Profile
KK
Klaus Kümmerer
Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany
Klaus Kümmerer is Director of the Institute of Sustainable Chemistry (https://www.leuphana.de/en/institutes/isec.html opens in new tab/window) and holds the chair of Sustainable Chemistry and Material Resources at the public Leuphana University Lüneburg. He is also Director of the Research and Education Hub of the International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre (ISC3, www.isc3.org opens in new tab/window) in Bonn.
His research and teaching are focused on Green Chemistry, Sustainable Chemistry, Green Pharmacy, Sustainable Pharmacy, Material Resources, Aquatic Environmental Chemistry with a focus on micro pollutants, and Time in Environmental and Sustainability Research. He developed and leads the worldwide unique extra-occupational online study programs “Sustainable Chemistry (Master of Science)” and “Managing Sustainable Chemistry” (Master of Business Administration) at Leuphana University) as well as the Master of Science Sustainability Science: Resources, Materials, and Chemistry.
He has published extensively in international scientific peer reviewed journals, has edited many scientific books and published many book contributions, gave many invited, keynote and plenary lectures.
In 2021 he was ranked 18th out of a total of 66925 scientists worldwide in the field of environmental sciences (first in Germany measured by citations) according to the Stanford University Ranking, in 2022 he was ranked 13th out of a total of 104,983 scientists worldwide, 1st place in Germany, in 2023 he ranked 16th worldwide out of a total of 99.567, again first in Germany.
He received national and international awards for his interdisciplinary work, for example the prestigious Wöhler Award for Sustainable Chemistry by Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh) in 2023.
In 2023 he has been decorated with the Verdienstkreuz am Bande der Bundesrepublik Deutschland („Bundesverdienstkreuz“, Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Feral Republic of Germany, awarded by the President of Germany).
Klaus Kümmerer serves and served in national (e.g. DFG Senate Commission for Water Research, Board of the Division of Sustainable Chemistry of German Chemical Society GDCh) and international committees including Global Chemical Outlook by UNEP and the EU Technology Platform SusChem Europe as well as IUPAC Interdivisional Committee on Green Chemistry for Sustainable Development (ICGCSD) and also is an Active Voting Member in the European Chemical Society (EuChemS) on behalf of ISC3. Recently, he was appointed by the European Commission as member of the European Commission’s High Level Roundtable on the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability.
He is also the initiator and chair of the annual interdisciplinary Green and Sustainable Chemistry Conference (https://www.elsevier.com/events/conferences/green-and-sustainable-chemistry-conference opens in new tab/window) and the international interdisciplinary annual Summer School Sustainable Chemistry for Sustainable Development. He is founding editor (2016) and editor-in-chief of Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy (IF 6), and Current Opinion in Sustainable Chemistry (2017) (IF 9.3) journals as well as associate editor among others of Chemosphere 2009-2022) and Environmental Pollution (2014 - on going).
- > 300 scientific publications in peer reviewed journals, - h index 64, - > 20 000 citations in total, - top publication > 3 100 citations - the cover or selected as editor’s choice by top journals (e.g. Environmental Science and Technology, Green Chemistry, Nature Reviews Materials) - Editor and co-editor of 15 books - > 100 book contributions - > 400 plenary, key-note and other invited lectures - Organizer and scientific chair many national and international conferences; including annual conference series International Conference on Green and Sustainable Chemistry (8th in 2024, on-going annually) - International Summer School on Sustainable Chemistry (Lüneburg 10th in 2024, on-going, annually) - Several patents on new environmentally biodegradable antibiotics