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His research into a novel concept for main group catalysis has earned Prof. Dr Lutz Greb, a scientist at Heidelberg University’s Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, a highly endowed award from the European Research Council (ERC). The chemist is to receive an ERC Consolidator Grant. With his team, Prof. Greb will investigate how molecular deformation can be used to replace rare metals in catalytic processes with sustainable alternatives based on abundant main-group elements. For this purpose, funding worth approximately 2.8 million euros has been allocated over a period of five years.
Press Release
Heidelberg, 9 December 2025
Chemist at Universität Heidelberg Receives ERC Consolidator Grant
Valuable funding for Lutz Greb – scientist investigates novel concept for sustainable catalysis
His research into a novel concept for main group catalysis has earned Prof. Dr Lutz Greb, a scientist at Heidelberg University’s Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, a highly endowed award from the European Research Council (ERC). The chemist is to receive an ERC Consolidator Grant. The grant goes to young researchers who already have a successful scientific track record and have submitted an excellent research proposal. With his team, Prof. Greb will investigate how molecular deformation can be used to replace rare metals in catalytic processes with sustainable alternatives based on abundant main-group elements. For this purpose, funding worth approximately 2.8 million euros has been allocated over a period of five years, which will also be used to procure large-scale equipment.
At the center of Prof. Greb’s research are chemical elements that are unreactive in their usual forms, but that acquire entirely new properties when structural strain is applied. These so-called molecular p-block systems are also to be activated by external forces such as electric fields, light, and mechanical stimuli, thereby enabling catalytic transformations. In his ERC-funded project “Constraints and Forces for p-Block Element Mediated Bond Activation and Catalysis” (ConstrainoPhores) the researcher and his team will primarily explore the fundamental question of how molecular deformation can be harnessed for applications. For his synthesis projects he also uses data-supported methods and computational approaches. In 2020 Prof. Greb received a five-year ERC Starting Grant for his work – funding that recognizes the scientific excellence of the early-career researchers who receive it as well as the innovative potential of their research ideas.
Lutz Greb graduated at the University of Freiburg and, after research fellowships in Paris (France) and Toronto (Canada), earned his doctorate at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Postdoctoral research then took him to the University of Strasbourg in France. At Heidelberg University from 2016 to 2021, the chemist headed a junior research group, which – besides the ERC Starting Grant – also obtained funding from the Emmy Noether Programme of the German Research Foundation. In 2022 Lutz Greb was appointed Professor for Inorganic Chemistry at Heidelberg University’s Faculty of Chemistry and Earth Sciences, after first holding a professorship at Freie Universität Berlin. Prof. Greb has received several awards for his research studies.
With the ERC Consolidator Grant the European Research Council addresses outstanding researchers with the aim of consolidating their scientific independence. Eligible are scientists who have founded excellent research teams. The grant is intended to further strengthen their activity.
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Chemist at Universität Heidelberg Receives ERC Consolidator Grant – Valuable funding for Lutz Greb – scientist investigates novel concept for sustainable catalysis
https://Further information:
https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/fakultaeten/chemgeo/aci/forschung/index_en.html – Lutz Greb research group
https://erc.europa.eu/news-events/news/erc-2025-consolidator-grants-results – ERC Consolidator Grants
https://erc.europa.eu/homepage – European Research Council
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