Johannes Lercher

We are very pleased to announce that EFCATS former President Prof. Johannes Lercher of TU München and PNNL is the recipient of the 2023 Michel Boudart Award for the Advancement of Catalysis. The Award is sponsored by the Haldor Topsøe Company, and is administered jointly by the North American Catalysis Society and the European Federation of Catalysis Societies. It is awarded biennially in odd-numbered years. Professor Lercher will give plenary lectures at the meetings of the North American Catalysis Society (NAM) and the European Federation of Catalysis Societies (EuropaCat). The award consists of a plaque and a prize of $6,000. The plaque will be presented during the closing banquet ceremonies at the 2023 North American Meeting of the Catalysis Society (NAM28 in Providence).

The Michel Boudart Award recognizes and encourages individual contributions to the elucidation of the mechanism and active sites involved in catalytic phenomena and to the development of new methods or concepts that advance the understanding and/or practice of heterogeneous catalysis.

Professor Lercher is recognized for seminal contributions to define and quantify the centers that bind reacting molecules, to characterize the environment around these centers, and to quantify the impact that the solid and/or mobile environment has on the reacting molecules. Addressing this complexity required pioneering work in characterizing “simultaneously” the solid as well as mobile phase under conditions relevant for the catalytic transformation. The approach enabled, however, to tie together understanding of the impact of liquid-solid interfaces on the reacting molecules and the additional influences by external electric potentials. The profound analysis of the catalytic phenomena at the microscopic level, studying the influence of short- and long-range interactions between the reactant molecules and the solid catalysts has strongly influenced our way to understand how reactions occur on solid catalysts. The holistic approach linking advanced physicochemical characterization of catalysts and their action with detailed kinetic analyses has opened a new paradigm to catalysis research.

Please join as in congratulating Professor Lercher!

Prof. Bert Weckhuysen

President, European Federation of Catalysis Societies