Prof. Notker Rösch, from the Institute of High Performance Computing of the Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), visited our lab today. He gave an IRCE2 Lecture named Reduced Centers of the MoVOx Catalyst for Hydrocarbon Oxidation. To Localize or not to Localize, That is the Question.

Professor Notker Rösch is the head of the Catalysis Modelling Group at the Institute of High Performance Computing of the Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). Before, he served as Professor of Theoretical Chemistry at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) for three decades, now continuing his research there as emeritus. In 2008 he was appointed Founding Director of the Catalysis Research Center of TUM; he led this institute until 2013.

Professor Rösch’s research focused on DFT methods; his group at TUM developed the DFT software ParaGauss and the utility package ParaTools. His current research mainly addresses challenges in heterogeneous and homogenous catalysis. He published 480 papers in scientific journals, and about 40 contributions to multi-authored volumes, as well as a textbook; he achieved an h-index of 71.

As a guest, Professor Rösch taught at universities around the world, recently at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, and the Technical University in Vienna, Austria. In 2005, Sofia University, Bulgaria, bestowed an honorary doctorate on him. In 2009, the Royal Society of Chemistry invited him to join as fellow. In 2012, TUM honored him with its highest distinction for scientific achievements, the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Medal.