Outstanding Research Honoured
Max Planck Medal for Kurt Kremer
The Max Planck Medal is the highest award of the German Physical Society (DPG) for theoretical physics. In 2026, it will be awarded to Prof. Kurt Kremer, as announced by the DPG on November 13, 2025. Kurt Kremer is being honored for his contributions to the numerical simulation of polymers.
How to simulate polymers? This is the central question pursued by Kurt Kremer, former director at the MPI-P. For his research and the development of new simulation methods, Kremer has now been awarded the Max Planck Medal of the German Physical Society (DPG), the DPG’s highest distinction in theoretical physics.
With two simulation models, Kremer laid the methodological foundation that has significantly advanced the understanding of polymer physics and established new international standards. The first is the Kremer–Grest model, developed together with Gary Grest, belonging to the class of bead–spring models. Today, it is one of the most widely used tools in theoretical polymer research. It realistically captures the key mechanical and dynamic properties of a wide range of polymers, without being as computationally intensive as detailed atomistic simulations. This model also forms the basis for the development of systematic multiscale and coarse-graining methods, to which Kremer subsequently made decisive contributions. Quantitative predictions of the properties of real materials became possible in many cases only through this work. Researchers can thus investigate large numbers of entangled polymer chains and reliably predict their behavior—such as elasticity.
The second model is the bond-fluctuation model, which is based on Monte Carlo simulation methods on a discrete lattice. It enabled highly efficient algorithms for simulating polymer dynamics, particularly on vector computers that ushered in the era of supercomputing.
With these two modeling approaches, Kurt Kremer laid the groundwork for the reliable computer-based study of polymers. His work enables science and industry to systematically simulate and design new materials.
