In honour of Rudolf Hoppe, the specialist group has been awarding this name lecture every two years since 2016 to individuals who have made outstanding scientific achievements in the field of solid state chemistry & materials research. The prize includes an award certificate, prize money of 1000 euros donated by the division and an invitation to give four lectures. The first of these lectures usually takes place directly after the award ceremony at the division conference.

Prof Dr Rudolf Hoppe (1922-2014; obituary) shaped solid state chemistry like no other through his enormous scientific breadth and his striving for a deep understanding of inorganic structural chemistry based on electrostatic models.

Deadline: 30 April 2026

Objective
In honour of Rudolf Hoppe, the GDCh Division of Solid State Chemistry & Materials Research usually awards this name lecture every two years in recognition of scientifically outstanding achievements and special merits in the field of solid state chemistry and materials research.

The prize
The award is accompanied by a certificate and prize money of 1000 euros donated by the specialist group. The award winner usually gives four lectures. The first of these lectures takes place following the award ceremony at the specialist group conference GDCh Conference on Inorganic Chemistry, which will take place from 7 to 9 September 2026 in Jena . A selection committee appointed by the executive board of the specialist group will decide whether to award the prize.

Nominations
Individuals who have made outstanding scientific achievements in the five years prior to the nomination can be nominated for the Rudolf Hoppe Lecture. In addition to naming the person, the informal application contains only a brief statement of reasons. No detailed acknowledgements of achievements, CVs or publication lists are required for the nomination.

Submission
Please send your nomination in electronic form and summarised in a PDF file to the GDCh office for the attention of Maike Fries.

The Division of Solid State Chemistry & Materials Research awarded the Rudolf Hoppe Lecture on the occasion of the GDCh Conference on Inorganic Chemistry on 18 September 2024 in Munich to Professor Dr. Holger Kohlmann (University of Leipzig) in honour of his outstanding work on inorganic hydrides:

"His original work has developed a broad structural chemistry and is relevant far beyond basic research in times when chemical hydrogen storage is being discussed in many ways for the transformation of our energy infrastructure. He represents this field for solid-state chemistry in Germany like no other."

The self-chosen title of the Rudolf Hoppe Lecture 2024 is:
"Metal Hydrides - (Extra)Ordinary Solids"

The Division of Solid State Chemistry & Materials Research awarded the Rudolf Hoppe Lecture to Professor Thomas Fässler (Technical University of Munich) on the occasion of the 21st Lecture Conference for Inorganic Chemistry on 27 September 2022 in Marburg in recognition of his outstanding work on lithium ion conductors.

"Honoured are his excellent interdisciplinary contributions in the field of solid state and materials research. His scientific work impresses with its wealth of ideas, the wide range of accomplished synthetic work and clearly communicated structure-property relationships. Furthermore, Professor Fässler's scientific lectures are able to inspire a broad audience and are thus entirely in the spirit of the prize to be awarded".

The Rudolf Hoppe Lecture 2018 was awarded at the specialist group conference in Regensburg. The winner of the lecture, which aims to highlight the importance of inorganic solid-state chemistry as an important foundation of any material development, is Prof. Dr Mathias Wickleder from the University of Cologne.

"Mathias Wickleder is one of the most important and influential German-speaking solid-state chemists of the last decade. His work, particularly on compounds with different types of oxoanions, has also attracted a great deal of attention worldwide. However, Mathias Wickleder is above all a preparative chemist who, through creative ideas, has created access to compounds whose existence would have been considered impossible years ago. Anyone who has heard one of his lectures will confirm his special ability to communicate these results to an interested scientific and non-scientific audience."

The Rudolf Hoppe Lecture was awarded for the first time at the specialist group conference in Innsbruck. The newly created named lecture is intended to emphasise the importance of inorganic solid-state chemistry as an important foundation of any material development. The award winner is Professor Tom Nilges (TU Munich).

"Mr Nilges' work is characterised by a broad chemical spectrum and makes substantial contributions to various areas of solid-state and materials chemistry. His investigations into the allotropes of phosphorus are already part of recent textbooks on inorganic chemistry and his findingson the chemical modifiability of thermoelectric materials have attracted considerable international attention. Mr Nilges' enthusiasm for his research is palpable in his lively lectures, so that the specialist group is convinced that it has chosen a worthy award winner to convey the great importance of solid-state and materials chemistry."