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Alexander von Humboldt Professorship 2026

Reinhard Maurer

Reinhard Maurer is a pioneer in the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence methods to theoretical chemistry. The methods he has developed are important for computer-aided material science and can also be transferred to other subject areas. Both the German research landscape and the chemical industry are set to benefit equally from his scientific work.

  • Nominating University: University of Göttingen together with the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences
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Theoretical chemistry

Reinhard Maurer’s research focuses on the theory and simulation of molecular reactions on surfaces and in materials. The application of machine learning and artificial intelligence is also pioneering in this field, in chemistry and computer-aided materials science. Together with an interdisciplinary team, Reinhard Maurer has managed to establish a new, path-breaking approach that uses deep learning to predict the results of experiments or simulations. With the algorithm he has developed, for instance, it is possible to calculate molecular structures that are required for certain desired chemical properties. It enables inverse design, which is of particular significance to materials research and drug development. This method can, however, also be applied to a raft of other problems in chemistry, physics and biology.  

Maurer’s work not only shines in theoretical method and programme development but also in cooperation with experimental research groups. The predictions about structures and structure formation processes made possible by his methods often make a significant contribution to understanding ongoing processes and interpreting measurement results. 

As an excellently connected Humboldt Professor with global reach, Maurer is invited to take on a role with enormous potential for the future and lead Göttingen into the international vanguard: the Campus Institute Data Science (CIDAS) is a central scientific unit at the University of Göttingen and also a hub for cross-faculty collaboration in data science. This is where Maurer is scheduled to develop an internationally visible platform for scientific AI and predictive modelling, bringing together experts from theoretical chemistry to bioinformatics. 

Brief bio

A native of Austria, Reinhard Maurer completed his doctorate at TUM Munich in 2014 before becoming a postdoc at Yale University, United States. In 2017, he relocated to the University of Warwick, UK, as an assistant professor, becoming an associate professor in 2020 and a full professor in 2022. As of 2022, he has held a double professorship there in computational surface chemistry and interface physics. Amongst others, he is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the American Chemical Society and the German Physical Society. In 2019, he was awarded a Future Leaders Fellowship by UK Research and Innovation and in 2022, an ERC Starting Grant. In 2024, he received the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Faraday early career Prize: Marlow Prize. 

Reinhard Maurer has been selected for a Humboldt Professorship and is currently conducting appointment negotiations with the German university that nominated him for the award. If the negotiations end successfully, the award will be granted in 2026.