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One of the world’s most highly cited scientists, solid-state chemist Claudia Felser is a trailblazer in the development of novel inorganic compounds – especially topological quantum materials. Earlier today in Paris, she received this year’s For Women in Science international award from the L’Oréal Foundation and UNESCO. Now in its 27th year, the prize includes a €100,000 grant. Felser is this year’s laureate for Europe and only the third German scientist ever to receive the honor. She is a principal investigator of the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat (jointly run by the Universities of Würzburg and Dresden) and also serves as a vice president of the Max Planck Society.
Pioneer of Topological Quantum Chemistry
On June 12, 2025, Professor Claudia Felser received the international award For Women in Science from the L’Oréal Foundation and UNESCO for her pioneering work uniting physics, mathematics, and chemistry. The award citation highlights her role in the discovery and synthesis of new magnetic materials with strong potential for sustainable energy technologies. Her visionary research laid the foundation for the field of topological quantum chemistry and triggered a paradigm shift in the study of relativistic matter.
Topological quantum chemistry focuses on predicting, designing, and synthesizing topological quantum materials. Felser’s work has led to the discovery of thousands of such materials, many of which have already been realized – some showing great promise for future technologies such as superconductivity, the lossless transmission of electricity. According to the award citation, her research has built a bridge from fundamental science to real-world challenges in data storage and green energy.
Felser is a professor and director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (CPfS) in Dresden and a vice president of the Max Planck Society. As a principal investigator of the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat – Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter – she has played a vital role in shaping its interdisciplinary research at the intersection of chemistry and physics. She will remain one of the cluster’s principal investigators in its second funding period, beginning in 2026, under its new name ctd.qmat.
Topological Catalysis: CO₂ Breakthrough
Topological catalysis – an emerging field co-founded by Claudia Felser – is one of the applied research priorities the Cluster of Excellence will intensify from 2026 onwards. A patent has already been filed, and a scientific publication is forthcoming. “We aim to transform the waste product CO₂ into valuable chemicals or fuel,” says Felser. The goal is to exploit quantum properties in catalysts to make the necessary electrochemical processes more economical. Felser and her team are aiming for nothing short of a “revolution in CO₂ reduction.” Also in the focus: green hydrogen – a leading contender in the drive to eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels. Topological catalysis is also expected to make the production of green hydrogen far more efficient and cost-effective.
European Award from L’Oréal and UNESCO
On June 12, 2025, five outstanding female scientists were honored at UNESCO headquarters in Paris for their trailblazing contributions to the natural sciences. According to the award organizers, the laureates exemplify the transformative power of women in science. Each year, the L’Oréal-UNESCO international awards For Women in Science recognize exceptional women from five different regions: Africa and the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America. This year marks the 27th presentation of the award. The five winners were selected from a pool of 466 nominees. Claudia Felser is only the third German recipient of the award, which carries a grant of €100,000.
String of Awards for Interdisciplinary Research
Claudia Felser has already been honored with numerous prestigious awards for her boundary-crossing work, including the Tsungming Tu Research Award (2015), the James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials (2019), the Max Born Prize (2022), the Liebig Memorial Medal (2022), the Wilhelm Ostwald Medal and Blaise Pascal Medal (2022), and the EPS Condensed Matter Division Europhysics Prize (2023). In 2023, she was also inducted into the Hall of Fame of German Research by German business publication Manager Magazin.
Felser is a member of several leading scientific academies, including the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (since 2018) and acatech – the German Academy of Science and Engineering (since 2019). She is also an elected member of the European Academy of Sciences (since 2020), and an international member of two US institutions: the National Academy of Engineering (since 2020) and the National Academy of Sciences (since 2021). She is an elected fellow of the British Institute of Physics (since 2012), the American Physical Society (since 2013), and the IEEE Magnetics Society (since 2016). Most recently, in May 2025, Claudia Felser was elected to the Royal Society.
Mentoring the Next Generation of Women in Science
Claudia Felser is one of several internationally renowned female physicists featured in the exhibition “RETHINKING PHYSICS. A Century of Quantum Mechanics – Time for a Female Perspective!” Organized by the ct.qmat Cluster of Excellence, this traveling exhibition celebrates Quantum2025, the United Nations International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. It showcases established and aspiring women scientists who embody a passion for research while challenging stereotypes and redefining success in physics. Currently on display at locations including Technische Sammlungen Dresden (the city’s science museum), the exhibition will travel to more than 50 venues worldwide throughout 2025. Through her involvement, Felser hopes to inspire young women in particular to pursue careers in science: “We can’t afford to lose talent. That’s why outdated structures need to go – along with the stereotypes that assign certain abilities to one gender while denying them to another, especially women.”
Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat
The Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat – Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter – has been jointly run by Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg and Technische Universität (TU) Dresden since 2019. Over 300 scientists from more than thirty countries and four continents study topological quantum materials that reveal surprising phenomena under extreme conditions such as ultra-low temperatures, high pressure, or strong magnetic fields. ct.qmat is funded through the German Excellence Strategy of the Federal and State Governments and is the only Cluster of Excellence in Germany to be based in two different federal states.
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