Stefan Walter Hell#
Photo: Carola Ronellenfitsch, MPImF
| Membership Number: | 7519 |
| Membership type: | ORDINARY |
| Section: | PHYSICS |
| Elected: | 2026 |
| Main Country of Residence: | GERMANY |
| Homepage(s): | https://nanobiophotonics.mpibpc.mpg.de/ |
| X: | @Stefan_W_Hell |
| Linkedin: | https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-hell-223760243 |
| Publication Link: | https://nanobiophotonics.mpibpc.mpg.de/ |
Present and Previous Positions
- Present Director, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Göttingen, Head of the Department of NanoBiophotonics;
- Present Director, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg, Head of the Department of Optical Nanoscopy;
- Present Hon. Prof. of Experimental Physics, University of Göttingen
- Present Hon. Prof., Department of Physics and Astronomy, Heidelberg University
- Until 2017 German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Head of the Optical Nanoscopy Division
- 2003 - 2017 Adj. Prof., Faculty of Physics, Heidelberg University
- 1997 - 2002 Group leader, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry Göttingen, Germany (now MPI for Multidisciplinary Sciences)
- 1993 - 1994 Visiting Scientist, Dept. Engineering Science, Oxford University, UK
- 1993 - 1996 Principal Scientist, Laser Microscopy Group; University of Turku, Finland
- 1991 - 1993 Postdoctoral Researcher, EMBL (European Molecular Biology Laboratory)
Fields of Scholarship
- Discovery of the on-off switching of (fluorescence) signal as key mechanism for overcoming the diffraction resolution limit
- Invention and development of STED microscopy and related concepts
- Physical concepts for breaking the diffraction barrier in a microscope using conventional lenses
Honours and Awards
- 2001 Helmholtz Prize for Metrology (co-recipient)
- 2002 Karl Heinz Beckurts Prize
- 2004 Gottlieb Daimler- and Karl Benz Prize, Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences
- 2006 Deutscher Zukunftspreis, the Federal President’s Award for Technology and Innovation
- 2007 Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics
- 2008 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation (DFG)
- 2008 Lower Saxony State Award (Niedersächsischer Staatspreis)
- 2009 Otto Hahn Prize in Physics
- 2011 Körber European Science Prize (Physical Sciences)
- 2013 Paul Karrer Medal
- 2013 Carus Medal of the Leopoldina Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften
- 2014 Hall of Fame of German Research
- 2014 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience, with Thomas W. Ebbesen and Sir John B. Pendry
- 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, with William E. Moerner and Eric Betzig
- 2015 Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg
- 2015 Glenn T. Seaborg Medal
- 2015 Doctor honoris causa, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
- 2016 Doctor honoris causa, King’s College London, United Kingdom
- 2016 Semmelweis Budapest Award, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
- 2016 Knight Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- 2018 Ellis Island Medal of Honor
- 2018 Doctor honoris causa, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
- 2022 Werner-von-Siemens-Ring, Werner-von-Siemens-Ring Foundation, Germany
- 2023 Medal of Honor “In Publica Commoda”, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany
- 2025 Lower Saxony Land Medal, Land of Lower Saxony, Germany
- 2025 Listed on Clarivate Analytics' “Highly Cited Researchers 2025” list
- Academies
- 2007 Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities, ordinary member
- 2009 Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, corresponding Member
- 2012 Romanian Academy, honorary member
- 2013 Leopoldina German National Academy, ordinary member
- 2014 Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, ordinary member
- 2016 National Academy of Sciences (NAS)
- 2016 German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech)
- 2019 Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS)
