Executive Board Election 2026 (Term of office 2027–2030)

Dr. Marcus Altmaier studied chemistry at the University of Cologne and submitted his doctoral thesis there in the field of nuclear chemistry in 1999. Since December 2000, M. Altmaier has worked at the Institute for Nuclear Waste Disposal of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT-INE). KIT-INE conducts safety research in the context of nuclear waste disposal. Key activities focus on investigating various (geo)chemical processes that may be required as part of safety analyses. Nuclear chemistry research is highly relevant in this field in order to reliably predict the behaviour of, in particular, long-lived radionuclides such as plutonium in different scenarios.

M. Altmaier’s scientific work primarily covers the chemistry of actinides and long-lived fission products in aqueous solution. Numerous studies focus on the solubility and complex formation of actinides in aqueous systems relevant to geological disposal. The fundamental scientific work includes determining and evaluating thermodynamic data, as well as deriving robust model parameters for describing ion–ion interaction processes. The work requires complementary spectroscopic analyses, and Mr Altmaier has gained a good overview of modern analytical and radiochemical methods based on many years of experience in this field of research. Dr Altmaier works on numerous application-oriented externally funded projects as part of fundamental safety research. One focus is the substantive preparation and coordination of collaborative projects in a European and international context.

Dr. Gert Langrock works in the Radiochemical Laboratory of Framatome GmbH in Erlangen. He studied chemistry at Leipzig University. He completed his dissertation, "Problems of Liquid Scintillation Spectroscopy in Transactinide Experiments", at the Institute of Nuclear Chemistry at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz under Prof. Dr. Jens Volker Kratz.

He has been working for Framatome since 2003, focusing primarily on experimental studies of the chemistry of fission products in nuclear power plant accidents and the behaviour of core melts. At the same time, he has also been active for many years as a project manager in R&D projects. He also works in numerous customer and service projects in various roles. From 2006 to 2011, he was also a lecturer at Nuremberg University of Applied Sciences for the subject "Radiochemistry and Nuclear Technology".

Dr. Katharina Müller has headed the “Interfacial Processes” department at the Institute of Resource Ecology at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (IRE / HZDR) since 2021.

After studying waste management and contaminated sites at TU Dresden and completing a research stay at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Brazil), she obtained her doctorate in 2010 at the then Institute of Radiochemistry of the Dresden-Rossendorf Research Centre. She subsequently received research fellowships at the École Nationale Supérieur de Chimie de Paris (France) and Kyoto University (Japan).

In the “Interfacial Processes” department at IRE / HZDR, she and her colleagues investigate the reactions of long-lived radionuclides at water–mineral interfaces. To this end, they combine modern spectroscopy and microscopy methods to study in situ the molecular environment of actinides and fission products in aqueous solutions, at interfaces and in solid phases. The complexation reactions and complex structures identified can characterise and quantify these interactions. They thus provide a sound basis for a reliable thermodynamic description of the systems studied, which can be integrated into thermodynamic databases. The quality-assured databases, in turn, form the basis for predictive calculations of the mobility of radionuclides as part of a long-term safety assessment of repositories for nuclear waste.

Bernd Neumaier studied chemistry at the University of Cologne and completed his doctorate in nuclear chemistry in 1996 under Professor G. Stöcklin. From 1996 to 2006, he headed the Cyclotron/Radiopharmacy Division in the Department of Nuclear Medicine at Ulm University Hospital. In addition to routine production, he was responsible for radiochemical research. In 2006, he moved to the Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research. In 2009, he obtained his postdoctoral qualification in nuclear chemistry at the University of Cologne. After turning down a W3 professorship at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) of Heidelberg’s Ruprecht Karl University, he accepted an appointment to a W3 professorship at Cologne University Hospital in 2013. There, he founded the Institute of Radiochemistry and Experimental Molecular Imaging. In 2015, he was appointed to a W3 professorship at the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine: Nuclear Chemistry (INM-5) at Forschungszentrum Jülich, where he has been director ever since. Bernd Neumaier was a long-standing committee member of the Working Group for Radiochemistry and Radiopharmacy and a board member of the German Society of Nuclear Medicine. He is also still a member of the DGN’s Radiopharmacy Committee.

His main research areas can be summarised as follows: the development of new radiofluorination methods and their practical application in establishing new radiotracers for PET imaging. The focus here is on neurological tracers for visualising pathophysiological processes and elucidating the function and structure of the brain. Another key area of research is the development and production of non-standard radionuclides and their use in therapy.

Further information will follow.

Dr. Alice Seibert studied chemistry at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and completed her doctorate in 1999 at its Institute of Nuclear Chemistry under Prof. Dr. Jens-Volker Kratz as part of a federal collaborative project on radioactive waste repository research. After completing her doctorate, she continued this work at the University of Mainz.

From 2001 to 2005, she worked at the Institute for Nuclear Waste Disposal of the Karlsruhe Research Centre (now the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT-INE)) in the field of the aquatic chemistry of the actinides. After a fellowship at the Institute for Transuranium Elements (now the Joint Research Centre Karlsruhe, JRC Karlsruhe) in the field of surface science and fuel corrosion, she moved in 2011 to WAK GmbH Reprocessing Plant Karlsruhe (now KTE) to take on a role providing scientific advice on ongoing operational and contract work in dismantling and the accreditation of the radiochemical laboratory.

Since the end of 2013, she has been employed as a European Commission official at JRC Karlsruhe and has been involved in projects in the field of nuclear safety research and radioactive waste disposal.