Leibniz Prize for chemist Armido Studer
The German Research Foundation (DFG) has awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2026 to chemist Prof. Armido Studer from the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the University of Münster. Worth 2.5 million euros, the Leibniz Prize is the most valuable and the most important German research prize.
Armido Studer is receiving the award for his work in the field of organic radical chemistry, in particular for the development of sustainable synthesis processes with organic radicals. “I am surprised and, equally, overwhelmed,” says Studer. “It’s the proverbial icing on the cake in my career. And it also means recognition for my fantastic team, which has supported me over many years now.” The prize money makes it possible, he says, to continue investing in training at his chair and to retain his group’s team with its around 35 members. What is just as important, he adds, is that the money brings “enormous flexibility”. “At last, we can take a crack at some crazy ideas and put them into practice.”
The University’s management, too, congratulated Armido Studer. “What a tremendous success,” said Rector Prof. Johannes Wessels. “Above all, naturally, for Armido Studer personally: for many years now, he has been one of the world’s outstanding researchers in the field of organic chemistry, and he has most certainly deserved this award. I am also delighted for the Institute, which is one of our flagships. But this is also excellent news for the University as a whole: we are thrilled and proud.”
Armido Studer’s research is “marked by creativity and a spirit of innovation” in the chemistry of organic radicals, is how the DFG explained its decision. Studer develops sustainable synthesis processes with organic radicals. His work involves reactive molecules which have at least one unpaired electron. These radicals can be used to transfer molecular fragments to another place in a molecule. As a worldwide pioneer in green radical chemistry, Armido Studer established tin-free reactions and utilised the so-called TEMPO radical for new types of transformation of molecules. He shaped sustainable synthesis chemistry by means of innovative photocatalysis and triple catalysis, which led to groundbreaking studies in water activation. In the past few years, he has been investigating the concrete practical uses of electrons as catalysts. This concept has already been applied in a series of chemical reactions. In addition, Studer has made visionary contributions in other fields, for example the synthesis of metal nanoparticles and controlled radical polymerisation.
Armido Studer
Armido Studer was born in Switzerland and grew up in the municipality of Visperterminen in the Canton of Valais. After studying chemistry and taking his doctorate at the Technical University (ETH) of Zurich, he moved to the University of Pittsburgh (USA) as a postdoc. After a series of positions at ETH Zurich, where he completed his habilitation in 2000, and at the University of Marburg, he was appointed in 2004 to a professorship at the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the University of Münster. He has already received numerous awards and fundings for his research, including two Advanced Grants from the European Research Council (ERC) – one, in 2016, for a project entitled “The electron as a catalyst”, and another one in 2024 for a project involving hydrogen atom transfer reactions. In 2025 the German Chemical Society awarded him the Adolf von Baeyer commemorative coin. In 2024, for example, he received the Paracelsus Prize from the Swiss Chemical Society, and in 2014 the Research Prize of the University of Münster. Studer, 58, is a member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts, as well as of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. He is also spokesperson of the Münster/Nagoya (Japan) International Research Training Group entitled “Functional π-systems”.
The Leibniz Prize
The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize is awarded annually and is the most important Research Prize in Germany. Every year, up to ten prizes can be awarded, each worth 2.5 million euros. The aim of the Leibniz programme is to improve the working conditions of outstanding researchers, expand their opportunities for research, relieve them of administrative workloads and make it easier for them to employ particularly qualified younger researchers. The funding is granted only after being proposed by a third party. The decision on who is to receive the award is taken by the DFG’s Joint Committee. For this year’s selection procedure, a total of 144 proposals were submitted, from which the Committee chose ten award-winners. The Leibniz Prizes will be presented in Berlin on 18 March 2026. Since 1990, 17 current or former Münster University professors have received a Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize.