Prof. Dr. Sandra Luber
Prof. Dr. Sandra Luber is a distinguished theoretical and computational researcher with a broad academic career that spans forefront method development and advanced applications. Her scientific excellence has been recognized through numerous prestigious awards—several of which she earned as the first female or the first theoretician.
Sandra Luber studied chemistry at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, and ETH Zurich, Switzerland, where she earnerd the Master’s degree (MSc ETH Chemistry). She completed her PhD (Dr. sc. ETH Zurich) in (relativistic) quantum chemistry and theoretical spectroscopy under the supervision of Markus Reiher. After a postdoctoral stay in the field of bioinformatics with Mihaela Zavolan at Biozentrum of the University of Basel, Switzerland, she joined Victor S. Batista’s group at Yale University, USA. Following industry experience (no research) at BASF SE, she became project group leader with Jürg Hutter at University of Zurich where she completed her habilitation in 2016. In 2017, she was appointed professor at the University of Zurich and awarded a prestigious SNSF Professorship, among others.
Besides various awards at music/sport competitions, research awards include the IBM Research Prize for Computer Modelling and Simulations in Chemistry, Biology, and Materials Science, Forschungskredit, and the ETH medal for an outstanding PhD thesis.
She was the first theoretician to receive the Clara Immerwahr Award and the Jochen Block Prize from the German Catalysis Society. Moreover, she was the first female scientist to obtain the Hellmann Award (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Theoretische Chemie), the Walter Thiel Award (European Chemical Society), and the Robin Hochstrasser Young Investigator Award. Additional accolades include the Werner Prize (Swiss Chemical Society), OpenEye Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, Carl Duisberg Memorial Prize (German Chemical Society), Coblentz Award (Coblentz Society), Philip J. Stephens Award, and the Early Career Award in Theoretical Chemistry (American Chemical Society).
Selected awards
| Year | Prize |
|---|---|
| 09/2025 | Walter Thiel Award of the European Chemical Society (first woman awarded) |
| 08/2024 | Early Career Award in Theoretical Chemistry from the American Chemical Society |
| 08/2024 | Philip J. Stephens Award for outstanding publication in the field of vibrational optical activity |
| 06/2021 | Coblentz Award from the Coblentz Society |
| 04/2019 | OpenEye Outstanding Junior Faculty Award of the Computer Division of the American Chemical Society |
| 03/2019 | Carl Duisberg Gedächtnispreis of the German Chemical Society (established in 1936, first awardee from a Swiss research institution) |
| 03/2019 | Jochen Block Prize of the German Catalysis Society (first theoretician awarded) |
| 05/2018 | Selected for a special issue about rising stars in Computational Materials Science |
| 04/2018 | Werner Prize of the Swiss Chemical Society |
| 09/2017 | Robin Hochstrasser Young Investigator Award (first woman awarded) |
| 08/2017 | Hans G. A. Hellmann Award of Arbeitsgemeinschaft Theoretische Chemie (established in 1999; first female scientist awarded) |
| 02/2017 | Clara Immerwahr Award (first theoretical scientist awarded) |
| 01/2012 | Start-In Program for Young Talents, BASF SE, Germany (no research) |
| 09/2010 | Selected for ‘Mentoring Deutschschweiz’, Switzerland |
| 05/2010 | Medal of ETH Zürich for outstanding PhD thesis |
| 10/2007 | IBM Research Prize for Computer Modelling and Simulations in Chemistry, Biology, and Materials Science for outstanding Master thesis (first woman awarded) |
| 06/2000 | Prize of the Fund of the Chemical Industry |
| 1994 – 1998 | Various prizes at music competitions |