Prof. em. Dr. Reinhard Nesper

Reinhard Nesper has been full Professor in the Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry at the ETH Zurich since October 1990.

He was born on April 9, 1949 in Elze/Hannover, studied chemistry at the University of Münster/Westfalia and completed a dissertation on oxidic tin systems at the Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart under the supervision of Professor von Schnering. From 1978 on to 1990 he was scientist at this institute, interrupted by a research visit at Cornell University with Professor Roald Hoffmann. During this period he investigated rare earth metal compounds, silicides and germanides of main group elements resulting amongst others with a new modification of silicon and germanium, respectively, and intermetallic phases. Besides the determination of physical properties the theory of solids became more and more of a focus, concerning on the one hand general structure directing principles like periodic minimal and nodal surfaces and on the other the calculation of band structures for investigating local chemical bonding in intermetallics. In 1987 he was offered an associate professorship at the Iowa State University which he did not accept and in the year 1989 he received his habilitation from the University of Stuttgart.

After the move to ETH Zurich he built up the field of solid state chemistry at the Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry and contributed to the new structure of the laboratory as head of inorganic chemistry from 1992 to 1996. In 1996 the Max-Planck-Society elected him to a foundation directorship of the new Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Physics in Dresden (rejected). His main research interests are general solid state chemistry, structure determination and electronic structure of solids (using amongst others the electron localization function ELF) as well as new materials, nano-sized structures, structure property relations and models for structure formation and phase transitions. There are interdisciplinary collaborations with the Paul-Scherrer Institute on high energy battery research and oxidic systems, with the materials and polymer sciences on templated synthesis (TEMA), with the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research on structure formation principles, and in the VISDOME project for 3D-visualisation at the ETH.

He is member of the Planning Commission of ETH, of the International Scientific Committee of the European Solid State Chemistry Conferences and honorary editor of the Journal of Alloys and Compounds.