Prof. Dr. Oliver Dumele
Managing Director of Organic Chemistry
University of Cologne
Greinstrasse 4
50939 Köln, Germany
e-Mail: odumele –at– uni-koeln.de
Administrative office:
Anja Bitners
e-Mail: anja.bitners –at– uni-koeln.de
Phone: +49 (0)221 470 5753
Oliver studied chemistry at the University of Mainz and UC Berkeley. Following research projects at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, BASF Ludwigshafen, and NUS Singapore, he moved to Switzerland for his doctoral studies. In 2015, he received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from ETH Zurich in the group of Prof. F. Diederich. After postdoctoral research with Prof. S. I. Stupp at Northwestern University, he established his independent research group at Humboldt University Berlin. In 2023, he was appointed Professor of Functional Organic Materials at the University of Freiburg. Since 2025, he has held the Chair of Organic Chemistry as Full Professor at the University of Cologne. His current research focuses on the design and synthesis of supramolecular materials, photomagnetic molecular switches, and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with applications in sensing and battery materials.
Curriculum vitae
born 1987 in Ludwigshafen a. Rhein
Academic Appointments
| since 2025 | Full Professor and Chair of Organic Chemistry (W3), University of Cologne |
| 2023–2025 | Associate Professor for Functional Organic Materials (W3), University of Freiburg |
| 2019–2023 | Assistant Professor (Group Leader), Humboldt University of Berlin. Mentor: Prof. S. Hecht |
| 2016–2018 | Postdoctoral Researcher with Prof. S. I. Stupp, Northwestern University, USA |
Education and Training
| 2011–2015 | PhD in Supramolecular Organic Chemistry with Prof. F. Diederich, ETH Zurich |
| 2011 | Visiting Researcher, National University of Singapore with Prof. T. Choon-Hong (4 months) |
| 2011 | Internship at BASF, Ludwigshafen, Germany (4 months) |
| 2010–2011 | Diploma Thesis, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany with Prof. K. Müllen and Prof. T. Weil |
| 2009 | Research Stay at the University of California, Berkeley, USA with Prof. J. M. J. Fréchet (9 months) |
| 2006–2011 | Diploma Studies in Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany. Intermediate and final grade 1.0 (A+) |
Honors, Awards and Scholarships
| 2024 | JSP Fellowship (Bürgenstock Conference) |
| 2023 | Ernst Haage Prize |
| 2023 | European Young Investigator Award, European Chemical Society, Organic Division |
| 2023 | Dozentenpreis of the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie / German Chemical Industry Fund |
| 2022 | BMBF “BattFutur” Research Group Award, Federal Ministry of Education and Research |
| 2022 | Thieme Chemistry Journals Award |
| 2020 | University of Zurich–Humboldt University Berlin Seed Funding Collaboration Award (with M. Rickhaus) |
| 2019 | Young Innovator Award at the Forum of Young Leading Scientists, Berlin (10,000 EUR) |
| 2019 | Liebig Award of the German Chemical Industry Fund (5 years allowance) |
| 2018 | Postdoctoral Professional Development Award, Northwestern University |
| 2017–2018 | Leopoldina Postdoctoral Fellowship, German National Academy of Sciences |
| 2016 | SNF Postdoctoral Fellowship, Swiss National Science Foundation |
| 2016 | ETH Medal for the most outstanding PhD Thesis |
| 2012–2015 | Kekulé Doctoral Scholarship, German Chemical Industry Fund |
| 2012–2014 | Doctoral Scholarship of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes) |
| 2007–2011 | Scholarship of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes) |
| 2006 | German Chemical Society (GDCh) Award for Outstanding Achievements in Chemistry at High School |
| 2006 | Jugend forscht National Prize Winner (Chemistry) for Sustainability Research in Biotechnology |
| 2005 | Third Round Award of the German Chemistry Olympiad |
Professional Service and Memberships
| 2021–present | International Advisory Board of the European Journal of Organic Chemistry |
| 2020–present | Reviewer Board of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstifung) |
| 2024–2025 | Member of the Freiburg Center for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies (FIT) |
| 2024–2025 | Member of the Freiburg Materials Research Center (FMF) |
| 2021–2024 | Member of the Integrative Research Institute for the Sciences (IRIS) Adlershof, Berlin |
| 2019–2024 | Principal Investigator within the Max Planck Research School on Multiscale Bio-Systems |