Dear Kallol Ray,
What currently motivates you most, personally and in the field of bioinorganic chemistry and catalysis?
What has always fascinated me is the way nature controls chemical reactions-many of which are not only essential for the existence of living organisms, but also for solving today's energy challenges. For several billion years, biological processes have relied on enzymes that successfully catalyse chemical reactions in different cellular compartments. Future catalysis research should therefore focus not only on mimicking the active sites of enzymes, but also on specialised reaction spaces and environments.
What does quality in research mean to you (and is there anything you would like to change in research practice)?
Nowadays, research quality is assessed predominantly on the basis of numerical indicators (number of publications, impact factors, citations, h-index). However, I believe that this approach does not provide an objective measure of a researcher's performance. It is also becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of all relevant articles in a given field. I would like to see a single platform for communicating research findings across all disciplines. This could encourage researchers to focus solely on the quality of their work-without pressure to chase high scores or quantity.
What societal challenges is research in your field currently facing?
The growing emphasis on application-oriented research discourages young researchers from committing to a field such as bioinorganic chemistry, where fundamental research is complex and time-consuming. Publishing our findings is also highly demanding and requires a great deal of patience and perseverance.
I am firmly convinced that it will become increasingly difficult to achieve meaningful progress on the applied side unless substantially more funding and effort are invested in fundamental research. Our work seeks to understand the nature of catalytic processes down to the finest detail. This provides the foundation for developing sustainable systems, for example for the efficient conversion of solar energy or the purposeful use of methane and CO2. It is therefore very important that we are able to attract young talent to this field.
Is there an object that accompanies you in your working life?
No, not really. What does accompany me in my day-to-day work, however, is a passion for science and the anticipation that one day I may perhaps be part of an invention that changes the world.
Your scientific hero?
My esteemed doctoral supervisor, Prof. Karl Wieghardt. His remark, "If you love your science and give something back to it, it will continue to flourish and give something back to you," has had a lasting impact on me. During my training as a scientist and teacher, I also encountered many other mentors with a gift for teaching. Their enthusiasm for research, for passing on knowledge through teaching, and for guiding young students has now become my own, and I am determined to carry on this noble tradition.
May 2026