Peter Schwerdtfeger


Peter A. Schwerdtfeger is a German theoretical chemist based in New Zealand. He holds a chair in theoretical chemistry at Massey University, is director of Massey's Centre for Theoretical Chemistry and Physics, and is head of the New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study. He was elected to the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science in 2012 and received New Zealand's Rutherford Medal in 2014.

Early life and education

Schwerdtfeger gained a qualification as a chemical-technical assistant at the Chemisches Institut Dr. Flad, Stuttgart, in 1973, and a chemical engineering degree from Aalen University of Applied Sciences in 1976. He studied chemistry, physics and mathematics at the University of Stuttgart, completing the Dr. rer. nat. in theoretical chemistry in 1986. He received the Habilitation and venia legendi from the Philipps University of Marburg in 1995.

Career

In 1987 he moved to New Zealand on a Feodor-Lynen fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to the University of Auckland. He held a research fellowship at the Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, then returned to Auckland as lecturer and later personal chair. In 2004 he was appointed to the chair in theoretical chemistry at Massey University and founded the Centre for Theoretical Chemistry and Physics.
He has served as head of the NZIAS, and is listed as head of Institute on the NZIAS site. He was the Gunnar Källén Lecturer in Physics at Lund University in 2015 and previously undertook a Royal Society of Chemistry Australasian Lectureship tour in 2007.
From 2017 to 2018 he was associated with the Centre for Advanced Study in Oslo through the project "Molecules in Extreme Environments," hosted by Trygve Helgaker.
Schwerdtfeger has authored hundreds of research papers in electronic-structure theory and heavy-element chemistry; his CV lists more than 380 publications.

Fellowships and awards

Schwerdtfeger has received multiple national and international awards: