Ewald Wicke was born in Wuppertal, Germany, on August 17, 1914 and died on March 7, 2000 in Münster. In 1933, he started studying for a degree in chemistry and physics at the University of Cologne. After changing to the University of Göttingen, he got his PhD in physical chemistry in 1938 as a scholar of A. Eucken. About ten years later, he became a professor in Göttingen. In 1954, he was called to the University of Hamburg, and in 1959, to the University of Münster. As the head of the Institute of Physical Chemistry, he intensified his scientific research in the field of heterogeneous catalysis and especially on metal-hydrogen systems up to about 1990. Together with a great number of coworkers, he studied the kinetics of hydrogen uptake by metals and the thermodynamics and electronic structures of metal-hydrogen systems, as well as numerous physical properties of various metal and metal-alloy hydrogen systems. He was one of the pioneers in the field of metal-hydrogen systems and can take responsibility for forming the community of metal "hydriders" by his many activities as a chemist and scientist, an organizer of MH conferences, an editor of proceedings, and a fair and active discussion partner.
In 1996, Ewald Wicke initiated and established the Ewald Wicke-Foundation. The aim of this foundation is to support young students or scientists in physical chemistry (particularly those from the Wicke school) to allow them to visit important scientific conferences. Following this idea, the Kuratorium of the Ewald Wicke-Foundation decided to offer an Ewald Wicke Award (1000 Euro) to the series of the international MH Symposia. The prize is earmarked for promising junior MH scientists (under 35 years) to allow them to visit international MH conferences. The first prizewinner at MH2000 (in Noosa, Australia) was Dr. Huabin Yang, Nankai University, China; the second one at MH2002 (in Annecy, France) Dr. Jun Chen, Nankai University, China; and the third one at MH2004 (in Cracow, Poland) Dr. Andreas Borgschulte, Vrije University Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Active participants at MH2006 who are under 35 and would like to compete for the award are invited to email an application to the conference secretariat at MH2006@nist.gov no later than September 17, 2006. (N.B., former winners of EWA will not be considered.) The application should contain:
The decision about the prizewinner is delegated to a special EWA selection board and the winner will be announced during the Symposium Banquet.