Lutz Gade, the Aesthete of Chemistry

The few notes played at the beginning set the tone. A piece by Johann Sebastian Bach—delicate and harmonious, just as the great German composer is known for. It was perfectly suited to the ceremony honoring Lutz Gade, an elegant researcher from the University of Heidelberg whose international reputation is unquestionable, with an honorary doctorate from the University of Montpellier. With nearly 350 publications and more than 60 supervised dissertations to his credit, this member of the prestigious Institut universitaire de France has already been honored with numerous awards, including the Franco-German Prize from the Société chimique de France in 2017.

Science and Aesthetics

His specialty? His mentor, Éric Clot, a research director at the CNRS who has headed the Charles Gerhard Institute in Montpellier since 2021, explains that“Lutz Gade is an expert in the organometallic chemistry of transition metals, which involves positioning organic molecules around a metal to modify its properties—and thus its behavior.” This is a field in which the properties of “organic” and “inorganic” molecules complement one another, and in which he has made significant contributions to fostering strong interactions between theory and practice.

But by choosing to give a presentation focused on “Symmetry: A Guiding Principle in Chemistry,” Lutz Gade revealed a lesser-known facet of his personality—that of a cultured researcher and aesthete, delighted to share his fascination with molecular structure—from both scientific and aesthetic perspectives—with as many people as possible. When asked what guides his work, he readily acknowledges that“chemistry is a creative science. As a molecular chemist, it is the geometry of molecules—the arrangement of atoms in space—whose controlled construction has been the focus of my scientific work.” All of this was delivered in impeccable French.

A Love of Travel

Lutz Gade, an international figure, was drawn to the field from a young age. Born in Bonn, he spent part of his childhood in South Africa. Upon returning to Germany as a teenager, he turned his attention to chemistry, which he studied in Bonn and Munich. Very soon, he set out for new horizons, working on his dissertation from 1989 to 1991 at the highly prestigious University of Cambridge in England, under the guidance of a leading figure in his field, Lord Jack Lewis. This love of travel would stay with him throughout his life; he speaks several languages fluently: Afrikaans, English, Spanish, French…The brilliant German researcher quickly established his first ties with France; after spending a few years at the University of Würzburg, where he earned his habilitation and became an associate professor, he began teaching inorganic chemistry at Louis Pasteur University in Strasbourg in 1998. There, he very quickly took on numerous responsibilities, notably heading the laboratory of organometallic chemistry and catalysis.

And what about Montpellier in all this? When Lutz Gade arrived at Heidelberg University in 2003, in addition to his research and teaching work, he took charge of cooperation with the University of Montpellier, a long-standing partner of the German institution (see box). As it happened, a few years earlier, he had co-authored papers with a young theoretical chemist at the CNRS named Éric Clot. After three joint publications and several missed opportunities to put a face to a name, the two men finally met in 2005. Nothing came of it; each was absorbed in his own research, and time flew by.

A tenacious ally

It wasn’t until 2014 that the first collaborations began to take shape.“Lutz wanted his students to come to Montpellier to be trained in computational chemistry,” says Éric Clot. Friendships were forged, and common ground emerged on both scientific and cultural levels—“an appreciation for foreign cultures, but also for gastronomy, including fine wines.” All driven by the same desire to make a difference by fostering scientific collaborations between two institutions with a long shared history. “Lutz Gade isn’t just a chemist; he’s a figure of undeniable charisma and presence who knows how to give himself the means to take political action. He’s as warm as he is tenacious: he doesn’t give up easily,” acknowledges Éric Clot.

Thanks to these joint efforts, ties are being forged, drawing in Pascal Dumy, director of the National School of Chemistry (ENSCM). The result: a mini-symposium on chemistry will take place in Montpellier in January 2024, and two chemistry dissertations are currently being written in collaboration between the two universities. There is no shortage of projects. “ I look forward to continuing to work with you on scientific projects. But we will also let ourselves be guided by our curiosity and our thirst for knowledge,” concluded the German researcher during his acceptance speech. Beyond the active role he plays at Heidelberg University, Lutz Gade is a longtime ally of the University of Montpellier—a friend for over twenty years.