Ulrich S. Schubert, born in 1969, is Chair (W3) for Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany. He studied chemistry at the Universities of Frankfurt and Bayreuth and subsequently received his PhD from the Universities of Bayreuth and South Florida, Tampa, USA. After a postdoctoral stay with Jean-Marie Lehn (Nobel Prize 1987), he qualified as a professor at the Technical University of Munich, held a professorship (C3) at the LMU Munich and was Full Professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands from 2000 to 2007. Since 2007, Ulrich S. Schubert has been working at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena.

Leitmotif

We have to save the world!

Activities

Ulrich S. Schubert is currently director of the Jena Center for Soft Matter (JCSM), the Center for Energy and Environmental Chemistry (CEEC) Jena, speaker of the DFG Collaborative Research Center 1278 “PolyTarget” and the DFG Priority Program 2248 “Polymer-based Batteries”. Ulrich S. Schubert is also an External Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces Potsdam and a Scientific Member of the MPG, as well as an elected member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) and a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI, USA). With over 1,150 scientific publications, he has been one of the “Highly Cited Researchers” for many years. Numerous patents have so far led to 10 spin-offs and new companies. In addition to science, Ulrich S. Schubert is also socially committed. One of the foundations he established (“Kultur- und Sozialstiftung Internationale Junge Orchesterakademie”) promotes young musicians and supports children suffering from cancer and serious illnesses.

Awards

Ulrich S. Schubert was a fellow of the German Chemical Industry Association, received the Bavarian Habilitation Award (Zehetmaier Award) and the Habilitation Award of the Macromolecular Chemistry Division of the German Chemical Society, as well as a Heisenberg Fellowship of the DFG. In 2004 he received the VICI Award of the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) (Netherlands), in 2009 the Jan Pieter Lemstra Innovation Award of the Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI), and in 2010 the International Biannual BPG Award of the Belgian Polymer Group (BPG). His spin-off ideas were honored in 2015 with the IQ Innovation Award Central Germany (category Chemistry/Plastics) for JenaBatteries GmbH and the Thuringia Innovation Award (category “Young Companies”) for SmartDyeLivery GmbH, and in 2017 with the Thuringia Research Award for Applied Research for research on polymer redox flow batteries. For his scientific and social activities, Ulrich S. Schubert received the Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany (“Bundesverdienstkreuz”) in 2018 and was “University Teacher of the Year 2019”, awarded by the German University Association / Die ZEIT.

Focus

Ulrich S. Schubert is involved in the production and characterization of polymer materials for various applications. These include the development of pharmapolymers for medical applications, such as
nanomedicine. Further research focuses are self-healing materials and sustainable polymers for the forthcoming energy transition (batteries, hydrogen generation), with artificial intelligence methods increasingly being applied.

Methods

• Polymer synthesis (controlled polymerization methods, high-throughput methods)
• Polymer characterization with high-end techniques
• Particle formulation and particle characterization
• Functionalization and characterization in nanoscale
• Electron microscopy