2019
• TechConnect Innovation Award with the Critical Materials Institute for “Acid-free Dissolution Recycling of Rare Earth Elements and Cobalt”
2018
• R&D 100 2018 Gold Award in Green Tech for “Acid-free Dissolution Recycling of Rare Earth Elements and Cobalt” .
• R&D 100 Award for “Acid-free Dissolution Recycling of Rare Earth Elements and Cobalt” as one of the 100 most technologically significant new products of the year.
• Notable Technology Development Award, Federal Laboratories Consortium, USA for “Resource Sustainability for Rare Earth Materials via Efficient Recycling Technology”
• Ames Laboratory Inventor Incentive Award, Ames Laboratory U.S. DOE, Ames IA, USA
2017
• Göran Gustafsson Prize in Chemistry, Gorän Gustafsson Stiftelse/Kungl.
Vetenskapsakademien/Royal Swedish Academy of Science, Sweden
• Ames Laboratory Inventor Incentive Award, Ames Laboratory U.S. DOE, Ames IA, USA
2016
• Ames Laboratory Inventor Incentive Award, Ames Laboratory U.S. DOE, Ames IA, USA
2013
• Germany at its best – Inventor Award, State of Northrhine-Westphalia, Germany
• Inventor Award, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany
2011
• ERC Proof-of-concept, European Research Council (ERC) Grantee, EC, Brussels, Belgium
2009
• ERC Starting Grant, European Research Council (ERC) Grantee, EC, Brussels, Belgium
2008
• Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, London, UK
2007
• QUILL Lecture, Queen´s Ionic Liquid Laboratories, Belfast, UK
1998
• Dr. Heinrich und Else Heraeus-Förderpreis, Deutsche Gesellschaft der Naturforscher und Ärzte, Germany
• H.C. Starck Award, Division of Solid State and Materials Chemistry,
German Chemical Society
2005
• High Potential Young Scientist Award, Noble Foundation, Stockholm, Sweden
2001
• Wilhelm Klemm Foundation, Münster, Germany
• GEFRUB Dissertation Award, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn, Germany
1996
• Lindau Noble Laureate Meeting, Lindau, Germany
1995
• Heinrich Hörlein Memorial Award, Bayer Foundation, Germany
1990
• Best Chemistry Student, Fonds der Chemischen Industrie, Frankfurt, Germany