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Under the motto "Colourful Chemistry", the spring symposium of the JCF (JungesChemieForum) of the German Chemical Society (GDCh) will take place in Cologne from 10 to 13 March. The conference is aimed at the young chemistry community in Germany and abroad. Around 400 scientists are expected to attend. The programme includes lectures, workshops, an industry exhibition and a poster session. As a special highlight, the JCF Best Supervisor Award will be presented for the first time this year.
For 28 years, the JCF Spring Symposium has been one of the largest conferences in Europe organised by and for young researchers. The event is organised annually by different regional forums of the JCF, the GDCh's young scientists' organisation. In 2026, the regional forums of Cologne, Düsseldorf, Aachen and Bonn have taken over the organisation and jointly created a diverse programme. In addition to internationally renowned scientists, the event will be attended by junior research group leaders and young researchers in particular.The motto "Colourful Chemistry" alludes to the breadth of the field of chemistry, the variety of topics covered and the diversity of people and perspectives within the community. This is also reflected in the top-class scientific programme. The plenary speakers include Professor Dr Klaus Müllen, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Professor Luisa De Cola, Università degli Studi di Milano, IT, and Associate Professor Joleen Masschelein, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, BE. Chemist Professor André K. Isaacs, College of the Holy Cross, USA, who is well known from social media, will also give a plenary lecture on science communication. Conference guests can attend various workshops and the varied supporting programme offers opportunities for informal networking. This year, the national Three Minute Thesis (3MT) final will also take place during the conference. At the 3MT, doctoral students present their research in just three minutes and with a single static slide. From 10 to 12 March, the GDCh Career Service will also be on site with a stand to answer questions about careers and starting a career.
As a special highlight, the new JCF Best Supervisor Award will be presented for the first time. Good supervision determines the success, motivation and well-being of doctoral candidates. The JCF's new award recognises supervisors with exceptional commitment and a modern leadership culture. The first JCF Supervisor Award goes to Prof Dr Lena Daumann, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, for her holistic approach to supervision in chemistry. When supervising her staff, she also takes into account aspects outside the purely scientific realm, for example when she found individual solutions for all doctoral students when her research group relocated. As a qualified mental health trainer, she actively promotes the well-being of her team. Regular development meetings and soft skills training complement her concept. Daumann also stands for diversity, inclusion and the FAIR principles (open handling of research data).Lena Daumann, born in 1983, completed her doctorate at the University of Queensland, Australia, in 2013 after studying chemistry at Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. A Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship took her to the University of California, Berkeley, USA, and again to Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. From 2016, Daumann was Professor of Bioinorganic Chemistry at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München before taking up the Chair of Bioinorganic Chemistry at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf in 2023. In 2019, she received the Ars legendi Faculty Award for excellent university teaching in chemistry and an ERC Starting Grant in 2020. She has been an elected member of the DFG Review Board since 2024.Further information can be found at https://symposium.jcf.ioWith around 28,000 members, the German Chemical Society is one of the largest chemical societies in the world. It promotes scientific work, research and teaching as well as the exchange and dissemination of new scientific knowledge. The GDCh supports the creation of networks, transdisciplinary and international co-operation and continuous education and training in schools, universities and professional environments. The GDCh has 33 specialised structures and 60 local associations and regional forums of the JCF (JungesChemieForum) at almost all university locations. Nationwide, the JCF forms a platform for around 10,000 young members of the GDCh.
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Around 350 chemists will come together at the University of Duisburg-Essen from 2 to 4 March for the Chemistry Lecturers' Conference (CDT) 2026. At the event, the German Chemical Society (GDCh) will award the prestigious Carl Duisberg Memorial Prize to Junior Professor Dr Markus Suta, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. The GDCh Working Group of German University Professors of Chemistry (ADUC) honours junior professor Dr Schirin Hanf, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Dr Charalampos (Babis) Pappas, University of Freiburg, and junior professor Dr Alex J. Plajer, University of Bayreuth, each with an ADUC prize.
The Carl Duisberg Memorial Prize, endowed with 7500 euros, was established in 1936 to support young university lecturers. Markus Suta received the award for his research into luminous materials. The Düsseldorf junior professor is recognised as one of the world's leading minds in luminescence thermometry - a method in which luminescent materials are used to measure temperature. He combines experimental chemistry with physical modelling at the highest level. His design principles for luminescent thermometers are regarded as trend-setting. He impressed the selection committee with his independent scientific profile, numerous publications, successful acquisition of third-party funding and his impressive commitment to teaching.
Markus Suta, born in Siegen in 1990, studied chemistry at the University of Siegen, graduating with a Master of Science in 2012, and completed a second degree in physics at the same university until 2019. He received his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Siegen in 2017. He was then a research assistant at the University of Siegen, then a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Utrecht, NL. Since May 2021 he is Junior Professor for Inorganic Photoactive Materials at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. He was accepted into the Young College of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts in 2023 and has received numerous awards. He has 83 peer-reviewed publications and has raised around €1.43 million in third-party funding.
During the conference, the ADUC will honour one young scientist and two young scientists with ADUC prizes. The awards are endowed with €4,000 each and are presented for the establishment of an independent field of research in chemistry.
Junior Professor Dr Schirin Hanf, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), receives an ADUC award for the development of catalysts that combine the advantages of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts and their application in industrially relevant reactions. Schirin Hanf completed her doctorate at the University of Cambridge, UK, after studying in Leipzig in 2019, funded by the Chemical Industry Fund and the German National Academic Foundation. In her doctorate, she developed a phosphane ligand library, investigated coordination compounds and used the complexes in homogeneous catalysis. She then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at hte (subsidiary of BASF SE) in Heidelberg and deepened her expertise in heterogeneous catalysis and reaction engineering. At the end of 2020, she moved to KIT, where she has been building up an independent working group at the interface of molecular and solid-state catalyst systems as a tenure-track professor since 2021.Also honoured is Dr Charalampos (Babis) Pappas, University of Freiburg, in recognition of his work in organic systems chemistry, which takes phosphates beyond their traditional biological roles and integrates them into dynamic chemical reaction networks. Charalampos (Babis) Pappas studied chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Ioannina, GR, until 2012 and obtained his doctorate in 2016 at the University of Strathclyde, UK, for research on peptide nanomaterials, which he also carried out at the City University of New York, USA, among others. This was followed by a research stay at the University of Groningen, NL, where he conducted research on self-replicating molecules and emergence. Since 2020, he has been a junior research group leader at the University of Freiburg, associated with the livMatS Cluster of Excellence. His work has already been honoured with the Bachem AtPS Award and an ERC Starting Grant, among others.Junior Professor Dr Alex J. Plajer, University of Bayreuth, receives an ADUC Prize for establishing inorganic-inspired polymer chemistry, which integrates sulphur chemistry, catalysis and supramolecular self-assembly into a research concept. Alex J. Plajer is Junior Professor of Macromolecular Chemistry at the University of Bayreuth. He studied chemistry in Heidelberg and obtained his doctorate at the University of Cambridge, UK. He was then an 1851 Fellow at the University of Oxford, UK, and a Liebig Fellow at the Free University of Berlin before moving to Bayreuth. His research focuses on polymerisation catalysis and the synthesis of sustainable polymer structures that integrate main group elements and metal centres and is funded by an ERC Starting Grant, among others.The Chemistry Lecturers' Conference is organised by the Association of German University Professors of Chemistry (ADUC) of the GDCh and brings together young academics from all areas of chemistry. Habilitation candidates, junior professors and scholarship holders use the conference to present their research and exchange ideas. Since 2025, the CDT has also presented results from postdocs or planned independent research projects in short presentations.
Further information on the conference can be found at www.gdch.de/cdt2026
The German Chemical Society (GDCh) is one of the largest chemical societies in the world with around 28,000 members. It has 33 specialised structures and awards numerous prizes for special achievements in chemical research. The long-established GDCh Association of German University Professors of Chemistry (ADUC) annually honours up to three young scientists (during habilitation, fellowship or junior professorship) for the establishment of an independent field of research.
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