001-05.2003   Postdoctoral Studies with Prof. Dr. R. G. Bergman, UC Berkeley

06.1998-06.2001   Ph.D. thesis (Mentor: Prof. Dr. A. Fuerstner), Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim/Ruhr (summa cum laude)

08-12.1999       Research stay at the Université de Rennes, France (Prof. Dr. P. H. Dixneuf)

08.1997-03.1998   Diploma thesis (MSc) (Prof. Dr. J. Mattay)

10.1993-03.1998   Studies of Chemistry at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel

07.1992-07.1993   Military Service


Selected Awards and Distinctions


2024        Clarivate Web of Science Group Highly Cited Researcher 2024 <Press release in German>

2024        GEQO Fellow (Mención GEQO) award by the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ)

2024        Honored as a ScholarGPS Highly Ranked Scholar Scholargps.com

2024        Otto Roelen-Medal by DECHEMA and the German Catalysis Society (GeCatS) <Press release in German>

2023        Clarivate Web of Science Group Highly Cited Researcher 2023

2023        Werner Siemens-Stiftung (WSS) Research Award WSS Jahrhundertprojekt <Press release in German>

2023        Lecture seminario of the Real Sociedad Española de Química: Grupo Especializado de Química Organometálica

2022        Among top 11 Chemistry Scientists in Germany at Research.com

2022        Award for Excellent Supervisors of Chinese PhD Students by the GDCh and GCCCD

2022        Clarivate Web of Science Group Highly Cited Researcher 2022 press release in German: Forschung mit weltweitem Einfluss

2022        French-German Prize « Georg Wittig – Victor Grignard » of the Société Chimique de France – SCF <Press release in German>

2022        Chemistry Europe Fellows

2022        Among top 8 Chemistry Scientists in Germany at Research.com

2021        ERC Advanced Grant

2021        Web of Science Group Highly Cited Researcher 2021

2020        Web of Science Group Highly Cited Researcher 2020

2019        Boehringer Ingelheim lecture, Caltech

2019        Web of Science Group Highly Cited Researcher 2019

2019        Distinguished Visiting Professor School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, China

2019        Visiting Professor Université de Strasbourg, France

2018        Visiting Professor École Polytechnique, France

2018        Distinguished Visiting Professor IIT Bombay, India

2018        Clarivate (Web of Science) ISI Highly Cited Researcher

2017        Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz-Preis

2017        Clarivate (Web of Science) Hottest Researchers

2017        Distinguished Visiting Professor Kyoto University, Japan

2017        Clarivate (Web of Science) ISI Highly Cited Researcher

2017        IOCF Yoshida Lectureship Award, Japan

2017        Honorary Membership of the Israel Chemical Society

2016        Thomson Reuters (Web of Science) ISI Highly Cited Researcher

2016        Selected as a Top Author at Organic Letters

2016        Member of the Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Göttingen

2016        Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, FRSC

2016        Invited Chair Professor Joliot at the École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris (ESPCI)

2016        Molecular Science Frontier Lecture Professorship, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ICCAS)

2015        Thomson Reuters (Web of Science) ISI Highly Cited Researcher

since 2015      Adjunct Professor at the Università di Pavia

2015        Visiting Professor at the Università degli Studi di Perugia

2015        Ta-Shue Chou Lectureship Award, Academia Sinica, Taiwan

2014        Offer for a Full Proffesorship (Chair) at RWTH Aachen (declined)

2014        Lifetime honory Member, Israel Chemical Society

2014        Thomson Reuters (Web of Science) ISI Highly Cited Researcher

2014        BASF lecture, UC Berkeley

2012        ERC Independent Researcher Consolidator Grant

2011        AstraZeneca Excellence in Chemistry Award

2011        Holger Erdtman Lecturer, KTH - The Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

2010        Alphora Lecturer, University of Toronto, Canada

2009        Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Visiting Professor Fellowship, Osaka University, Japan

2008        Goering Visiting Professor at the University of Wisconson at Madison, USA

2007        Dozentenstipendium (FCI)

2007        Visiting Professor at the Università degli Studi di Milano

2007        ADUC-price (GDCh)

2006        Award of the Dr. Otto-Röhm-Gedächtnisstiftung

2006        Römer-fellowship

2006        DuPont Center for Collaborative Research & Education Grant

2006        ORCHEM-Preis für Naturwissenschaftler (GDCh)

2006        G.I.F. Young Scientists' Program

2004        Thieme Journal Award

2003-2007       Emmy Noether-Programm (DFG)

2001-2002       Postdoctoral Scholarship (DAAD)

1999-2001       Kekulé-fellowship (FCI)


Editorial Activities


since 2024     Member of the Advisory Board of Industrial Chemistry & Materials

since 2023     Guest Editorial at Israel Journal of Chemistry: Electrochemically Driven Organic Synthesis

since 2023     Guest Editorial at Organic Letters with Profs.: Chemoselective Methods for Labeling and Modification of Peptides and Proteins

since 2023     Guest Editorial at European Journal of Organic Chemistry with Prof. Song Lin: Organic Electrocatalysis Guest Editorial

since 2023     Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Materials Today Catalysis

since 2022     Member of the International Editorial Advisory Board of Helvetica Chimica Acta

since 2022     Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Chemistry - A European Journal

since 2022     Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Universal Journal of Electrochemistry

since 2021     Associate Editor Chemical Communications

since 2021     Member of the ASC Academic Advisor Board Advanced Synthesis and Catalysis

since 2021     Member of the International Editorial Advisory Board of Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews

since 2021     Member of the International Editorial Advisory Board of ChemCatChem

since 2020     Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Chem Catalysis

since 2020     Guest Editorial at ChemCatChem with Profs. Dong and Tsogoeva: The Catalysis of Ring Synthesis Guest Editorial

since 2020     Associate Editor-in-Chief Green Synthesis and Catalysis

since 2020     SNSF Review Panel NCCR Catalysis 

since 2019     Guest Editorial at ChemCatChem with Prof. Sortais: Homogeneous Catalysis is Up for the Challenge Guest Editorial

since 2018     Associate Editor Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry

since 2018     Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of European Journal of Organic Chemistry

since 2013     Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Organic Chemistry Frontiers

since 2009     Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Synlett

since 2009     Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Synthesis



Selected Professional Activities



since 2019      Founding Director of the Woehler Research Institute for Sustainable Chemistry: WISCh

2015-2017       Director of the Institute of Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry

2015-2019      Erasmus coordinator, Faculty of Chemistry, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

since 2015      Founding Member International Center for Advanced Studies of Energy Conversion (ICASEC), Göttingen

2013-2015       Dean of Research, Faculty of Chemistry, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

2011-2013       Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

since 2009      Cofounder and Vice Spokesperson of the International PhD program "Catalysis for Sustainable Synthesis (CaSuS)"

2009-2011       Board member of the Georg-August University School of Science (GAUSS) Göttingen

Marathon      München, Hamburg


Selected Memberships


2014         Israel Chemical Society

2010        Technion Gesellschaft

2002        ACS

1997        GDCh

1978        RTSV