Prohibition and Curiosity as Driving Force Towards Limits
Wednesday, 12. October 2016 | 11:15 Uhr
Speaker
Organisation
Reporting
In his presentation, Professor Detlef Günther of ETH Zurich talked about various experiences in border areas.
As a young scientist, his research in the German Democratic Republic faced insurmountable obstacles because of the closed borders. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, his Russian language skills were no longer in demand and he had to learn English as quickly as possible.
Later, the Arctic conditions on Newfoundland presented him with technical limits. He summarized his experiences as follows: „An obstacle remains an obstacle until it is overcome.” However, there are always new challenges to tackle – but the first attempt is not always successful.
Detlef Günther
He was born in Köthen (Germany) in 1963. He obtained his diploma in Chemistry (1987) and his Dr. Rer.Nat. in Analytical Chemistry (1990) from the Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany) under the supervision of Professor L. Moenke-Blankenburg.
After carrying out postdoctoral studies in the Plant Biochemistry Institute in Halle (Germany), in the Earth Science Departments of Memorial University Newfoundland (Canada) and of ETH Zurich, he became Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry at ETH Zurich.
Detlef Günther was promoted to Associate Professor for Trace Element and Micro Analysis in 2003 and became Full Professor in 2008 in the Department of Chemistry and Applied Sciences. He chaired the Department from 2010 until 2012.
Prof. Detlef Günther’s research is focused on instrument and method development for high spatially resolved trace element analysis and isotope ratio determinations using laser ablation and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. His work is documented in more than 350 research articles and has been recognized by the Ruzicka Award (2002), the European Award for Plasma Spectrochemistry (2003), the Fresenius Award (2007), the Lester Strock Award (2007), and the Simon-Widmer Award (2015).
He has been ‘Einstein Fellow’ (2013-2015, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany) and received the ‘Thousand Talent Fellowship’ in 2013 (Wuhan University, China). In 2014, he was elected as a member of the German National Academy of Science Leopoldina. He has served as Vice President for Research and Corporate Relations at ETH Zurich since 2015.
