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Hans-Hellmann-Lecture

Portrait of Hans Hellmann at the Karpov Institute of Physical Chemistry, Moscow (oil painting by Tatjana Liwschitz after a photograph, Moscow, 1999) [Image source: Detail of a photograph by W. H. E. Schwarz, Siegen; courtesy of W. H. E. Schwarz]
Portrait of Hans Hellmann at the Karpov Institute of Physical Chemistry, Moscow (oil painting by Tatjana Liwschitz after a photograph, Moscow, 1999) [Image source: Detail of a photograph by W. H. E. Schwarz, Siegen; courtesy of W. H. E. Schwarz]

The Hans Hellmann Lecture is awarded every two years by the Department of Chemistry at Philipps University of Marburg to leading researchers in the field of quantum chemistry.

It is named after Hans Gustav Adolf Hellmann, co-founder of quantum chemistry 
(* Wilhelmshaven 1903 – † Moscow 1938).

As early as the 1930s, Hellmann investigated quantum chemical approximation methods and descriptive approaches to characterise electron bonding in chemical systems. Among other things, he developed the foundations of the pseudopotential method for molecules and solids under the name “combined approximation method”, which is now one of the most important methods in quantum chemistry for calculating compounds of heavy atoms. He also published articles on quantum chemistry for chemists and laypeople interested in science. 
He wrote the first textbook on quantum chemistry, which was published in 1937, first in Russian and then in German (Einführung in die Quantenchemie, Franz Deuticke Verlag, Leipzig, Vienna, 1937; reprint Springer Spektrum Berlin, Heidelberg 2015 DOI).

Previous award winners are:

2013 Klaus Ruedenberg, Iowa State University, Ames/Iowa, USA
Lecture topic, presented on November 4, 2013:
Three Millenia of Atoms, Molecules and Bonds – the Growth of Scientific Insights in the Atomistic Structure of Matter from Democritos to Hellmann
2015 Pekka Pyykkö, University of Helsinki, Finnland
Lecture topic, presented on December 9, 2015:
Relativistic Effects in Heavy-Element Chemistry
2017 Evert Jan Baerends, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Niederlande
Lecture topic, presented on December 13, 2017:
On the Length and Character of Chemical Bonds. Kinetic Energy and Potential Energy as Signatures of diversity
2019 No Hans Hellmann Memorial Lecture due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
2021 Peter Schwerdtfeger, Massey University Auckland, Neuseeland
Lecture topic, presented on Januray 11, 2023:
When Gold Meets Relativity
(Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2021 prize could not be awarded until 11 January 2023 in Marburg.)
2023 Anna Krylov, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
Lecture topic, presented on December 6, 2023:
Molecular Orbitals: Physical Reality or Mathematical Construct