“You helped Mülheim to achieve worldwide recognition in science”

Frank Neese receives the 2024 Mülheim Ruhr Prize

For more than 60 years, the Cultural Committee of the City of Mülheim an der Ruhr has been awarding the Ruhr Prize for Art and Science (Ruhrpreis) to artists and scientists who are connected to the city by their life or work and who have achieved outstanding things in their field. The list of award winners is long and includes many names that are known far beyond the city's borders. This year the cultural committee honours Prof. Dr. Frank Neese, Director of the Department of Molecular Theory and Spectroscopy at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, and the actress Maria Neumann.

"His work has made quantum chemical calculations faster and more accurate, and he has used them to understand numerous important chemical processes, such as photosynthesis. For this alone, he has helped to make Mülheim a world-renowned centre of science," said Dr Daniela Grobe, head of the cultural department, quoting the jury's decision. She also highlighted the considerable number of Neese's publications and citations and emphasised his significant contribution to the establishment of the quantum chemistry software ORCA, which is used in science worldwide.

The news that he was to receive the 2024 Mülheim Ruhr Prize came as a surprise and touched Neese: "I really love the city of Mülheim, nearly from the first moment on after I returned from my postdoctoral studies at Stanford university to join the team of Prof. Karl Wieghardt (who also won the Ruhrpreis) in Mülheim", Neese said. "I felt right at home straight away! I'm so comfortable here and I'm really proud to have been given this amazing honour by my hometown," he added.

The official award ceremony for long-standing Theater an der Ruhr actress Maria Neumann and Prof. Frank Neese will take place on 1 December. The Ruhr Prize is endowed with 3,000 EUR and sponsored by Sparkasse Mülheim. Further information can be found on the Webseite of the city of Mülheim and in the official press release of the city.

In the long history of the award ceremony, there have been several prize-winners from the ranks of the MPI für Kohlenforschung: 1965 Günter Wilke, 1973 Dr. Klaus Jonas, 1978 Dr. Kurt Zosel, 1986 Prof. Borislav Bogdanovic, 1993 Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schomburg, 1997 Prof. Dr. Alois Fürstner, 2007 Prof. Dr. Manfred Reetz, 2010 Prof. Dr. Ferdi Schüth, 2013 Prof. Dr. Benjamin List, 2020 Dr. Josep Cornellà.