Dr. Richard Wirth  has been awarded one of the most prestigious prizes of the German Mineralogical Society (DMG) - the Abraham-Gottlob-Werner Medal - in recognition of nearly 50 years of outstanding contributions to mineralogy. In its laudatory address, the DMG highlights “his innovative research and his dedication to the international scientific community”.

Dr. Richard Wirth is particularly well known for his advances in the field of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), whose methodology he pioneered and further developed. In addition, he has made important contributions to a wide variety of topics in mineralogy and materials science, while also distinguishing himself in the fields of organic geochemistry and geo-bio-interactions through “extremely innovative” work.

Dr. Wirth has also been shaping research at the GFZ for many years: In 1994, he founded the TEM laboratory here, which he headed until 2020. Since then, he has continued his research as a visiting scientist in Section 3.5, Interface Geochemistry.

Particularly worthy of recognition is his great willingness to collaborate, especially in making the methods he developed available to other scientists. The numbers speak for themselves: his publication list includes more than 1,000 co-authors from all over the world.