Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Klaus Kümmerer
Vita
Prof. Dr. Klaus Kümmerer is Professor of Sustainable Chemistry and Material Resources at the Institute for Sustainable Chemistry (INSC). His research areas include green and sustainable chemistry and pharmacy, applied cheminformatics and material chemistry, environmental behavior of chemicals, material resources, and Benign by Design. Klaus Kümmerer's research and consulting activities have a strong international focus: He has been Director of the Research & Education Hub at the International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Center since 2017 and member of the High Level Roundtable on the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability of the European Commission since 2021. In 2023, he was ranked 16th worldwide out of a total of 99,567 scientists in the field of environmental sciences according to the Stanford University Ranking. In terms of citations, he was ranked first in Germany. In 2023 he was awarded with the Verdienstkreuz am Bande des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland („Bundesverdienstkreuz“; Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany, awarded by the President of Germany Frank Walter Steinmeier) as well as with the Wöhler Award of the German Chemical Society for Sustainable Chemistry. In March 2025 he has been honoured with the Honorary Doctorate of the University of Ghent/Belgium.
Professional Career
- since 2017: Director International Research and Education Sustainable Collaborative Centre (ISC3), Leuphana University Lüneburg and Bonn
- since 2016: Co-Founding-Editor und Co-Editor-in-Chief von Current Opionion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry; https://www.journals.elsevier.com/current-opinion-in-green-and-sustainable-chemistry
- since 2015: Founding Editor und Editor-in-Chief von Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy; https://www.journals.elsevier.com/sustainable-chemistry-and-pharmacy/
- since 2015: Editor von Chemosphere Environmental Pollution
- 2012 – 2016: Dean of Research at the Faculty of Sustainability, Leuphana University Lüneburg (Germany)
- 2011 on-going: Director of the Institute for Sustainable Chemistry and Environmental Chemistry Leuphana University Lüneburg (Germany)
- since 2010: Full Professor for Sustainable Chemistry and Physical Resources at the Leuphana University Lüneburg (Germany)
- 2008 – 2010: Commissioner for Environment, University Medical Centre Freiburg
- 2008 – 2010: Deputy Chair of the Commission of Environment and Sustainability University Medical Centre Freiburg
- 2005: Associate Professor at the University of Freiburg im Breisgau
- 2005: Invitation as Guest Professor at the Department of Chemistry at the UFSM (declined)
- 2003 – 2010: Head of the Section for Applied Environmental Research at the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University Medical Centre Freiburg
- 2003 – 2010: Head of the Unit for Applied Environmental Research
- 2003 – 2008: Coordinator for teaching at the Department of Environmental Health Sciences
- 2002: Visiting Professor at the Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA, Department of Chemistry, Prof. Dr. G. Klopman
- 1999 – 2003: Senior Research Fellow/Assistant Professor at the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University Medical Centre Freiburg
- 1999: Venia legendi for Environmental Chemistry and Environmental Hygiene, Habilitation thesis on pharmaceuticals in the environment, University of Freiburg
- 1992 – 1999: Research Fellow at the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University Medical Centre Freiburg
- 1990 – 1992: Head of the Chemistry Department, Institute for Applied Ecology, Freiburg, Germany
Education
- 1986 – 1990: PhD in Chemistry on the analysis of organic sulphur compounds in the aquatic environment, University of Tübingen
- 1986 – 1990: Studies on analysis of organic pollutants and heavy metals in waste
- 1986 –1989: Remote study course “Ecology and its Biological Basis” at the German Institute of Remote Studies (certificate)
- 1986: Diploma in Chemistry on leaching of heavy metals by landfill effluents from solidified sludge sewage, University of Tübingen
- 1980 – 1986: Studies in chemistry at the Universities of Würzburg (Vordiplom) and Tübingen (Diploma)
Member of Boards/Committees
- 2024: Member of 9th Government Commission of the State of Lower Saxony (Circular Economy)
- 2023: Member of the Academic Board of the European Centre for Advanced Studies
- 2021: Member of the European Commission’s High Level Roundtable on the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability
- since 2020: Member of the Interdivisional Committee on Green Chemistry for Sustainable Development (ICGCSD) of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC)
- 2017 – 2021: Member of the Advisory Committee of the Government of Lower Saxony
- since 2016: Chair of the jury of the Elsevier Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge Award
- 2016 – 2019: Member of the Managing Board of United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) Global Chemical Outlook II (published spring 2019)
- 2015 – 2017: Member Advisory Council of the International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre (appointed by the German Federal Minister for the Environment)
- 2015 – 2017: Chair of the Working Group “Future Waters” within the Senate Commission on Water Research of the German Research Council (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
- 2014 – 2017: Substitute National delegate in the management board of COST-Action TD 1203 Food waste valorisation for sustainable chemicals, materials & fuels (EUBis)
- 2011 – 2017: Member of the Senate Commission on Water Research of the German Research Council (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; re-appointment 2014-2017)
- 2011 – 2021: Member of the Management Board of the European Technology Platform SusChem on behalf of the German Chemical Society (Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker)
- 2011 – 2018: Member of the Head Committee of the Division “Sustainable Chemistry” in the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker, re-election 2015-2018)
- 2007 – 2010: Head of the working group “Sustainable Products” of Division Sustainable Chemistry in the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker