Since 1978 the Max Planck Society honors up to 30 young scientists and researchers each year with the <link http: www.mpg.de otto_hahn_medal _blank external-link-new-window external link in new>Otto Hahn Medal for outstanding scientific achievements, thus recognizing excellence at the early stages of their scientific career.
For the year 2014, Dr. Vera Krewald, Postdoc at the MPI CEC in the department of <link internal link in current>Prof. Dr. Frank Neese in the group „<link internal link in current>Water Splitting“ headed by <link internal link in current>Dr. Dimitrios A. Pantazis, will be awarded the Otto Hahn Medal for her excellent scientific work that provided new insights into the structural basis of water oxidation in natural photosynthesis. The oxidation of water is a central aspect of photosynthesis, the only natural process that converts sunlight into chemical energy. In her work, Dr. Krewald answered long-standing questions on the electronic structure of the water oxidation catalyst in photosynthesis, an essential step towards unravelling the molecular mechanism of water splitting in green plants and cyanobacteria.
The award ceremony will take place on June 17th, 2015 during the annual meeting of the Max Planck Society in Berlin. The award comes with a monetary sum of 7.500 euros as recognition.
The prize is intended to motivate especially gifted junior scientists and researchers to pursue a future university or research career. Since 1978, more than 800 scientists and researchers have been awarded the Otto Hahn Medal. The prestigious award takes its name from the German chemist and Nobel Prize laureate Otto Hahn, who served as the first president of the Max Planck Society from 1948 to 1960.
Dr. Vera Krewald is the third young scientist of the MPI CEC in a row to be awarded the Medal. In the past two years, Dr. Michael Römelt and Dr. Christoph Riplinger also received the award.
All coworkers of the MPI CEC congratulate Dr. Krewald on her great achievement and wish her continued success.