Presentation of the Alumni Awards of the Department of Chemistry and Biology
On June 16, 2025, the Department of Chemistry and Biology at the University of Siegen honored the best Bachelor's and Master's degrees in chemistry. Department spokesperson Prof. Dr. Klaudia Witte presented the certificates and praised the outstanding achievements of the award winners. The alumni prize is endowed with EUR 250.00.
For the first time this year, the Karl-Heinz Drexhage Prize, endowed with EUR 500.00, was awarded for the best Master's thesis. The Drexhage family made this prize possible through their willingness to provide funds and donations.
The following people were awarded a certificate and prize money:
- Dustin Schade, B. Sc. Chemistry 2025
Topic of the Bachelor's thesis: "Synthesis and Investigation of Norbornadienyl-Substituted Terphenyl Derivatives as Molecular Solar Thermal Systems", supervisor: Prof. Dr. Heiko Ihmels - Moritz Justus Dango, M.Sc. Chemistry, "Karl-Heinz Drexhage Prize" 2025
Topic of the Master's thesis: "Divalent Thulium Ions Doped in Novel Halide Host Compounds:
Synthesis, Luminescence and Upconversion", supervisor: Prof. Dr. Claudia Wickleder - Sarai Namachanja Weramundi, M.Sc. Chemistry 2025 (international)
Topic of the Master's thesis: "Novel Materials for Efficient Near-Infrared Emission by Energy
Transfer from Eu2+ to Trivalent Lanthanides", supervisor: Prof. Dr. Claudia Wickleder - Christin Kölsch, M. Ed. Chemistry 2025 (teaching degree)
Topic of the Master's thesis "The Dalton plan in chemistry lessons - a benefit?",
Supervisor: Dr. Volker Hofheinz
The award ceremony took place as part of a scientific colloquium of the local chapter of the German Chemical Society (GDCh). Prof. Dr. Katja Heinze from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz was invited as a guest speaker. She spoke about her topic "Photochemistry of Complexes with Earth-abundant Metals". For her groundbreaking work in the field of molecular photophysics and photochemistry, she was awarded the Theodor Förster Memorial Lecture in 2024 by the GDCh Photochemistry Section and the German Bunsen Society for Physical Chemistry.
Alumni Award
The Department of Chemistry and Biology awards the Alumni Prize to outstanding graduates of the chemistry degree courses. In an anonymous selection process, the professors of the department choose the best graduates based on their final grades and length of study. The prize money amounts to EUR 250.00.
The Alumni Award goes back to the association Alumni Chemie Siegen (ACS) e.V., which has honored particularly talented chemists for many years. Since the dissolution of the association, the department is now continuing this tradition. The Department is deeply indebted to all the members and board members of the association.
Karl-Heinz Drexhage Prize
The Karl-Heinz Drexhage Prize has been awarded for the best Master's thesis since 2025. The prize is endowed with EUR 500.00 and is donated by the Drexhage family. Prof. Drexhage was an expert in the field of dyes and made numerous groundbreaking contributions to science. From 1978 to 1999, he was a full professor of physical chemistry. Even after his retirement in 1999, he continued his successful work as a researcher and academic teacher with undiminished enthusiasm. Together with his team at ATTO-TEC GmbH, he was also involved in the development of improved fluorophores after his retirement, which paved the way for the STED microscopy method that won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His dyes make living cells glow now and in the future. He died in March 2022 at the age of 88.