Universität Würzburg Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy

07/10/2026

Last Saturday, in a lecture hall packed with over 230 children and their parents, we presented the ‘little wonders’ of chemistry during our chemistry show for Maustag. Whether fire, colour, mist or light, the children were able to see through the ‘magic’ and discover the chemistry behind it. We made silver, smashed a rose
to pieces and transformed voices – and, of course, a big bang at the end was
an absolute must.

Afterwards, 20 children were allowed to slip into lab coats and safety goggles and carry out experiments themselves in the lab. In small groups, supervised by current students, they tried to reach the lowest temperature, create the most foam, and bring water to a boil using a macadamia nut. The kids particularly enjoyed that the children were allowed to experiment so freely.

It was our first time participating in Türen auf mit
but certainly won't be the last!

01/10/2026

This Tuesday, the Faculty celebrated the conferall of an honorary doctoral degree on Prof. Dr. Jarugu Narasimha Moorthy. Prof. Moorthy currently teaches at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and was formerly Director of the Indian Instutute of Science Education and Research Thiruvanathapuram (IISER TVM). He was vital to the establishment of our Dual Doctoral Degree Programm with the later and remains an active part of the programm. He is a respected colleague and collaborates on the research of several of our professors.

President Prof. Dr. Paul Pauli and Dekan Prof. Dr. Holger Helten opened the ceremony, followed by laudatios by our own Prof. Dr. Frank Würthner and Prof. Dr. Werner M. Nau of the Constructor University Bremen. After recieving his degree, celebrated by pomp and circumstance, Prof. Moorthy held his own presentation, titeled "Molecular Design with a Twist: From Helicenes to Functions".

Congratulations again to Prof. Dr. Moorthy. We look forward to many further years of constructive collaboration.

25/09/2026

Congratulations to our students Anna Fleck and Moritz Schanbacher on their acceptance into the Bayerische EliteAkademie (BEA)! Anna and Moritz are two of seven students from the JMU that were accepted into the 28th cohort of the Academy. As part of the two-year program that runs concurrently with their studies, they will explore issues of leadership, responsibility, and values-based personal development. The program includes four in-person sessions lasting several weeks each, including a two-week educational trip to a non-European country during the summer break. It also features interactive seminars and workshops, informal gatherings with leaders from business, academia, politics, and culture, as well as outdoor activities and a visit to the European institutions in Brussels. The training is supplemented by a mentoring program and hands-on project work.

We wish both students all the best for what's sure to be an enriching two years!

Interested in applying for 2027? The application phase opens on October 1!

23/09/2026

Proud of the renewed recognition of femtoPro! The project team includes Prof. Dr. Tobias Brixner and Dr. Stefan Müller of our Insititute for Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, together with Prof. Dr. Sebastian von Mammen from the JMU Institute of Computer Science. Their most recent prize is the Teaching Award of the German Physical Society.

Wie lernt man den sicheren Umgang mit Lasern, ohne sich dabei einem Risiko auszusetzen? 🔬🥽

Mit femtoPro hat ein Würzburger Forschungsteam dafür eine virtuelle Lösung entwickelt: In einem simulierten Laserlabor können Studierende mit VR-Brillen realitätsnah experimentieren und Schritt für Schritt lernen, komplexe optische Aufbauten sicher zu bedienen.

Für die Entwicklung wurden Professor Tobias Brixner, Dr. Stefan Müller und Professor Sebastian von Mammen jetzt mit dem Lehrpreis 2026 der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft ausgezeichnet. 🎉

Das Projekt verbindet Physik, Chemie und Informatik und wird mittlerweile an zahlreichen Standorten weltweit eingesetzt. Die Software stellen die Entwickler kostenlos zur Verfügung.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch an das gesamte Team zu dieser Auszeichnung!

👉 Mehr dazu: https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen/single/news/lehrpreis-femtopro/

15/09/2026

This year's summer school was such a blast! 14 highly-motivated students joined us for a week full of lectures, lab tours, and experimenting themselves. They got to know nearly all of our degree programmes, see the campus and city, and make some new friends.

Wishing you all a good start to the school year this week - and maybe we'll see you in a lecture hall here again in a year or two 😉

08/09/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Jan Gerrit Horstmann, who recently beganning establishing his new Emmy Noether Group focusied on ultrafast structural dynamics at the Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry. Together with an interdisciplinary team working at the interface between chemistry and physics, Horstmann will develop new approaches to the optical control of the microscopic motion of atoms.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding the group with just under 2.3 million euros over the next six years.

“In recent years, methods have been developed that make it possible not only to specifically excite certain oscillations with short laser pulses, but also to synchronise them across thousands of unit cells at the same time. In this way, we can oscillate materials into entirely new states that could not be achieved in thermal equilibrium,” Horstmann says.

Gerrit Horstmann and his team are working on this by focusing on a specific class of vibrations: so-called Raman-active vibrations. Using mid-infrared laser pulses, they are attempting, amongst other things, to strongly excite Raman-active vibrations without permanently exciting electrons. This could enable more efficient switching of processes deep within materials, as such excitation would be hardly absorbed at all.

“I am particularly looking forward to the interdisciplinary collaborations at the interface between chemistry and physics, for which there is a unique environment here at the University of Würzburg. From chemical synthesis and optical characterisation through to nanostructuring and the theoretical description of functional materials and molecules, everything comes together in one place here in Würzburg,” emphasises the new Junior Research Group Leader.

For more information see the Einblick article: https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/news-and-events/einblick/single/news/emmy-noether-horstmann/

01/09/2026

We are so proud of the high quality research happening at our Faculty - and are excited to be recognized for it in the newest Nature Index!

21/08/2026

e you a graduate of the Faculty for Chemisty and Pharmacy and interested in sharing your experience in the work force?

We’re looking for alumni open to giving our current students tips, either in writing on our website (https://www.chemie.uni-wuerzburg.de/studium/berufsorientierung/) or in person by our semesterly Alumni-Talk event!

Interested? Message us here or send an email to [email protected]

17/08/2026

One of our dual doctoral degree students, Suvarna Sujilkumar, was recently featured in an article in Chemistry World, in which she spoke about her experiences both at the IISER Thiruvananthapuram and JMU.

As part of the International Research Training Group (IRTG) 2991, Suvarna is one of around ten PhD students from IISER Thiruvananthapuram who are currently undertaking a binational PhD in cooperation with JMU Würzburg. A key component of the dual-degree programme is a research placement of around twelve months at the respective partner university. This enables doctoral candidates to gain international research experience and to deepen academic exchange between India and Germany.

In her career article for Chemistry World, Suvarna offers personal insights into the opportunities and challenges of undertaking a PhD at two universities and in two countries. She describes her academic and intercultural experiences as part of the programme.

You can find the article in Chemistry World: https://www.chemistryworld.com/careers/how-a-binational-phd-opens-two-doors-to-a-future-research-career/4023782.article

For more information on the Dual Doctoral Degree Programm, please visit our website: https://www.chemie.uni-wuerzburg.de/forschung/promotion/dual-doctoral-degree-programme/

11/08/2026

Our new pipetting robot, a part of our data science project funded by the FCI, is ready to go in the student lab building!