Forschungsschwerpunkte 2001 - 2002

BY ROAD: Motorway "Hansalinie" (A1/E37) and A43 Wuppertal-Münster. For the chemistry department take exit MÜNSTER-NORD and turn right at ORLEANS-RING (first major intersection), follow sign "Naturwiss. Institute" (first right) then first left and left again to "Organische Chemie".
BY RAIL: Münster is connected to all major cities by means of the IC-System of the Deutsche Bahn AG. The following bus lines get you from the station to the chemistry department (bus stop COESFELDER KREUZ): 11 (bus platform "A"), 4, 563, 564, R63, R64, 20 (bus platform "B"), 12, 14, 34 (bus platform "C") and 5 (bus platform "D").
BY AIR: From the local airport ("Flughafen") Münster/Osnabrück (FMO) at Greven (located ca. 20 km north of Münster) there are regular flight connections to and from Berlin, Frankfurt, London, München, Paris, Stuttgart, and Zürich.

Formerly the capital of Westfalen, Münster is a modern city with a population of about 270.000. As the economic heart of the Münsterland, a region of 1.2 million inhabitants, the city commands a position of considerable economic and social significance. Numerous state and communal administrations are situated here, in addition to many important wholesale and retail business.

The University of Münster employs ca. 600 tenured professors and about 2,000 additional academic staff. With approximately 45,000 students, this is the largest university in Nordrhein-Westfalen and the third largest in Germany. As a public university, the State of Nordrhein-Westfalen provides funds for operation, maintenance and building costs with assistance from federal sources. While the teaching budget consists largely of state funds, the research budget is comprised mainly from individual grants (e.g. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Fonds der Chemischen Industrie, Volkswagen-Stiftung, Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, European Community, Bundesminister für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie, Bundesminister für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Forsten, Ministerium für Schule und Weiterbildung, Wissenschaft und Forschung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Arbeitsgemeinschaft Industrieller Forschungsvereinigungen, chemical companies). The total annual budget (not regarding the budget of the medical faculties) amounts to approximately 242 million Euro. Independent from governmental intervention, the university is a self-governing institution. Among academics and researchers at Münster one can always find a large number of foreign guests, who work closely with native German specialists.

The University of Münster was founded in 1780 by Freiherr Franz von Fürstenberg. In 1805 it expanded to a Prussian State University for Westfalen with the Faculties of Law and Medicine. In 1843 its name changed to "Royal Academy of Theology and Arts". In 1902 the academy was awarded the designation "Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität" by the Emperor Wilhelm II.
Currently the University of Münster offers curricula in more than 100 different fields ranging from Archeology to Zoology. It is composed of 14 departments (Fachbereiche), including Theology, Law, Medicine, Economics, Humanities, Languages, Philosophy, Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Geosciences, Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy. Masters (Diplom) and doctoral degrees are offered in these areas. The first chemistry chair was established in 1856 (J. W. Hittorf) as part of the medical faculty. As an independent entity, the original chemistry institute was opened in 1879, and later replaced by the present premises of the Naturwissenschaftliches Zentrum near Coesfelder Kreuz, built during the period 1963-1966. Distinguished chemists who have worked in Münster include J. W. Hittorf (1824-1914), G. Domagk (1895-1964), W. Klemm (1896-1987), F. Micheel (1900-1982), E. Wicke (1914-2000) and others.

The Organisch-Chemisches Institut belongs to the Fachbereich 12 in the Faculty of Natural Science, together with the Institutes of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Physical Chemistry, Economically Managment, Pharmaceutical Biology and Phytochemistry, Pharmaceutical and Medical Chemistry, and Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics. Each of these institutions represents a separate administrative capacity on a permanent basis. The academic responsibilities are coordinated by the Deanery of the Fachbereich, which is elected by the members of the Fachbereich for a period of four years.

1. Personnel

The academic staff of the Organisch-Chemisches Institut currently comprises seven tenured professors (Universitätsprofessoren), two "Habilitanden" (assistant professors), four emeriti and eight scientists in service and administrative positions. The staff of permanent employees numbers approx. 40, including secretaries, lab technicians, electronic experts, the personnel of the mechanic workshops, the general service facilities and glassblowers. There are ca. 110 graduate students (Diplom and doctoral degree) working in the laboratories of the institute. Some of them are teaching assistants, supported from institutional funds on time-limited contracts, whilst most research assistants are supported by fellowships or from research foundations. At any time five to ten postdoctoral fellows are working in the institute, and there are highly awarded scientific guests visiting the institute from abroad.

2. Student Composition

Each year a total of ca. 2,500 students participate in chemistry lectures and laboratory courses, of which ca. 1,500 are chemistry majors and 1,000 non-majors, including Medicine, Dentistry, Biology, and Pharmacy. Master (Diplom) and doctoral (Dr. rer. nat.) degrees are offered in all disciplines of chemistry. The Diplom degree can be obtained after 9 semesters (incl. the Diplom thesis). The average duration required in order to obtain a master degree in chemistry (Dipl.-Chem.) is 10.0 semesters and for the doctoral degree 18.8 semesters .

3. Service Facilities

These include mechanical, electronic, glassblower and glassware shops, mass spectrometry, X-ray analysis, central computer services and NMR spectroscopy facilities. The institute is well equipped for modern research and teaching activities having available a variety of up-to-date instrumentation (300, 400 and 600 MHz NMR, several X-ray diffractometers, FT-IR, UV-VIS, PE spectrometers, DSC, autoclave systems up to 12 kbar, high resolution coupled GLC-mass spectrometry, laser-desorption mass spectrometry, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, electroanalytical techniques etc.).

4. The Graduate College "Highly Reactive Multiple Bonds"
   (Graduiertenkolleg "Hochreaktive Mehrfachbindungssysteme")

In April 1993 the Graduate College was founded at the Fachbereich Chemie. This institution was established at the Organisch- and Anorganisch-Chemisches Institut under the responsibility of Professors Aumann, Erker, Hahn, Haufe, Hoppe, Klessinger, Krebs, Mattes, Redlich, Schäfer, and Würthwein. The specific features of this college were based on a research programme which was devoted to the reactivity of chemical compounds containing highly reactive multiple bonds. Both the generation and properties of such systems were studied by means of chemical, physical and theoretical methods. Applications in organic synthesis and the design of new materials were under investigation as well.

The Graduate College was designed to enable PhD students to work on their theses within the framework of a systematic and highly interdisciplinary program of study and in cooperation with various research groups working on related topics. The role of the academic supervisors and the faculty remained unchanged, but research orientated activities and the topic of this college did help to prevent specialization becoming too narrow. Working in a team together with other graduates, experienced scientists and guests the vision of the individual graduate student was broadened and essential academic discussion was promoted. Young scientists in this graduate college were able to work for their doctoral degree under very attractive conditions.

The Graduate College did not only stimulate the reform of PhD studies but also gave an incentive for reorganizing and streamlining basic research. At each time the college at the chemistry department covered ca 30 students and one post-doc. Each of them was a member of one of the participating groups headed by one of the senior scientists mentioned above.

After nine years of successful work in research and education, the Graduate College after the maximum possible time of financing expired.

5. The Sonderforschungsbereich
   "Molecular Orientation and Its Functions in Chemical Systems" (Molekulare Orientierung als Funktionskriterium in chemischen Systemen)

   In January 1997, a new Sonderforschungsbereich (SFB) was established by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 424) at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster. 12 research groups from the Faculty of Natural Sciences started to coordinate their efforts directed towards the topic "Molecular Orientation and Its Functions in Chemical Systems" in close cooperations. Originally, research groups from the Organisch-Chemisches Institut (Prof. Erker, Prof. Hoppe, Prof. Redlich, Prof. Schäfer and Prof. Würthwein), the Anorganisch-Chemisches Institut (Prof. Hahn, Prof. Krebs, PD Dr. Krämer and Dr. Tamm), the Institut für Biochemie (Prof. Galla) and the Physikalisches Institut (Prof. Fuchs) take an active part in the scientific program.

   In 1999 the DFG decided to increase the support for the SFB for another period of three years, including several new research groups from the Organisch-Chemisches Institut (Prof. Haufe, Dr. Göttlich, Dr. Waldvogel), the Institut für Biochemie (Dr. Steinem) and the Institut für Mineralogie (Prof. Putnis). Additionally, in 2000 Prof. Klaffke (Bioorganic Chemistry) and Prof. Grimme (Theoretical Organic Chemistry) from the Organisch-Chemische Institut joined the Sonderforschungsbereich as new members.

   The aim of the Sonderforschungsbereich is to achieve a better understanding of the influence of the relative orientation of simpler molecules on their mutual interactions, subsequently utilizing the results for developing selective processes. These include stereoselective organic synthesis, design of catalysts, of enzyme-like compounds and, as well, of membranes and other two-dimensional systems.

   The Sonderforschungsbereich is provided with a budget for supporting more than 25 PhD student positions and for maintaining a program of high quality, such as symposia or individual invitations of distinguished scientists. The advancement and encouragement of highly qualified young talents is a particular concern of the Sonderforschungsbereich.

6. The International Graduate College "Template-Directed Chemical Synthesis"

   In April 2001 the International Graduate College "Template-Directed Chemical Synthesis" has been established at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität. In this programme, which constitutes the first International Graduate College operating at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, eleven research groups from the Institutes of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry and Organic Chemistry at the University of Münster and ten scientists from the Holland Research School of Molecular Chemistry will combine forces to focus on an interdisciplinary topic in the heart of chemistry. Intensive bilateral collaboration is ensured by the formation of six Dutch/German subgroups which have formulated mutual research aims to be jointly elucidated within the Graduate College. The scientific programme encompasses all relevant areas of molecular synthetic chemistry, and the expertise and fields of research of the participating groups are located at the disciplinary boundaries of inorganic, organic, biological, and theoretical chemistry.
   The Graduate College provides its student members with a deep knowledge of modern computational and experimental concepts and enables them to apply these techniques to the solution of demanding synthetic targets. Thereby, the interdisciplinary and bilateral structure of the Graduate College allows a broader overview of scientific and societal interrelations, which is of great importance for future research in international chemical industry. Furthermore, these skills are strengthened by offering an intensive teaching component of innovation and management, because the Institute of Business Management, recently founded at the faculty of chemistry in Münster, is strongly involved in the training programme. Thus, by building a bridge between economy and science, this concept provides its doctoral students with a well-rounded and unique experience of chemistry and its place in society and in the world economy. 12 stipends for graduate students and one for a postdoctoral associate at the Münster School are provided by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

7. The NRW Graduate School of Chemistry

   In October 2001 the International Graduate School of Chemistry (GSC-MS), "Molecular Functional Structures and Solid State Materials", was constituted at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster with funding from the Ministry of Science and Education of the Federal State of Northrhine Westphalia. This Graduate School offers a new three-year PhD program within an interdisciplinary spectrum of research areas in all of the major subfields of chemistry. The school comprises about 30 research groups within five institutes, conducting vigorous research programs, which are strongly funded by numerous federal and industrial research institutions. The GSC-MS has two principal research directions (main areas):

   The first area addresses molecular orientation and function in chemical systems. Research activities comprise the synthesis of new bioactive molecules and supramolecular aggregates, developing an understanding of teir functional principles, and exploring and utilizing the concepts of molecular recognition. An important focus is the development of new methods to synthesize stereo- and enantio-selective compounds, accompanied by appropriate computational techniques. A second part of this main area concerns the exploration and utilization of bioinorganic complexes, such as metalloproteins. The second research direction focuses on the development and optimization of new solid-state functional materials. The properties of solid state materials are often determined by disorder phenomena which are studied with sophisticated spectroscopic and other physicochemical methods, including theoretical modeling. One of the central research topics is the synthesis, characterization and theoretical modeling of ion conducting materials with disordered structures, with the goal of developing a fundamental undertanding of ionic motion from the elementary step to macroscopic transport.

   The GSC-MS has been established as a school of excellence to foster the education of students at the graduate level. About 20 students coming from many countries are admitted each year to the program after a competitive evaluation process. The academic program includes a detailed curriculum. Further information can be found at www.uni-muenster.de/GSC-MS.