Martin Stratmann

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Martin Stratmann, 2018

Martin Stratmann (born April 20, 1954 in Essen ) is a German electrochemist and materials scientist ; since June 2014 he has been President of the Max Planck Society (MPG). Prior to that, Stratmann had headed the “Interface Chemistry and Surface Technology” department as a Scientific Member of the MPG and Director at the Max Planck Institute for Iron Research (Düsseldorf) since 2000 . Since 2008 he has been Vice President of the Max Planck Society.

Professional background

After graduating from high school in Traben-Trarbach (Rhineland-Palatinate) in 1973 with distinction, Stratmann began studying chemistry in 1974 at the Ruhr University in Bochum after completing his military service . He was funded by a scholarship from the German National Academic Foundation . He completed his diploma in 1979 with a diploma thesis at the Chair of Physical Chemistry I with the title: "NMR studies of the diffusion of anions and cations in SrCl2". He received his doctorate in 1982 at the Max Planck Institute for Iron Research on electrochemical investigations into phase changes in rust layers. Between 1983 and 1984 Stratmann did research at the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland (USA) as a scholarship holder of the Max Planck Society. Back at the MPI for Iron Research, he was employed as a research assistant in the working group for corrosion research until 1987, when he became group leader of this working group in 1987. 1994–1999 Stratmann moved to the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg , where he held the chair for corrosion and surface technology as successor to Helmut Kaesche. In 2000, Stratmann returned to the MPI for Iron Research as a scientific member and director of the “Interface Chemistry and Surface Technology” department, and two years later became chairman of the management board (the latter office regularly until 2010).

From 2006 to 2008 Stratmann took over the chairmanship of the chemical-physical-technical section of the MPG and became vice-president of the Max Planck Society in 2008. From 2008 to 2014 he was also the managing director of the Minerva Foundation , which was founded as a subsidiary of the MPG in the 1960s and is now considered the flagship of German-Israeli scientific cooperations.

Research priorities

Stratmann's main research areas are electrochemistry and corrosion research. He combines electrochemical with spectroscopic and interface analysis methods and was the first to introduce the Rasterkelvin probe into corrosion research. He showed that electrochemical investigations are also possible under ultra-thin electrolyte films and insulating layers. With the help of the probes he developed, Stratmann was able to largely elucidate the atmospheric corrosion of iron and iron alloys as well as the delamination of polymeric coatings on reactive metal surfaces. Based on the knowledge that the formation of electrochemical elements and in particular the reduction of molecular oxygen is the key to understanding the stability of metal / polymer bonds, Stratmann and co-workers developed new interface chemical concepts that lead to a higher stability of the bond and also to defective self-healing Lead interfaces. These concepts could also be transferred to industrial practice. Together with Allen J. Bard he was "Editor in Chief" of the ten-volume Encyclopedia of Electrochemistry (2007).

Acting as President of the Max Planck Society

After the political discussion that doctoral students were often employed in the Max Planck Society through grants , the pressure increased to eliminate this problematic practice . In the spring of 2015, funding for doctoral students in the Max Planck Society was switched almost exclusively to employment contracts. According to the Max Planck Society, this results in additional costs of 50 million euros per year.

In the summer of 2015, Martin Stratmann - who was then chairman of the Alliance of Science Organizations - wrote a letter to the Federal Minister for Education and Research, Johanna Wanka, on the planned amendment to the Science Contract Act , which represents a special right of limitation for scientific staff . In his letter, he called for the abandonment of potential restrictions on time-limit options, so that short-term and chain-time fixed-term contracts without any objective grounds would also be possible in the future.

Awards, honors and memberships

  • 1979 Award of the Ruhr University Bochum for the best diploma thesis in chemistry of the year
  • 1985 Otto Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society for work on the elucidation of phase boundary reactions and solid state reactions in the growth of rust layers
  • 1990 Masing Prize of the German Society for Material Science for work on the investigation of corrosion reactions under thin electrolyte films
  • 1995 DECHEMA Prize from the Max Buchner Research Foundation
  • 2005 Willis Rodney Whitney Award from the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE)
  • 2005 UR Evans Award from the Institute of Corrosion
  • 2008 HH Uhlig Award from the Electrochemical Society
  • 2013 Carl Lueg commemorative coin from the steel institute VDeh for his achievements in steel research
  • Fellow of the Electrochemical Society
  • Member of Acatech
  • Member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences

Publications (selection)

literature

  • Peter Hergersberg: Skin with a high rust protection factor , in: MaxPlanckForschung 4/2012, pages 64–70 online, PDF (about Stratmann's research area)

Web links

Commons : Martin Stratmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Profile of Martin Stratmann at the MPG
  2. ↑ Masamichi Fujihira, Martin Stratmann, Patrick R. Unwin, Ernesto Julio Calvo, Allen J. Bard, Eliezer Gileadi, S. Licht, Hans J. Schäfer, George S. Wilson, Fritz Scholz, Digby D. Macdonald, et al .: Encyclopedia of Electrochemistry . Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2007, ISBN 978-3-527-61042-6 , doi : 10.1002 / 9783527610426 .
  3. ^ Sven Grünewald: Research grants: Illicit work in the Max Planck Society? Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH, June 10, 2012, accessed on October 25, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Britta Mersch: Anger of the doctoral students: Abolish the scholarships! In: Spiegel Online . March 28, 2012 ( spiegel.de [accessed October 25, 2017]).
  5. ↑ Martin Spiewak: Max Planck Institute: "This is unique" - How the Max Planck Society wants to improve the position of its doctoral students. In: Zeit Online . April 9, 2015, accessed September 24, 2017 .
  6. ↑ 50 million euros for young scientists. Max Planck Society, March 26, 2015, accessed on January 3, 2017 .
  7. ^ Martin Stratmann: Letter to the Federal Minister for Education and Research Johanna Wanka. Alliance of Science Organizations, June 3, 2015, accessed October 25, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Kate Maleike: Temporary Contracts in Science - "There is still no agreement" . Deutschlandfunk ( deutschlandfunk.de [accessed October 25, 2017]).
  9. ^ Yasmin Ahmed Salem: High distinction for steel researchers from Düsseldorf. Max Planck Institute for Iron Research, November 28, 2013, accessed on September 24, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Stratmann, Martin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German electrochemist
DATE OF BIRTH April 20, 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH eat