TeamStefan Hecht

Room 3'104
Phone: +49 (0)30 2093 82652
E-Mail: shhu-berlin.de

Prof. Stefan Hecht, Ph.D.

Stefan grew up in Berlin and studied chemistry at Humboldt University, where he investigated chemiluminescence and photocatalysis in the group of Jürgen Bendig. After his diploma work on photochemical rearrangements with the late William G. Dauben he stayed at the University of California, Berkeley, and carried out his doctoral research with Jean M. J. Fréchet in the area of dendritic macromolecules.

After his graduation in 2001, he started his independent research group at Free University of Berlin and subsequently the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research in Mülheim/Ruhr before accepting a call to Humboldt University, where he was full professor from 2006 until 2019. From the summer of 2019 until the end of 2022, he has served as the Scientific Director of the DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials and held the Chair of Macromolecular Chemistry at RWTH Aachen University before returning to his alma mater as Einstein Professor and Founding Director of the Center for the Science of Materials Berlin.
 

Professional Experience

Oct 2022- Einstein Professor
Head of the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry and Functional Materials
& Founding Director of the Center for the Science of Materials Berlin (CSMB)
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
2019 - 2022 Scientific Director of DWI - Leibniz Institut for Interactive Materials
& Full Professor (W3) and Chair of Macromolecular Chemistry
at RWTH Aachen University, Germany
2006 - 2019 Full Professor (W3) and
Chair of Organic Chemistry & Functional Materials
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
2005 - 2006 Associate Professor (Group Leader) in Organic Polymer and Materials Chemistry
Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
Lecturer at the Universität Dortmund, Germany
2001 - 2004 Assistant Professor (Young Investigator) in Organic Polymer and Materials Chemistry
Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Habilitation June 2006, Mentor: Prof. A. D. Schlüter (since 2004 at ETH Zürich)
1997 - 2001 Ph.D. research in Organic Polymer Chemistry at University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.
Thesis Advisor: Prof. Jean M. J. Fréchet
1992 - 1997 Diplom studies and research in Organic Photochemistry
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany, and University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.
Thesis Advisor: Prof. William G. Dauben (UC Berkeley, 09/1995 - 09/1996)
Research Mentor: Prof. Jürgen Bendig (HU Berlin)

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Honors and Distinctions

2024 Lectureship Award of the Swiss Chemical Society (SCS)
2023 UNIPRENEUR Award
2022 Einstein Professorship of the Einstein Foundation Berlin
2021 Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences (EurASc)
2020 Fellow of the Max Planck School Matter to Life
2020 Elected Member of National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech)
2020 Elected Member of Academia Europaea (AE)
2018 Visiting Professor at Nagoya University
2015 Visiting Professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science
2013 BASF Lectureship by the Department of Chemistry, UC Berkeley
2012 Starting Grant (Consolidator Phase) of the European Research Council (ERC)
2010 Klung-Wilhelmy-Weberbank-Prize 2010 for Chemistry
2010 Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry
2007 Thieme Journal Award
2005 ADUC Young Investigator Award of the German Chemical Society
2004 Top 100 Young Innovator Award of MIT’s Technology Review
2002 Sofja Kovalevskaja Award of the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation
1994 - 1997 Fellow of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes
1993 Jugend Forscht Young Chemist Award (federal, regional & environmental prize)
1991 Jugend Forscht Young Chemist Award (regional prize)

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Scientific Affiliations

Elected Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences (EurASc)

Elected Member of National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech)

Elected Member of Academia Europaea (AE)

Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)

Member of the American Chemical Society (ACS)

Member of the German Chemical Society (GDCh)

Member of the European Photochemistry Association (EPA)

Member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Association for Polymer Research (BVP)